So I know this story is based on mughal era but I'm just going to add the pictures from sp Mahabharata!

***

Panchaali looked around the room, any other day she would have been ecstatic about the fact of being at a new place.

Today however she felt empty, no pain, no suffering, just nothing. The door to her room was opened and the pandavas walked in.

Their eyes fixed on her, she sat on the bed, her eyes looking at nothing. Her face an expressionless mask as she looked at nothing. Their hearts squeezed painfully as they looked at her.

They wanted to hug her, to tell her that everything will be alright. But what right did they have? They have practically destroyed her happy world, surely they were avenging what was done to them, but in their attempts to rectify everything they had destroyed her. Her happy world was shredded by them and they knew they deserved all her hate, and they knew what they are about to do would break her more. They knew they had no right to ask her to marry them all five but they had no choice, it was either that or let her get slaughtered. And they chose to save her, she was innocent, she had done nothing but be kind to them and this is how they returned the favour.

"Panchaali." Yudhisthir whispered her name, he got no response, he looked at his brothers who nodded at him, "Panchaali." He called again as he moved towards her, he sat on the bed next to her, she didn't even look at him. "Talk to me." He whispered as he moved his hand towards her, he cupped her cheek making her look at him, her eyes met his, she looked at him in the eyes, tears filled her eyes as they looked into his, making his heart squeeze painfully as he looked at her face.

"Panchaali." He whispered, his voice was low, "what are you here for now?" Her voice was barely above a whisper as she looked at the five men, her eyes settling back on him. His heart tugged at her emotionless tone and brisk question. He didn't know what to say, what does one say to the woman whose family was destroyed by them. They had no idea that they were her family, if they had, maybe they had found a different way to avenge their family because never in a hundred years they would condemn anyone to the pain of seeing their family die, they knew that pain all too well, that feeling of being dead from within, that soul wrenching pain, that feeling of hopelessness, the torment of all the happy moments,they knew it all too well. And in knowingly they had gifted this pain to her, to the one woman, they never wanted to see cry, they felt guilty, the pain of which chocking them slowly.

"We didn't know." Arjun whispered as he sat on her other side, she smiled sadly, a watery chuckle left her mouth, agony was thrumming through her body, sinking her, making her feel completely lost. "Didn't know?" She asked mildly, "and that fixes everything? I get my family back? Does it undo what I saw, what I feel?" She asked as she looked at him,her voice held no anger, no hatred, just agony as her dark eyes clashed with his brown ones.  The hundred questions in them had his heart tattering.

"Tomorrow we all are getting married to you!" Bheem blurted out, he wanted her to shout and scream, to hit them, anything but this mind numbing behavior of hers, it was just too much for him to take, he couldn't see her in so much pain.

Nakul expected her to shout and scream, to hit them even but to his and the surprise of the rest of his brothers, she just sat there, her eyes lowered, no expression on her face. "Won't you say something?" Nakul questioned as he looked at her, she still said nothing. "Don't you have any problem with this proposal?" He tried again, "does it really matter what I feel? Do I really have a choice here?" She questioned, her voice dead, the little spark that they had earlier seen in her eyes was dead too.

Sehdev's heart cracked at her words, they all were silenced. Her words were true, they had no answer for her, she was right, she really had no choice here, none of them really did, but that didn't mean that it didn't hurt them, it really hurt them bad to see her like this, they felt like the biggest failures.

Panchaali sat there her heart thumping in agony, really it didn't matter to her anymore what happened to her, whether she lived or died, whether they killed her or not because she was already dead, her heart was pulsing, each passing moment was a torment at a different level as the memories of her mother and her family played in the back of her mind, reminding her every moment what she has lost, that her family was no more a part of this world, that no one really out there loved her or cared for her anymore, that in such a big world she was forever alone. . .

***

The preparations for the engagement were in full swing, all the decorations, the food and everything else were prepared. The best of everything was organized, but the pandavas felt no happiness, not a pinch of it. All they felt was anger and remorse, their mind was going crazy as all their heart did was thump in pain. They had wanted the wedding to be a small and quick affair but their friends had to make a big deal about it.

Yudhisthir's head thrummed with pain as he looked at all the decorations and he knew she would hate it, it was like applying salt on her wounds.  He hated all this like his brothers and hoped that things will get better, once he was done with the wedding, he had sworn to break off all the relationship with every royal.

Bheem sighed,annoyance that was what he was feeling, anger pouring through his heart. Her devastated image just won't leave his mind, her silence about all this was not helping either, he wanted her to shout and scream. Not to look so broken and shattered, he wanted her to smile not to cry. He never really imagined getting married, always had been too busy with them avenging their family and now that they had, he really had no idea what to do with himself.

Arjun stood silently in the dark corner, avoiding everything and everyone. He was in no mood to smile and pretend when all his world was collapsing around him, her sad face, her cries were still ringing though his mind. Earlier the images of his mother and sister devastated him but now it was Panchaali. Her cries that day had torn his heart, he had no idea that she was a royal,that she was the family to the man who had tormented his family and had destroyed him. Fate really did hate him, it sure had relieved him from the memories of his past but now his present was a torment on its own.

 
The twins stood near the lake, their eyes focused on the glistening water, her heart was thudding in their chest as pain flooded their system, evey time they shut their eyes her crying face would flash in front of them, her screams and cries reverberating through their mind. Guilt weighed heavy on their chest as every moment they were made to realise by their heart that the one person,who accepted them for who they were was actually made a living dead by them, they had unknowingly became the monsters that everyone believed them to be. . .

***

DO VOTE AND COMMENT!

***