"What happened Priye? Why are you silent?" Jayadrath asked with concern as he slowly moved towards Dussala. Dussala kept backing away from him as she was trembling in fear.

"You were talking so much in front of your brothers. Now what happened to your tongue?" Jayadrath asked again.

A tremor ran through her spine at his sweet-coated voice.

***

"I don't know either to feel sorry for you or be ashamed that you're my sister, Dussala." Yudhisthir said in a pained voice throwing away the sword forcefully.

A sob escaped from Dussala's mouth at the disappointed voice of Yudhisthir.

"Bhrata---?"

Yudhisthir raised his hand stopping her without so much as glancing at her.

"I tolerated him till now only because of you. But excuses can be made only to a point. After that all the excuses becomes a weapon of adharm. I can no longer make excuses for you and do injustice to all the women whom your husband has insulted." Yudhisthir said again before closing his eyes and composing himself to say what needed to be heard.

"This is the last time Indraprasth is doing a favor to you. You and your husband are no longer welcomed in any of our territories."  He said staring straight at Dussala's eyes. Then he turned his angry eyes to Jayadrath and declared,
"And you Sindhuraj. Go back and prepare yourself for war. Soon I will come to Sindhu myself with my army. I will behead you only at the warfield now with a calm and controlled senses."

Sindhuraj started laughing after a few moments of surprised silence had passed.

"That's good! Now, I will drag your precious wife out of here only after defeating you and seating on the throne of Indraprasth." He said bursting with false ego.

"Be careful Jayadrath! If I hear one more word against Bhabimaa, you may not leave Indraprasth alive regardless of what bhrata Yudhisthir said!" Sahdev warned in anger before anyone else could respond.

"And as for seating on the throne of Indraprasth, then you're either forgetting bhrata Yudhisthir's capabilities or overestimating yours. Your time is close to its end. Not even Dussala jiji's tears can save you anymore." Arjun added.

"I don't need anyone's protection! Least of all a woman's! This pathetic sister of yours can drown in her own tears for all I care." Jayadrath replied with a snicker.

"Is that why you take me to every single place where there's a chance of you getting beaten?" Dussala asked scornfully looking at her husband. Jayadrath narrowed his eyes at her quite not believing that she had really spoken.

"What did you say?" He asked skeptically.

"Be it Hastinapur or Indraprasth or Madra. You intentionally take me to everywhere so you can use me to escape the consequences of your dirty deeds! And my brothers? They always become mute for my sake like Sahdev or try to cover for you like bhrata Duryodhan!" Dussala's voice started to rise with each passing moments.
"How long! How long are you going to continue this?! Will you never change?! Never??!!!"

Dussala's voice broke at the end and her sobs got louder. But she did not let herself indulge in her own miseries and wiped her tears. She folded her hands before Yudhisthir and said,

"I'm sorry bhrata Yudhisthir. I apologize to you too Bhabishree. If possible, forgive me. I know what I am doing is wrong. But I am still only doing this for my son. Inspite of everything he did, to Suratha, he's the best father and guide. Suratha loves his father a lot and I love my son a lot. I'm sorry!"

"As I said Dussala, excuses can be accepted only to a point. Your excuse feels too empty now." Yudhisthir said monotonously.

"Bhrata ----" Dussala called him in sorrow, but Yudhisthir stopped her again.

"You should leave Indraprasth right away."

Dussala stared at him for some time before glancing at her other brothers. She controlled the sobs that wanted to break free again and left the place hurriedly without glancing back.

Sindhuraj Jayadrath glared at Yudhisthir for some time before his eyes went to Devika. He then turned his eyes to Drisana. But Nakul blocked his view immediately matching Jayadrath's angry stare with his solemn ones.
A frown appeared in Jayadrath's face before he seemed to remember something and smirked.

"Take care, Rajkumar Nakul! Your wife has made more enemies in Aryavarth than friends. I heard you're good with horses? Then you must know how to tighten the bridle, don't you?" He said making Drisana's anger rise at the comparison with horses. But Nakul only smiled before replying,

"I do. But my wife knows better than me how to put down a demented one to eternal sleep."

Jayadrath's face lost the smirk and hardened at the insult. But he thought it best to leave for the time being.

***

"Priye Dussala? Why are you silent now?"

Raani Dussala was brought back from her the memory by her husband's sugarcoated words of concern. But Dussala wasn't fooled by them as the anger and hatred of Jayadrath was reflecting in his eyes only. She knew he wasn't in his senses. Well, he never seemed to be in his senses. Otherwise why would he go to Indraprasth at the first place?
The thought of claiming Devika as his was ridiculous to say the least. Who in their correct state of mind would think of such a thing?
No! Sindhuraj wasn't on his senses. Ever!

