-"Satyaki, wait for us on the Kampilya border, we will be there by tomorrow afternoon." Krishna said to Satyaki getting down from the chariot. After Tiasha got down, Satyaki left with the chariot to wait for them as Krishna said. 

-"Why did we just get down in the middle of nowhere, Jayantha?" Tiasha asked looking around. The sun was about to go down behind the horizon. They stood in a small clearing surrounded by Tall trees in the middle of the forest miles away from any human settlement.

Krishna started walking towards a certain direction. Tiasha followed behind him.

-"Panchali's Swayam Var is by the end of this month within two Pakshas. Invitations are being sent all around Aryavart. But King Drupad's messenger can't reach some of our very important guests. So we are here to hand over invitations."

Realisation kicked in Tiasha's mind. 

-"Hmm, how can the messenger deliver invitations to a bunch of deceased princes? Or should I say five to be exact?" Tiasha said smirking at Krishna.

Krishna narrowed his eyes and a similar smirk appeared on his lips, mirroring Tiasha's.

They reached a small temple of Maa Kali, deep inside the forest. Tiasha saw a white cotton Sharee with a red border kept neatly just outside the threshold of the temple. Krishna picked it up and held it to her.

-"Well the five supposedly deceased princes and their mother know of me but they have never seen me before. On the contrary, they are well familiar with the beautiful face of Kumari Tiasha. So..."

-"So, a disguise." Tiasha took the Sharee from Krishna's hand. She went inside the temple and closed the door to get changed. Krishna went the other way and his attire changed into simple commoner clothes. A white cotton dhoti with yellow border and matching uttyaria was paired up with a few simple golden jewellery. 

He returned and sat on the temple's stairs waiting for Tiasha. Vati who was wandering around the courtyard of the temple, jumped and settled herself on his lap. A hearty laugh escaped his lips as he stroked her soft grey fur.

A few minutes later he heard the door of the temple open and turned around. He carefully placed Vati beside him and stood up. The most beautiful man in the universe stared in awe at the sight in front of him.

Under the light of hundreds of stars, Tiasha stood at the threshold of the Upasana Kaksha holding the door frame. Only clad in a white Sharee with a red border, long waist-length wavy hair open on her back and a blazing red Bindu on her forehead. A divine glow surrounded her entire body, making her dark skin glow like gold. The living incarnation of Devi Kali stood in front of the stone statue of the goddess. 

Krishna's hand automatically folded near his chest as Tiasha stepped out. She saw her folding his hands in front of her, making her rush to him and hold his hand. 

-"What are you doing Jayantha? You folding your hands in front of me? This mere Human? How will I be able to live with this sin?" Tiasha said in a hurry.

-"I am not folding my hands in front of a mere human. I am bowing down to Adi Shakti." He held Tiasha's hand in a firm grip. The water in the corner of his eyes twinkled like stars in the nightlight. 

Tiasha gently wiped a single tear drop from his cheek as it was about to fall on the ground. 

-"Tears don't fit in the eyes of The lord of the universe." Tiasha passed a bright smile to Krishna. Breaking away from his trance Krishna laughed. 

-"And yet, as the lord of the universe is being propelled by human emotions, tears don't listen to him." 

Meww...

The little emotional moment between the brother-sister duo was broken with the joyous mewing of Vati. Tiasha and Krishna saw her chasing after a bunch of fireflies. Tiasha tried to stop her but Vati's small frame disappeared behind the dense bushes of the forest. 

Tiasha was about to go after Vati but Krishna stopped her. He said, "You wait here Shyama, I will go bring her back." 

He too disappeared into the darkness of the forest, leaving Tiasha alone. Tiasha stood outside for a while then went inside. After looking inside for a while she found a pot of ghee and lit up the large earthen Pradip in front of the idol. She sat there facing the idol, resting her back on the door frame. The loose end of her Sharee spread on the ground and so was her hair. A serene smile spread across her face. She closed her eyes and started humming a Kali Kirtan absent-mindedly. The cool northern breeze of Agrahayana went past her and her hair swayed with it as if the wind was playing with the loose locks of her hair.

