Draupadi's eyes lingered on Bhishma's disappearing figure.

The Pandavas and Draupadi turned to the queen and king,who also turned their backs on them as they walked away. Each one of the Kauravas laughed on their faces and Shakuni was the last one to leave.

Karna turned to Arshia and walked to her. He softly grabbed her hand and tugged on it. From the corner of her eyes she could see the Pandavas(except Arjun) and Draupadi look at her and Karna in shock.

"Angraj,I shall come to you once I am done with work here." Karna hesitantly nodded at his wife. He looked at the Pandavas and Draupadi,with no sense of mockery and walked away.

Arshia turned to the dasis and asked them to arrange an arti plate. She made her way to them and stood in front of Draupadi. She bent down and sought her blessings.

"Ah, Rajkumari Arshia...you shouldn't" Draupadi tried to stop. Arshia shook her head and remained at her feet. Draupadi,at last,blessed her as Arshia finally stood up.

"Rajkumari Draupadi,I have accepted your husbands as my brothers and they have,gladly, accepted me as their sister. That would mean you are my sister-in-law,who is equal to the position of my mother." Draupadi gladly smiled at Arshia, feeling a sense of acceptance, warming her body.

"Panchali, it's not Rajkumari Arshia... It's Angrani Arshia" Arjun spoke. Arshia looked at Arjun and titled her head,at the sudden information.

"Arshia!You are actually married to that man?That Sut-putra?!" Bheem couldn't control it as he uttered those harsh words. Yudhishthir looked at him and warned him through his eyes.

Arshia's face hardened at his comment. Sure, reminding her of her husband's caste shouldn't be insulting but the tone he used to express his thoughts was insulting.

"Arya,you shouldn't use that type of tone to talk with your sister. You can't insult your brother-in-law" Draupadi warned.

But Bheem didn't back out,rather he continued "she has married a man who has taken an oath to kill my brother Arjun, Panchali. What do you expect?"

Arshia's expression and eyes turned cold hearing the words Bheem was uttering. She clinched her jaw.

"He won me in my swamyvar,Bharta Bheem"

"It was your swamyvar,Arshia. You could have happily denied him!"

"And what reason did you want me to state?!"

"That you don't want to marry a sut?!"

Arshia held herself back. The fire arose in her heart as she took slow yet deep breaths in and out. She held herself back from uttering the most hurtful and harsh words about his very own marriage because she knew it would hurt the 6 of them.

She felt a dagger slowly forming in her hands. She closed her eyes and made it disappear. Looking at the son of the wind,she uttered "He is the king of Anga, bhrata Bheem and I was comfortable enough to marry him." She fake smiled, grabbing the arti plate.

She rotated it around the six and softly threw flowers on them. She applied tilak to each one of them...(and the rest,which I sadly don't know)

She handed the plate over to the dasi and turned to them. "Your chambers will be shown by the dasis and if any problem, please tell the servents to call me and I shall help you"

Arshia spoke,her voice lacking emotions.

"Arshia!" Draupadi stopped her from walking away. She looked at Draupadi, tilting her head.

"Could you please show us our chambers?I mean,I would love to spend a lot more time with you" Draupadi said, walking to her.

"I would have loved to but your husband wouldn't want to be seen around with a sut's wife,I am sure. We will meet. You must be tired because of your journey,you should rest. Pranipat" Arshia said in a tone that sickened everyone but one could say she was trying to polite.

She turned her heels and walked away.

"Arshia" Bheem tried to call out but she was already out of sight. He sighed and gripped his Angavastra tightly.

.

It was already night and Arshia didn't find Karna anywhere in the palace. Assuming he was with Duryodhana and the others,she made her way to Bhishma's chamber.

"Could you please inform Mahamahim I would like to meet him?" The servent nodded and made his way into his chamber.

In the mean time,she looked around the area. It was a different castle all together and it looked really pretty in Arshia's eyes.

"Yes,Angrani. Mahamahim has allowed permission"

She smiled at the servent and made her way to Bhishma's castle.

Entering she saw Vidur and Bhishma staring at the Hastinapur flag in despair. Bhishma had tears in his eyes and Vidur looked tensed and saddened.

"Pranipat Mahamahim and Mahamantri" Her enchanted tone snapped them out of their misery as Vidur turned to look at her. Bhishma wiped his tears and stood stern at his place. Vidur tried to smile at her but the situation was different. Arshia smiled back and stared at Bhishma.

"Mahamahi—"

"If you are here to defend the Pandavas,then you are allowed to leave Arshia"

Arshia sighed at his words and took long steps to stand beside him. She, hesitantly,kept her hands on his shoulder,making him look at her. She gulped at his intense gaze but still said

"Mahamahim,I will not try to defend them because,in the world's point of view,they have committed the biggest adharm one can commit which makes bhrata Yudhishthir unworthy to sit on the throne of Hastinapur. But if not bhrata Yudhishthir,then it surely will be rajkumar Duryodhana. Bhrata Bheem is out of question,he too has committed adharm. If Rajkumar Duryodhana is crowned king of Hastinapur then you already know adharm will prevail over this kingdom. I don't know how bhrata Yudhishthir will rule this kingdom but he would be a better choice. But then again it's the king's choice and then yours..."

"Then what do you want to us to do Arshia?" Bhishma asked. Arshia removed her hands,which rested on Bhishma's shoulder,and looked at the wide horizon and said

"I would recommend you to hear their side of the story. Who to crown king, that's on the Hastinapur's king and you. But I think,unless and until,there wasn't a grave and unfortunate situation,they could never marry just one woman"

Bhishma sighed and looked at the dark sky.

"We suffer more often in imagination than in reality. Why? Because we execpt the imagination to become reality. You imagined bharta Yudhishthir to sit on the throne and rule with dharma but no man is perfect, Mahamahim. Even Gods' have flaws,we are just mere humans. Even he has flaws but that doesn't make him an unworthy king,it just throws obstacles in his path of becoming the king. Even Rajkumar Duryodhana has flaws,a bit more than Bharta Yudhishthir to be completely honest. You could try and hear their side of the story, Mahamahim" Arshia turned to her,the soft and gentle expression on her face.

Bhishma shortly smiled at her and carresed her hair.

"I wish I could make you sit on the throne of Hastinapur. All of my life's difficulty and hurt would have dissapeared from my heart. With you, Hastinapur would have shined with dharma" Bhishma's vurnarable tone blurted out.

"Your throne will shine with dharma, without me, Mahamahim. I assure you that" Arshia said, genuiness filled in her throne.

Bhishma drew his hand back and nodded.

"You and Mahamantri should relax a bit. I know this is too overwhelming to handle but believe me...God has the best plan for us. Subh ratri"

. . .

Thank you! Enjoy reading! Vote.

(I know this chapter isn't upto the expectations but yeah....I will be back with a better chapter)