Hastinapur Palace:

Duryodhan, the son of Dhritarashtra and Gandhari, paced to and fro in his living room for so long. All his life, he had been raised as the competitor to his cousins. He had been raised to be the evil to their good. His vice—his greed—would be his ultimate downfall.

His mamashree, whom he trusted more than anything, had gone slack in these past years. With his legs cut off, he had been not only traumatized but also very weak. His old body had not been able to take the strain. He mostly spent his time sleeping. His younger brother Dusshasan had his fingers cut off, turning his hand into a stump. He was very angry almost all the time and always practiced with his mace. Then the plan with his brother-in-law, Jayadratha, had also failed spectacularly. He had come back with a shaved head! Such a shame! Duryodhan hated the fact that his odds were against him. Yet when he heard about the death of the army general of Matsya Desh, something triggered in his mind. He dismissed it, thinking it was insignificant news. He needed to find the Pandavas as soon as possible because only four days were left. However, he overheard the discussion between his Pitamaha and Guru Drona, which mentioned the death of the army general. He heard how they thought Bheem was the one who had killed him.

He wanted to scoff, saying that Bheem had no such capabilities. But his conscience, his heart—something he ignored most of the time and only listened to when he wanted to—said that whatever he overheard had merit.

Bheem could be the one who had killed that army general, but if he was there, then the other brothers along with their wives would be there too. Those brothers could not stay away from each other if they could help it. Then that means....perhaps....he knew how he could get them to reveal themselves.

There were only four days left! He had to act fast.

He needed to speak with his Mamashree and his brother-in-law, Jayadratha. God knows, that man had been chanting about revenge against that Prithvi Kumari.



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"Maharaja!!" came a soldier running into Virata's court.

"What is it?" asked Virata, wondering what more problems had come up.

"Maharaja! King Sudarman is attacking with the Kuru army! He has also taken the cows and the cattle. He has made the people hostages!" said the soldier, trembling with fear.

"WHAT? This is my Kingdom, and I have no idea someone is attacking it!" said the despairing King.

"Maharaja, this is not the time to express disappointment! Please look into the matter immediately!" counseled Yuddhisthir, his worry for the people increasing.

"Yes, you are correct! I must go with the army!" said Virata, running out of the court hall with his courtiers.

Yuddhisthir stayed back without anyone noticing and went straight towards the Kitchen where Bheem was. When he arrived, Arjun, Draupadi, and Devanshi were also present.

"Bhrata!" called Arjun, seeing him.

Yuddhisthir went towards making sure no one was nearby.

"We cannot speak here! Too much of an open space! Come, I know a hidden chamber where we can speak freely," said Draupadi, understanding everyone's hesitation.

They all followed her into a small alcove which barely fit all of them but was very well hidden.

"Whatever we need to speak, we have to do it fast. Queen Sudeshna will get curious otherwise. And Princess Uttara is also no less. She is rather an inquisitive girl," said Draupadi.

"Correct. King Sudarman attacked with the Kuru army!" said Yuddhisthir, relaying the news. Devanshi's eyes widened, while Bheem, Arjun, and Draupadi's faces were grim.

"What should we do?" asked Bheem.

"Wait! Let's read this first. It's from Jyesht," said Arjun, as he brought out a small rolled parchment.

"How did he pass it on to you?" asked Bheem, a bit confused.

"Prince Uttar went to the shop of the blacksmith; Jyesht slipped it then!" said Arjun, unfurling the scroll.

"What does it say?" asked Devanshi.

"It says the same! He says that the army of Kuru has attacked. He also says we need to be very careful and not let anyone know. Just a few hours more, by tomorrow our vanvaas will be over. Under no circumstances are we supposed to act in haste! And not to worry, neither he nor Bhabhishree, or our brothers and sisters have been caught. He also said that they are keeping an eye on the situation. It looks like this is just a ploy to get us to reveal ourselves," said Arjun, referencing the letter while he spoke his thought as well.

"It seems like it!" said Draupadi, with a sigh.

All of them were happy that they did not have to reveal themselves or interfere, and hoped their siblings also acted with caution. Just a few hours more!

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The day passed, but no one got caught. Virata returned with everything safely, and there was not much bloodshed, as the soldiers had only sustained minor injuries. Unknown to him and his kingdom, six couples heaved a sigh of relief.

All of them had been tense and thus decided to meet with each other in their secret place inside the forest. "Jyesht!" yelled Arjun as he and Bheem attacked Karna with a giant hug. Yuddhisthir joined them, and Karna beckoned him forward as well. Only Nakul and Sahadev were left to join them in the pile. The sisters also hugged similarly, but later separated to see the bond of their husbands. Suddenly, two blurs also attached themselves to the pile, making them stumble, but none of them came out of the tight hug. Kalyani and Vritika were also hugged tightly by the sisters. Advika smiled when they bent to take blessings, after she had hugged them tightly as well.

Seeing the brothers still not out of their hug, Advika spoke, "Will you all come out? We have much to discuss!" They all came out of their hug reluctantly.

After all of them had sat around in a circular position, Vritika said with an excited smile on her face, "Finally the Agyatavas is over!! I am so happy! We will be able to meet our children."

"Yes. All of them must have grown up by now. Advait, Anaya, Aparna, Virendra, Dhruvi, Raghav, and Mahesh! They all would be in their late teens, entering adulthood! And Bhavya, Harshada, Jyoti, Gaurav, Devansh, and Abhimanyu...all of them would be in their early teens. Ghatotkach would be old enough to marry now! I hope he hasn't married already! Oh, I can't wait to see all of my children!" said Draupadi, a soft and pleased smile on her face.

"Yes, I am waiting eagerly too!" said Kalyani, while Devanshi and Vandita nodded, too emotional to speak. The males also smiled, a slight sheen on their eyes, thinking of their grown-up children.

Karna's temple furrowed as he watched Advika thoughtfully. She hadn't uttered a word after they had sat down. "Priye?" he called gently. Advika roused with a blink from her thoughts, giving him a sad smile, "It is good to see you all happy beheno! You five can go back with Kanha when he comes tomorrow."

"Bhabhishree? Will you not come to Dwarka with us?" asked Sahadev, his eye inquisitive. Advika nodded her head negatively. Karna's brow furrowed even more before he remembered her speaking about an unfinished task just a few days before that she wished to complete before they went to meet with their children.

"It is about the task you were talking about?" asked Karna, softly. "What task, Bhabhishree?" asked Vandita, wondering what task they were talking about. Advika got up with a sad smile as she paced in the small clear space inside the cave.

"I wish to close this chapter completely before I go to meet my family. I don't want war or any kind of conflict to happen when we should be spending our time with our families. Nothing, not even the foreshadow of conflict or war should mark the reunion with our children," said Advika as she turned around to face them. "Duryodhan and the Kauravas, in general, would not stop until and unless they get war, especially Jayadratha and Shakuni, or they will continue to harass us. Something I do not want. I don't want war. I have an idea of what to do regarding it, and I will be speaking about it to Kanha tomorrow! I apologize if you all don't agree with my view, but I would love to meet with my children, knowing no conflict will accompany us when we return home!" finished Advika.