A few moments later the breeze stopped and the air around Tiasha became heavy. Tiasha felt the sudden change in atmosphere and got up from her position. She became alert and climbed down to the end of the stairs. Her eyes scanned the surroundings for any unusual movement. She became a little worried, Jayantha hasn't returned with Vati yet.

The next moment she saw a huge Rakshasa standing just in front of her. She was sure the Rakshasa wasn't there moments ago. It was as if he appeared out of thin air. 

The Rakshasa started approaching her. Tiasha's body language changed. Her Kharga started materialising in her hands. 

But before the Rakshasa could reach her or she could take a strike at him, a sphere head emerged from the middle of his eyebrows. Tiasha took two steps back and the huge body of the Rakshasa fell in front of her feet on its face. 

A sphere has pierced his skull which took his life force away. Tiasha's Kharga which was materialising in her hand disappeared and Tiasha covered her face and head with the loose end of the Sharee when she heard approaching footsteps. The very fine cotton material of the Sharee allowed Tiasha to look past the cloth but people from the other side wouldn't be able to see her face.

Five heavy and heavier footsteps rushed towards the scene and despite the long knotty hair and bushy beard covering their face Tiasha recognised the five prices of Hastinapur. Her heart itched to remove the cover from her face and head and pull the Madri twins, and her brothers into a tight hug. 

Eldest Pandava asked in a soft sympathetic voice, "Devi, are you okay? Did the Rakshasa hurt you?"

Before the women in front of them could answer his question, they heard the sound of fallen dry leaves crushing under someone's steps coming from one side of the temple. Yudhishthira pulled his sphere from the Rakshasa's skull and the others also stood in alert with their weapons ready to attack anyone threatening the poor woman. 

To their surprise from behind the bushes came a man holding a cat close to his chest. As soon as his eyes fell on the fallen Rakshasa and the five men standing on guard he hurried towards the woman in panic.

-"Shyama, are you ok?" He asked as he put the cat down and checked the woman from head to toe. The woman just nodded her head in reply. The cat went near the Rakshasa sniffed around his body and then rubbed her head on the woman's feet, meowing. As if it is trying to say sorry to its master for not being with her when she was in danger. The woman picked up the cat in her arm and the cat purred. 

The elder one of the Madri twins frowned looking at the cat. It seemed familiar, like he had seen it before somewhere but couldn't place his finger exactly where. 

The man now understanding what had happened turned to the five and said in a honey-dripping tone, "By God's grace, you five brave young Brahmins have saved her life today. I don't know how to thank you all." 

The tallest and most Bulky one amongst the five asked the man, "Who are you two? And what are you doing in this abundant temple in the middle of the forest, at this hour of the day?"

-"My name is Kanai, and this is my sister Shyama..." He pointed at the woman. The woman named Shyama folded her hands to the five.

-"...We are pilgrims. We are going to Kashi, to seek Kashinath's blessings..."

Kanai was interrupted in the middle of his sentence. The youngest of the five said, "Jyesht Bhrata, It's not safe to keep standing here for long."

-"There are a lot of wild animals and Rakshasas like this lurking in the dark, it's best if we return soon, Mata is alone in the hut." Said third Pandav.

-"Mahoday, it's not safe for you and your sister to stay in this place at night..." The eldest started.

-"But we don't have anywhere else to go tonight, the village is too far away and as you said it's not safe...what do I do now? Also with my sister..." Kanai folded his hands in front of them, "...Ohh brave Brahmins if you could..."

-"You can come and stay with us for the night, Mahoday." Yudhishthira said with a smile. His brothers nodded in agreement.

-"Thank you so much Oh great brahmin kumaras...I don't know how to show you how thankful I am to you all." Kanai almost melted in gratitude.

From behind the covers, Tiasha was trying her best not to let out an audible laugh watching Krishna's acting.

As soon as the five brothers turned the other way Krishna lightly jabbed Tiasha's side passing her a warning with his narrow eyes.

This made Tiasha bite the inner corner of her lips with her canines to control her laughter. They followed behind the Pandavas.

