They're no more. The sons of Pandu, along with their mother Kunti, are no more.

The fire consumed the palace and the noble family.

It's believed the palace was made of flammable materials - a perfectly orchestrated plan to oust the rightful heirs of former Emperor Pandu.

The rumours and talk about the death of the sons of Pandu and his widowed queen spread like wildfire across Bharatvarsha. 

The news stormed into the lives of the royals of Kuntibhoja, rattled them, and created a void in their lives as they failed to come to terms with the fact. 

How could their beloved daughter succumb to that fire?

What about the children? They had barely begun living their lives. Their hearts squeezed at the thought of the loss of the young sons of Pandu. 

"This can't be true," Kuntibhoja whimpered and clutched on the armrest of his throne.

The wealth acquired in his lifetime felt useless with the loss of his daughter and grandchildren. 

Pritha was a young child when she stepped into his household. She was only two years old and made his flutter by holding his calloused hands within her tiny and soft hands. She taught him what it meant to be a father; he embraced fatherhood when he held the little one in his arms for the first time. She broke the dry spell of being childless and brought wealth and prosperity.

The palace of Kuntibhoja never saw a dull day when a little Pritha had them dance to her tunes. The sweet little child knew only how to love; she was too innocent and loving for the big and cruel world. She knew only how to give - whether it was impressing the short-tempered sage, Durvasa or how she helped her subjects in the blink of an eye without a second thought. She was the epitome of selfless love, the reason Kuntibhoja always called her his favourite child.

The child who not only taught him about fatherhood had also taught him how to live life while staying true to the path of dharma. There was a time when he worried about why his virtuous daughter never received alliances, but the long wait felt worthwhile when she chose Pandu, the Prince of Kururashtra.

How beautiful was this marriage? He still remembered those secret glances the couple stole as the marriage was conducted with all the rituals. The letters he received from her reinforced how happy she was with the life partner she chose for herself.  

Life was perfect when she went from strength to strength. She stood by the side of her husband and became the Empress of Aryavarta, along with her husband.

"Pritha is my lucky charm, Pita. Life is only more beautiful with her by my side," Pandu had said when he met the couple during their coronation as the Emperor and Empress of Bharata.

He was the proudest father as he saw his country grow under the rule of his daughter and son-in-law. He loved to tell the world his daughter was the Empress; it was the proudest moment of his life.

A  soft smile curved on his lips at the fond memories of the past.

The loss was immeasurable. 

He remembered how his grandchildren attempted to keep up their spirits during the funeral of their father - all because they were seeing him for the first time in their lives. Those little kids had lost their father and mother at a young age, yet their radiance did not reduce one bit. Those kids stayed by the side of their mother like a rock - and that was a day he knew that his daughter had built a family of her own that knew how to stick with each other in the toughest of times.

"Pitamaha," Sahithya's soft and gentle voice said, breaking his chain of thoughts. You have been sitting here for too long. If you continue ignoring your meals, you may spoil your health." Her voice was laced with concern and comfort as she gently squeezed his palms within hers.

"Sleep and comfort have left my body since the news has arrived. How can a father deal with the death of his daughter and grandchildren?" Kuntibhoja sobbed.

Sahithya sat at his feet and rubbed his palms to comfort him.

She wanted to scream to him, Your daughter and grandchildren are alive and just playing a game to get back at their oppressors.

She wanted to tell him they would be hale and healthy as they would build their family and alliances to only come out stronger than ever before.

The pain on her grandfather's face clenched her heart, but she knew she could not reveal it all.

She would perhaps put them in more trouble than they ever were in if she were to let her thoughts win over rationality.

No one had to tell her how delicate the time was. She called it being aware and having common sense to not reveal the already-known events to someone unaware of the reality she came from.

Sahithya had seamlessly weaved herself to the times of Dwapara, and no one knew she came from another time, definitely not the royals of Kuntibhoja - she was sure about it. She put an effort to be more observant of her surroundings and picked up the nuances of the era - whether it was being mindful of her words as she interacted with other royals or picking up on various art forms and educating herself on topics she felt she was unaware - she took every possible step to make herself better and believable.

During these few months in Kuntibhoja, she made an effort to find her political standing in the large country. She was pleasantly surprised to learn that she was living in the same Kuntibhoja from which Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas, came. Her father was the youngest child of his parents, while Pritha was the eldest daughter of the reigning monarch.

