Draupadi

I could feel my heart pouncing hard against my chest as all the attention of the people presented there settled on me. I touched the King's feet followed by other family members.

When I bent forward to touch Queen Gandhari's feet, she didn't let me, instead pulled me up in a warm embrace "Even though I can't see you, I know yours is the kind of beauty that compliments my Arjun's transcendent valour"

I felt my cheeks heating up and lowering my gaze, I peered at my amber eyed prince who was standing right beside me, even though he was looking at Mata Gandhari I knew the small twitch at the corner of his lips was meant for me.

"And the valour of my other sons" Mata Kunti reminded making my smile drop.

"Of course Kunti, since it is, in fact, Arjun's valour which brought this jewel of a woman in our Kurukul, I said it. Don't take me otherwise" I didn't know why but I felt there was a sharp hidden taunt underneath Mata Gandhari's otherwise monotonous tone.

Gathering all the might I had, I moved on to the next person; Duryodhan. My toes curled in disgust at the way his malicious lusty gaze kept roving over my body, I could feel anger swirling inside me but I chose to ignore it. Before I could say or do anything he impeded "I've a question, Bhrata Yudhishthir"

My eyes narrowed in confusion as I looked up at him. My breath caught in my throat when I noticed something dark flickering across his brown orbs, something so dark that sent chills of unknown fear down my spine as I waited with bated breath for him to continue.

"What is my relation with Princess Draupadi?" He quired innocently as I went stiff with numb horror, gradually discerning his intention "I mean, am I supposed to call her Bhabhi and touch her feet? Since you and Bhrata Bheem are older than me" He paused, his hooded brown eyes darting from me to my husbands before resuming.

"Or should I let her touch my feet, since, on the other hand Arjun, Nakul and Sahdev are younger than all of us. I'm a bit confused there" His jibe earned howling cackles from the other Kauravas.

I swallowed the knot that had formed in my throat, convulsively. I didn't expect them to start with this nasty game so soon, I wasn't ready to face them or such insolence, not yet. Humiliation and mortification consumed my whole being as I clenched my jaw to mask my inner mayhem. The last thing I wanted was for them to know how their words were lacerating my heart.

"I think you should consider her your younger sister in law since three out of five of her husbands are younger than you" Accentuating the word 'five', Angraj Karna chuckled dryly.

I wish I were in a position to laugh at the irony, the guy who had been beaten like a street dog by husband until he passed out, at my Swayamvar, before my very sight, was actually mocking me. Probably that's how he coped with his inner frustration and failure.

"She is your sister in law, either way Bhrata Duryodhan" The familiar deep voice answered coldly, so coldly that I felt Duryodhan going rigid with anger. I side glanced at Arjun, his face was bereft of any emotion as he continued " On the day of her Swayamvar, you probably understood she is unreachable to you, by any means, so there's no need for you to touch her feet"

"Arjun" Duryodhan exploded and took a step closer to him "How-"

"Duryodhan stop it" Mata Gandhari admonish "This girl just left everything that was familiar to her and this is how you welcome her?"

"Arjun leave my hand, I'll rip his filthy tongue off" Arya Bheem roared.

I tried to even my breath as a numbness replaced all my excitement and nervousness. I had no idea what followed after, how that tiff ended, I felt too enervated, mentally and physically, for that.

I just followed every instructions of my mothers in law while Kuhu and Malini helped me. I just wanted to get in my private chamber, get rid of all these heavy ornaments and sleep so I could escape the harsh reality for a little while.

It took almost an hour for me to done with all the formalities and a maid of Hastinapur showed me my private chamber. As soon as I get in there I asked for privacy and shut the iron door before leaning against it and closing my eyes let the tears, that I had been fighting for so long, flow.

This was just beginning, I would have to fight such gibes my whole life and, and a distant voice in my head whispered, probably even after that. For ages, yugas Draupadi would be criticised, made fun of, for having five husbands. No one would know what Draupadi felt or wanted.

After what felt like ages, I opened my eyes letting them ramble over the unfamiliar lavish room, it was much larger than my room back in Panchala yet it didn't provide any warmth or ataraxy rather it appeared like a cage. A cage made of gold and rules.

I ambled aimlessly toward the couch before throwing myself on it. My body curled into a ball as I hugged my tight before closing my eyes, anticipating sleep instead another rush of unwanted tears streamed down my face, the familiar faces of my parents floated before my eyes.

'Your daughter is trying'

Third Person

Arjun tried to focus on what Bheeshm was saying but his mind kept drifting back to Draupadi. Her pale face, her dolent eyes and stiff posture stabed his heart like the edge of a sword. He wished he could comfort her, gather her in his arms tell her their words didn't mean anything that she was and would always remain the most pious and strong woman in his life, to let her vent all her anger and frustration on him untill she felt better and may be take her on a horse ride after that, which Arjun knew was one of her favourite things to do.

But of course he could not, he was not allowed to.

"Krishna?" Bheeshm placed an affectionate hand on Arjun's shoulder breaking his chain of thoughts as swallowing the lump he apologize "Sorry, I zoned out"

Bheeshm heaved a sigh leaning against the couch before beginning "I know you regret coming in Hastinapur and I can't even blame you" Bheeshm paused shifting his eyes from the parchment on the table back to his grandson "Duryodhan, Dussasan and Karna didn't take the 'humiliation', as they refer it, well"

Arjun kept silent as he tried to subdue the intense wrath that was swirling inside him. The way their eyes were lingering on Draupadi didn't go unnoticed by Arjun and he wanted nothing more than to rip those eyes off.

Arjun didn't know why it came out as surprise when he very well knew, Draupadi would face every single thing they did, probably even worse. This marriage was a blessing for his brothers, serendipity for him and curse for her.

"Oh, I almost forgot why I called you" Bheeshm straightened himself up "The Yavana King you had brought under submission needs to be tackled once more"

"Yeah?" The warrior inside Arjun became alert.

Bheeshm nodded "The moment they heard about Pandava's death, they had stopped following half of the rules, I've news that they've been planning to attack Hastinapur for quite a long time now"

Arjun remained pensive for a moment before replying "Pitamah, let's warn them once and wait for their reply, it would also give me some time to train our soldiers"

Bheeshm's lips curled into a soft smile as he placed a hand on Arjun's head "You know I trust you more than I trust myself, don't you?"

Arjun chortled softly "I do"

Thank you for reading, hope you liked this chapter. Please don't forget to Vote and comment if you did ✨

Also couldn't proof read, so sorry for any silly errors. I'll edit them soon

The last hapter (28) got only 42 votes when chapter-25 has 56 votes? Now that's really really disappointing. I mean I understand these chapters aren't really exciting but I felt these were necessary for the story progression.

Anyways, two new characters are joining this journey from next chapter! Guess WHO? *wiggles brows*

Hint- Not fictional ;)

Vote target - 57 ( No update till then)
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Jay shri Krishnarjun

Arjunaradhika