"Pranipat Bhabhishree Draupadi. Pranipat PanduPutro"

Arshia entered their chamber and greeted them. All of them looked at her,tensed.

"Is everything going to be alright,Arshia?" Draupadi asked, softly grabbing Arshia's hands which were interlocked. Arshia stared at her, comfort shining in her gaze.

"Everything is going to be alright,bhabhi. You have Vasudev Krishna with you...swayam Narayan apke paskh me he,apko kya chinta?" (Narayan is by your side, what's the hustle about?) Arshia said somewhat bitterly.

The Pandavas and Draupadi stared at her,weirded out with the time she was using.

"Why so bitter, Arshia?" Bheem questioned.

Arshia, momentarily,froze in her place. Regaining composer she shaked her head, indicating that it was nothing. Turning her gaze at Draupadi,she advised

"Niyati(Destiny)has it all planned and no matter how much one tries there is no way that you could change it. So,I would advise you all to calm your nerves and prove your innocence at the court today"

"We had called you to lay forward a wish,Arshia" Nakul said gaining Arshia's attention. A ever so genuine and lovely smile adorned her face as she encouragely nodded at him.

"When me,my brothers and Panchali enter the court,we want you by our side."

The smile dissapeared in a fraction of seconds as she stared at Nakul,as if he had said something criminally offensive.

"E-enter the court with you all?I am afraid that's not possible"

"Not possible?!Why?" Draupadi exclaimed. Arshia looked at her and shaked her head violently. "You don't get it. The king, Mahamantri, Mahamahim,the Kauravas and Angraj would be present in the court....what would their reactions be?!" She exclaimed back, laying emphasis on her husband.

"You promised me that you would support us through anything!" Arjun walked forward,his eyes glaring at Arshia.

"And I shall remain true to my words. Support can also be shown when you are physically absent, right?Like sakha! Although he is in Dwarka,you all can still feel his support!I am in Hastinapur,just above your head in the ladies corner. Why shall I come with you all?I hope none of you are offended by my words. I am doing what is right, according to me atleast" Arshia said,her gaze moving around the room with a sense of apology in them.

"Is it because of Angraj?" Sahadev asked,calmly. Arshia looked at him and nodded. "He isn't exactly in good terms with all of you and me, considering all of you as my dharma-brothers took him aback and I totally understand him. I have to work hard to please both of you as you all are very dear to me. For now,I think it would be wise if you all enter the royal court without me..." She completed.

She saw Yudhishthir's ever-so-calm expression seemed to have faded away,Bheem was as expected angry,Arjun was upset with her decision,Nakul's jaw was tight and Sahadev was lost in his own world.

"I shall leave. I know whatever is going to happen to you is going to be alright." She gave a light squeeze on Draupadi's shoulder and walked away.

.

Arshia entered the court.

Everyone was seated and were waiting for the Pandavas and their wife.

She made eye contact with Bhishma who reflected a small genuine smile. She bowed her head and went to the ladies corner, waiting for the Pandavas and Draupadi to come in. She sighed and roamed her eyes around the room. In the process she made eye contact with Karna,who had rather a calm and composed expression on his face. A smile made his face as his eyes reflected love for the woman who he was making eye contact with.

She offered a smile to him,only for his smile to widen. Suddenly flustered by his not-so secretive behaviour,she looked away, bright red colour covering her cheeks.

She saw the Pandavas enter,as she cleared her throat and made herself attentive to the events that were about to break out.

Draupadi looked up and sought support through her eyes. Arshia simply nodded, assuring her that her support was with them.

Yudhishthir,like a lone wolf,stood in the center of the hall as his brothers and their wife stood in aside. Sahadev looked up, searching for Arshia. When they acknowledged each other,Arshia couldn't figure out what was going on in his mind. His eyes reflected so much that nothing came out clear. His face was void of emotions. She saw the air leaving his mouth as he turned his attention back to his brother.

"Maharaj!I was made aware of what the society thinks and how all of this works. Without having much to say,I accept Bhrata Duryodhana as the rightful owner of the title, Yuvraj."

A smirk made up Shakuni's face.

"No, Jyesth bhrata!" Duryodhana suddenly protested. He stood up from the throne and gestured at it, saying "You are Hastinapur's rightful Yuvraj and you shall be the one who gets this throne and be the crown prince!" Arrogance filled his tone. But Yudhishthir ignored it as a warm smile made up his face at Duryodhana's sudden change.

Duryodhana walked to the center of the court,to Yudhishthir,and bent down to seek his blessings. They hugged and Yudhishthir made his way to the throne. As he was about to sit, Duryodhana continued.

"O Narayan!" Arshia mumbled seeing a wicked smirk on Duryodhana's face.