After walking for a few minutes they reached in front of a hut. The large hut accommodating the five brothers and their mother was clean and tidy, with Pradips lighting up every corner of it.

A woman stood in front of the hut with an anxious face. She saw her five sons returning with another man and a woman following closely behind them. When they came near her she asked her sons, "Who are they Putra?" 

Before the five could answer the man came forward and quickly touched Kunti's feet. He said, "Pranam Buashree, We are travellers, Pilgrims. Your brave Putras saved my sister from the hands of a Rakshasa and we didn't have anywhere else to go, so they offered us to be their guests for the night. I am travelling with my young sister and there is danger everywhere so I thought it would be ok..." He trailed off at the end looking down. 

Kunti approached the girls and said, "Of course, you two can stay with us tonight." She escorted the girl inside holding her shoulder. The brothers looked at each other wondering how fast Kanai had called their mother Buashree, as if he had known her for decades. 

The five Pandavas and Kanai followed behind them. As soon as they were sat Kunti said, "Putri, you don't need to cover your face anymore. My five sons are just like your brother, you are safe here."

Kanai cleared his throat, "Actually Buashree my sister Shyama...Ohh ho ho...I haven't even introduced us yet...My name is Kanai and this is my sister Shyama." Shyama touched Kunti's feet. Kunti blessed her. 

Kanai continued as everyone else in the room looked curiously at him, even Tiasha from under the covers. She wondered, what Jayantha is going to do now. 

-"...Actually, Shyama's marriage is in three months, the fifth day of Sukla Paksha in Phalguna. Several times before this her marriage had been fixed but every time for some reason we had to call it off. So this time we went to a Sadhu Baba to know if everything would go well. He said, this time also there are chances of the marriage being interrupted. If only we take her to Kashi and worship Baba Viswanath there, everything will be ok. That's why I am taking her to Kashi. And Sadhu Baba also said, on the way no one should see her face, or else..." Kanai shook his head at the end of the sentence.

Kunti caressed Shyama's head, "I will pray to Mahadev. He will fix everything. There will be no obstacle in your marriage this time, you see. You will have a very happy married life with your husband." 

Krishna felt Tiasha's narrowed gaze on him and covered his laughter with a cough. 

-"Thank you for letting us stay with you for tonight Buashree, we won't extend our stay here, we will be leaving tomorrow morning." 

Kunti tried to protest, "No no, you will eat..."

But Kanai interrupted her, "No Bua we need to reach Kashi soon. I was thinking of returning from Kashi before Panchal's Rajkumari's Swayam Var..." 

Krishna saw the curiosity in the eyes of the Pandavas and smiled internally. "...I heard many merchants are coming to Panchal for the occasion and we will get good products at cheap prices. I will be shopping from there for Shyama's marriage. And also I heard that King Drupad is going to arrange some extraordinary competition for archers for the Swayam Var..." 

Arjun's eyes sparkled at the mention of an Archery competition. Krishna went on, "Panchal Raj wants the best archer in the entire world to win his daughter's hand. People are also saying that he wished that Kuru Rajkumar Arjun would become his son-in-law...But he is...he unfortunately passed away in the fair of Varnavrat." Bheem let out an angry growl and was stopped by Yudhishthira. Sadness and anger were present in all of their eyes.

Kanai continued to speak, "And Panchal Kumari is the most beautiful woman in the entire Aryavarth. Who hasn't heard of the fire-born princess's beauty and wisdom? Any man would be called fortunate to have her as their wife. I want to witness that divine Swayam Var as well..." 

He turned to the five brothers and said, "Why don't you five go to Kampilya? The Swayam Var is held at the end of this month. King Drupad is going to make a huge Daana for the marriage of his Daughter. And, as valorous as you five are Brahmin Putras, who knows one of you might as well win Kumari Panchali's hand in Marriage." 

 The last dreamy and romantic look in third Pandu Putra's eyes didn't go unnoticed by the divine brother-sister duo.

-XX-

I had so much fun writing this chapter. Did you like it? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

See you all soon with another update. Thank you everyone for all the love and support. 

Take care, Adiós, my lovely readers ❤️.