With Dharmaraya being her elder cousin, she couldn't be happier.  Her heart fluttered at the mere thought of having the shadow of the man she saw as a father figure all her life. Her being the age peer of Phalguna Arjuna was a more pleasant surprise apparently; she was three months older than him; she found the fact funny and cute, given how Siri would always call him a baby who needed the pampering the most among the Pandavas, though she believed that the twin sons of Madri deserved their own share of love and were often not spoken about.

She felt closer to the people she had worshipped all her life, and the temporary loss created a void in her heart. 

All the praises she heard in their name felt like a knife stabbed straight into her heart. Where were these people when they needed it the most; was death the only reason they came forward? Did they never care about them?

 Was the care shown to tell the world that it was an accident when it was a conspiracy staged in broad daylight?

She felt her grandfather's pain. The poor man did not know what fatherhood meant until his kindhearted brother Shurasena promised that he would be able to raise his first child as his own.

The firsts of a human's life are always special, and for Kuntibhoja, Kunti, his daughter, was all of his firsts in fatherhood. He experienced the surreal experience of parenthood because of her and would forever be grateful for her entering his life.

"We need to visit Hastinapura," Sahithya gently reminded the grandsire and looked right into his eyes. 

Kuntibhoja hummed absentmindedly as he rose from his seat with Sahithya's assistance and requested to leave the assembly hall. "Have the arrangements been made?" he asked.

"They have been made, Pitamaha. Bhrata Vishal and Pita are taking care of it," Sahithya answered promptly as she walked by his side.

"You seem rather calm in these distressing times," Kuntibhoja remarked as they made their way out of the assembly hall and toward the orchards in the west wing of the palace complex. 

"I have a feeling that this a bigger game to suppress the oppressors," Sahithya answered as a faint smile took over her features.

It is a bigger game being played. Staying in Hastinapura would have never allowed the sons of Kunti to build alliances that would promise their loyalty to them; it was next to impossible, especially when Kururashtra was a well-established kingdom with a strong foothold in the politics of Bharatavarsha. 

Any alliance made by Yudhishtira as the Crown Prince was an automatic alliance for Hastinapur, not for him; being away from royal politics early on in life did no good as Duryodhan had access to all resources and alliances from an early age - Duyodhan's conspiracy this time was a blessing in disguise as he would get an opportunity to not only know his country and do something to make his political position better than it was a year ago.

She knew he would have made efforts during their year-long stay at Varnavrata. That's what the texts hinted at, and she was happy for them to be able to spread their wings away from the golden cage of the palace of Hastinapura.

"A bigger game?" the grandsire questioned.

"A game even I'm unaware of," Sahithya lied through her teeth, "But I know Bhrata Yudhishtira would be cooking up a storm before he would be back in the game of politics and royalty. His comeback will be grand and a slap on all those who underestimated him till now," she said cryptically and sat on the bench under the mango tree with Kuntibhoja.

"And this trust is because..."

"The trust on dharma. The sons of Pritha Maa are a beacon of hope as this world drowns in the ocean of adharma, and dharma won't lose easily. It may take a back seat but will always be undefeated."

Sahithya's words reverberated with trust towards dharma, a path she knew she would tread on despite life's adversities. Her mind was devoid of confusion while choosing dharma, and she knew they had to play to win in the long run. Momentary victories meant nothing when the fight was bigger than what met the eye.

Although she knew the path was murky, she willingly chose to walk on it. After all, she had nothing to lose.

******

There goes the third chapter!

Usually, when the topic of Varnavrat comes up we tend to focus on the politics of Hastinapur and rightfully so. But I genuinely felt that we forget about Kunti's family who also lost their daughter in that unfortunate fire accident. This was my small attempt to see it from a father's perspective - a father who lost his daughter and was a lot of firsts in life. Especially her importance in his life🙈🙈🙈

I don't know how this has turned out but I hope I have been able to communicate what it felt to lose a loved one (hopefully it's a decent one; will definitely be editing it after I complete drafting the book.)

As for Sahithya, I wanted her to be presented as intelligent enough to not reveal it all but at the same time express her opinion on why she feels it's a political move. It's not meant to be entirely perfect but still make sense; she's a normal woman in Kaliyug so yes, there's a certain level of awareness but can sometimes lack nuances. 

Let me know how this chapter turned out.

Hope it was an enjoyable read.

Until then take care and see you guys in the next chapter.

Love Siya