"According to Vedas and our ancient history,a woman who is married to a man and has relationships with other men are considered amoral." He side-eyed Draupadi. The four Pandavas protectively stood beside her and glared at Duryodhana. "These women should be imprisoned!O great crown prince of Hastina! Can you please find a solution to this adharm?!" He dramatically mocked.

Yudhishthir looked at Bhishma to seek support but he hid his gaze, knowing he was helpless to the matter.

"I have another question!" Duryodhana started again.

"No matter how the general is,if he is amoral then he is punished. If the judge is amoral,he is punished by the king!(Duryodhana turned to Yudhishthir)The crown prince position is sacred and only worthy people shall reside on it (Turned to Draupadi)and when the wife of the crown prince or the crown prince himself are amoral,they should get punished!" He spat.

Anger rose on the Pandavas faces as they silently watched their wife get insulted.

"I,the king of Hastinapur, vanish you and your family from this Kingdom!" Dhritarashtra angrily instructed. Yudhishthir came down the stairs and vurnarably stared at the blind king.

"For what are you punishing us,Tatashree(uncle)?"

"For what?!You yourself don't know?!My dear brother Pandu must be crying in the heavens because of what crime you committed!Our ancestors must be ashamed by your deeds!" He angrily said.

Arshia shaked her head and closed her ears,not wanting to listen any further to the drama.

"It's been more than two years,di!why are you not waking up?" Amiya cried. She placed her head on my hand and stayed there for hours.

I tried my best to sit up and hug my dear sister but the universe held me back. I tried to lift my hand to let her know I was here, listening to her whenever I got the chance to but nothing worked.

Amiya sniffed and stood straight up, grabbing a glass of water. She gently opened my mouth and pour in the water,very slowly that is.

"You must be thirsty.

My birthday was yesterday and the doctor told us that you would be awake before it. I was so happy and Rudra bhai smiled as if he had won the cricket world cup!" Amiya smiled sadly.

I felt the water failing to enter my throat and it was coming back out. Amiya grabbed a handkerchief and wiped the water off.

"But you didn't and everything went back, like it was. Rudra bhai got selected for India's under-19 team, finally!He already has left to the airport. He left you this" she held up a gold box.

"I couldn't wait,so I opened it. It's a Shiv ling!" Amiya held it up high as if she knew I could see. She then placed it on the table beside my bed.

"With Mahadev by your side,I am sure you will wake up and I know,our mother must be praying up from the heavens too. I would continue talking with you but it sucks that I have homework. Don't worry,I will be giving you company,I am just on the couch" Amiya stood up and went to the couch, comfortably seating on it. She took out her books and started with her homework.

I wanted to scream that I was so damn proud of her but my senses refused to!

O Mahadev!What difficulty are you putting me through!

Arshia hurriedly looked up, blinded by the sudden light. She blocked the light with the help of her hands and shaked her head.

"How can such women be considered pure?!" Duryodhana's disgusted tone shrieked in her ears.

She rested her hands on the railings and saw Duryodhana looking at Draupadi,with a disgusted look on his face.

"Bhrata Duryodhana!" Arjun yelled angrily, raising his Gandiv. He pulled the string and made a arrow magically appear. Pointing it at Duryodhana,he intensely glared.

Karna made his way in front of Duryodhana as his kavach appeared.

Seeing the arrow directly pointed at Karna's heart,even though the kavach was there to protect it,Arshia rushed down the stairs. She made her way to them,only for Arjun to draw his arrow back. A sigh of relief escaped her lips.

"What are you doing,Arjun?!" Dhritarashtra yelled angrily.

"Pardon me,your highness. A man who does nothing to protect his wife's honour cannot be alive!He can only be a corpse!"

"Honour?If you would have been that concerned about her honour you would have never let your brothers marry your wife,who you rightly won with your valour and greatness" Arshia thought as the anger slowly creeped in.

"Stay quiet, Arjun!" Dhritarashtra said distressed. Arjun angrily looked at the floor.

Arhisa made her way to Karna,softly placing her hands on his bisecps. He looked down and widened his eyes,in surprise. She questioned, through her eyes,if he was okay,to which he nodded.

A death sentence was announced for Arjun. Yudhishthir rebuted and disagreed with the punishment. Karna turned his attention back to his friend and stood firm beside him.

"Then a war shall break out" Duryodhana gritted his teeth, rushing away to grab his weapon.

Unknowingly,a bow had appeared in Arshia's hands. She gripped it tightly and gulped as she saw the 100 Kauravas and Angraj on one side and the Pandavas at the other.

She stood right in between and stared at the two groups...

Knowing she had to pick one in the future.

. . . .

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(Thank you so very much for 19.7K reads!! I shall work harder to make this book better!)