Naga rajya, Khandava forest

A pair of kohl-black eyes gazed at the horizon unmindfully. Pain of her heart reflected on her lovely face. She could not even bring a slight smile on her lips when she should have been the happiest person on earth!

Her eager eyes searched for someone. In vain. She knew it was not possible anymore!

"Rajkumari!"

She turned around. It was her Sakhi Naagmani.

"Still looking at the path of Rajkumar Arjuna?" Naagmani held her Princess's hand warmly.

Naga Princess Ulupi sighed as she looked away.

"Why don't you just send a message to him, Rajkumari?" Naagmani asked again, "I am sure he will come to take you with him!"

"Do you think that I have a doubt on him that he won't, Sakhi?" Ulupi's large eyes were moist, "I know he will come running once he learns about my present condition! But I myself cannot be so selfish to let him know right now!"

"But Rajkumari, how long would you suffer all these? Would he be happy to hear that you had to go through this and he being the greatest archer of Aaryavarta could do nothing?"

"Why do you say the same thing time and again, Mani?" Ulupi grimaced, "don't you know what will happen if he comes here?"

Naagmani nodded, "Rajkumar Ashwasena..."

"He is dying to kill my husband! And Takshaka is at his best to harm his family too! How can I risk my in-laws' lives who are living here at Indraprastha, too close to Takshaka's reach?"

Naagmani could not speak. She failed to understand why the Naga Princess was so much caring for her husband who left her for continuing his mission of pilgrimage. She could not get why she was so concerned for those in-laws whom she had never met, whose palace she had never lived in.

"Takshaka's spies are everywhere! Even if I try to send a secret message I shall get caught!" Ulupi helplessly said. "I cannot risk my husband's life, Sakhi! Whatever might happen to me, I won't let him face Takshaka's wrath till my last breath!"

"Why don't you take Maharaj Kauravya's help, Rajkumari?"

"Pita!" Ulupi sighed, "He cannot dare to go against Takshaka, Mani! I fear any day that evil Naga would kill my father too and rule this land!"

"Then what will you do, Rajkumari? In this condition how much more you will tolerate? Your child..."

"My child is warrior Dhananjaya's heir, Mani!" Ulupi touched her belly tenderly to feel her baby, "He can be anything but weak! Let him face all these difficulties from now only! Let him be the strongest warrior just like his father!" She spoke as her hand did not move from her baby bump, as if she wanted the baby to hear what she was saying.

"If the child truly inherits my husband's strength and my power of love, he will never fail to confront whatever faces him!"

"Oh you are here! What plan are you doing to reach that human?" An angry voice reached both.

"Rajkumar Ashwasena!" Naagmani looked frightened.

***

Indraprastha

The newborn took some time to adjust with the new presence in his room. In the past one week he had not seen anybody except his mother and the midwife.

He blinked as the new figure took him up from his mother's bed. He narrowed his little eyes, his little brain trying to realize what exactly was happening with him. He found himself in a new pair of arms soon. Well, the fragrance seemed much soothing, much assuring! A smile played on his tiny lips.

Yudhishthira smiled at the child blinked at him. He was settled in his arms soon, making Yudhishthira feel that he was truly enjoying his father's embrace. The baby was too calm to be a one week old. He was hardly seen crying or yelling loud. The amused father shook his head fondly to see his son had fallen asleep much comfortably.

"He has totally gone after you, Nath!" Draupadi commented with a smile. "This calmness and keen observing ability have certainly come from you!"

"He has gone after both of us, Kalyani!" Yudhishthira mused, not lifting his eyes from the sleeping baby's face, "his blue-black eyes are yours! His curly locks too are yours! He mirrors you in such a way that I can see you whenever I look at him!"

"I think it's natural only, Swami. A child is the perfect combination of both its parents' souls." Draupadi smiled.

"True. He has become a mirror for us in which we can see each other from now!" Yudhishthira placed the baby carefully beside his mother. He then sat and placed his palm tenderly on Draupadi's head, caressing her gently.

"You seem tired. Catch some sleep, Krishney!"

She held his palm, "How is the new alliance going, Nath? Are the treasurers..."

"Everything is going well." Yudhishthira did not let her finish, "You don't have to worry about that!"

She still held his palm, unwilling to let him go. She felt like asking whether any news of Arjuna had come yet but then decided against. Could Yudhishthira have not told her about it if that happened? Draupadi hid a sigh. She did not want to pain her husband by asking about Arjuna at this happy moment.

"Worry not for Arjuna!" Yudhishthira said, realizing her heart, "I'm waiting for him to send a message. Once I learn where he is, I myself will send this good news to him."

Draupadi looked at him with love in her eyes. "You never fail to read my mind, Swami!"

"No more talk! Now sleep, my Queen! Just as our prince does!" Said the King of Indraprastha, making her close her eyes.

***

Naga rajya

"Bhrata!" Ulupi tried to speak.

"Enough cheating have you done with us, Ulupi!" Ashwasena snapped, "the moment you dared to marry a human, you have been dead for us! Now it really doesn't matter whether you survive or not!" He took out his sword.

"Bhrata listen! I shall not stay here anymore! Only till my childbirth, do not drive me away!"

"Childbirth! That human's child will be born here, in this land of serpents!" Ashwasena hissed, dangling his sword in front of Ulupi, "And you think I will accept that?"

"This is my home too! You cannot drive me away whenever you wish!" Ulupi held his sword, trying to save her womb from it.

"For your kind information, daughter of Kauravya, this is not your home! This place is my father's, Naga Lord Takshaka's! And humans have no place here! Even if it is an unborn baby!"

Ashwasena pushed Ulupi so hard that she fell down. She would have lost her baby right then had not a rock been there to give her the much needed support. Her soft palm cut against the hard rock and blood oozed out. Naagmani hurried to her and tied her wound with a piece of cloth.

"Flee, Rajkumari! Otherwise he will kill you!" She whispered.

"But Sakhi..."

"Please Rajkumari, at least for the sake of your child, escape from this land of serpents!"

Escape?

Yes, because there was no other way to save her child.

But where would she go?

Gangadwara! Her father's kingdom!

The Naga Princess rose to her feet, her large eyes shone in determination. Now her entire existence would be to protect and make her child as the deserving heir of her husband.

Because nothing else did matter to her anymore.