And Dussala had not been in her senses when she had decided to marry him.

Rajkumari Dussala was the only daughter born in Kuru dynasty after the long succession of men. Among the one hundred and six princes of Hastinapur, she had been the only princess. And so, she had been adored  by every single person of her family. Her brothers loved her to a fault. She had grown up in the protective environment of Hastinapur under her mother's affectionate care.

She had been just a pampered ignorant teenager when she met Sindhuraj Jayadrath. He was the only man apart from her family who had made her feel special. Whereas no one even dared to look at her twice, he had sneaked into her room at nighttime. Her teenage heart had beat faster at his touches and lustful glances. It had made her feel desired at that time. Her insolence had led her to believe that he loved her and wanted to make her his!

Even she couldn't believe how much ignorant she had been at that time. Everyone blamed Duryodhan for her marriage to Jayadrath. And her bhrata Duryodhan accepted it silently. But no one knew that it was Dussala only who had asked him for it.
Yes! At Dussala's birthday when her bhrata Duryodhan made the promise to give her anything she wished for, Dussala had wasted no time in asking to be Jayadrath's wife. Duryodhan had been angry and yelled at her for the first time in life. He had tried to make her understand that Sindhuraj wasn't a good choice for her, but an insolent Dussala refused to listen to anything. She was sure that Jayadrath was only misunderstood.
Failing to make his sister see sense, Yuvraj Duryodhan had been forced to agree to this union.

But soon after the marriage, Dussala realized how right her brother had been and how wrong she was in her assumption. But she hadn't dared to admit her fault or rather her pride hadn't allowed so. She had already made the mistake and now was resigned to bear the consequences. But her pretense had not saved her from her elder brother's wrath.

She still felt the knife of Duryodhan's words twisting her heart when she remembered that day.

"Today, only because of you, I have been forced to do something so heinous that I can't even look at myself in the mirror!

But Enough! From this day onwards, you'll never find me by your side Dussala.

Don't you dare to come to me with your problems anymore! For me, you have ceased to exist!"

Years had passed, but since that day, bhrata Duryodhan had not spoken a single word to her.

But what could she do? There was no way to reverse the mistake that she had made. She liked it or not, Sindhuraj Jayadrath was her husband now. Nothing could change it. If anything, it would have made the situation worse only. She did what was needed to be done to survive.

And now seeing where she stood, she thought it would have been better to admit her mistake than dangling to her false pride.

A loud yelp of pain left her mouth as Jayadrath grabbed her by her hair.

"Who do you think I am, Dussala?" Sindhuraj hissed at her. "How dare you to talk to me like that?!"

He screamed the words while throwing her away forcefully. Dussala cried out in pain as she fell at an awkward angle hurting her wrist. But Jayadrath's ears did not hear her cry loud enough to please his bruised ego. He stromed towards her to take out his frustration and anger.

The guards stationed outside shifted uncomfortably hearing the loud cries and pleadings of their queen. But it was not in their authority to intervene. Not if they wanted to stay alive. The troupe of Sindhu had parted ways with the troupe of Sivi three days ago. And as most of the soldiers were sent to hunt in different directions, there remained only a few to witness the brutality of their King.

Even when Sindhuraj Jayadrath dragged a badly injured Dussala out of the tent by her hair, they stood motionless with lowered head.

"Oh the precious princess of Hastinapur, the dearest sister of Kauravs! Do you have no shame? Did they teach you nothing?!!" Sindhuraj said sympathetically while banging her head on the nearest tree bank. Dussala sobbed hard. Her whole body was battered from his beatings. Blood was gushing out of a few places.

"Did you learn nothing from Maharani Gandhari?! Did you not see how much your mother was dedicated to her husband? Just because her husband is blind, she too has rejected the blessing of seeing! And here you are! Not only shamelessly watched your husband getting humiliated, but added to his humiliation too!"

Dussala tried to speak. Say anything that would have made him stop. But she couldn't form any coherent words. As she kept fumbling to say something, Jayadrath narrowed his eyes at her and then seemed to have understood her.

"I know! I know priye. You're too hurt to watch me like this. I know how much you love me. I understand you, priye. I know after watching my humiliation, you feel too much guilty." He said while caressing her hair.

"But don't worry. I will end your suffering. No! No! You know I can't let you die! I can't live without you, priye." He said again hugging her tightly. "But I can't watch your guilt too. So, I will just carve out those eyes that witnessed my insult."

Dussala froze hearing his words. She watched numbly as Jayadrath moved away from her with a smile in face and got out a dagger to fulfill his words.

Might be that humanity had long ago lost the battle with their slavery, as the guards around watched silently while Sindhuraj after beating his wife cruelly, raised the dagger to scratch out her eyes as the revenge of his hand being pierced by Drisana's knife.

***