Shivi

"How are you feeling now?"

Devika sat erect on the ornate bed. "Much better." She smiled at Shaivya. "Come, sit."

Shaivya sat close to her and observed the wound on her shoulder. It had not healed yet completely.

"You have done such a thing that I can't even inform this to the royal physician!" Shaivya frowned. "If Bhrata comes to know then..."

"No need of informing anyone. My Guru has taught me how to handle such wounds." Devika assured her brother. "And the initial treatment was already done to it. I'm fine now."

"I can see it very well how fine you are!" The Prince sighed. "Why, Didi? Who told you to rush to the Pandava camp at night?"

Devika looked away. "My conscience did."

"Continuous lying also came from conscience?" Shaivya narrowed his eyes.

Devika chose to keep quiet.

"Anyone else will not understand this. But I know you. You are that idealistic Princess who has never ever lied in her whole life! What made you sacrifice your Satya Dharma in a while? Who are the Pandavas to you for whom you could even let go of your lifelong vow?"

"Go revise the scriptures once, brother!" Devika tried to smile. "Lying for saving someone's life is not adharma."

"I understand. But even then, the life risks you have taken for the Pandavas seems too strange to me. You simply could have left it to me alone but you didn't. I don't think this much can be done unless it's for the sake of a loved one!"

Devika grimaced. "The Pandavas are good people, Shaivya. They have suffered a lot of injustice including murder attempts since childhood. Shouldn't one feel sympathetic and protective to them?" 

"Is it just that?" Shaivya raised an eyebrow. "I agree that Yuvaraj Yudhishthira is a great person. I myself am impressed with his care for his people. But with all my admiration for him, I could never do what you have done!"

Devika rose to her feet, grimacing more.

"Have you come here to investigate on me?"

Shaivya shook his head. "No. I have a news to give. Something you won't like to hear."

The Princess turned to her brother with question in her eyes.

"Your anticipation failed. Shivi is now ally of Duryodhana, just as I have feared!" Shaivya's lips pursed.

"How come?" Devika gasped in an unexpected shock. "Pandavas are now in Hastinapura and the power is in their hands!"

Shaivya's face darkened.

"Didi, Pandavas have been banished from Hastinapura!"

"What!" Devika exclaimed. "Yuvaraj is banished from his own kingdom? What madness is this?"

"This is no madness, because for King Dhritarashtra, his firstborn Duryodhana is the only Yuvaraj who deserves to stay in Hastinapura!"

"And his nephews?" Devika's face had changed its colour. "They are no one to him?"

Shaivya sighed. "Maharaj Dhritarashtra has given them the land of Khandavaprastha to rule. Rajkumar Yudhishthira has been coronated as the King of that place."

"Khandavaprastha! That barren land occupied by poisonous snakes?" Devika fumed. "Such an injustice! And no one protested? What were Ganga putra Bhishma and Aacharya Drona doing? How come Mahamantri Vidura not interfare?"

"I don't know, Didi!" Shaivya sounded helpless. "Maybe they tried and failed. But whatever the reason is, it cannot be changed now! Yudhishthira has accepted his uncle's wish as his order!"

Devika's chest pained. She closed her eyes to hold herself.

Why, Yuvaraj? Why do you have to obey that uncle as your father who does no duty of a parent to you? What did you get from such innocent goodness? The hardships of a barren land instead of the entire Kuru kingdom that was rightfully yours! Why didn't you protest?

Tears rolled down her closed eyes. Once again, he would have to suffer a painful life along with his family! Is there no happiness in his destiny at all?

"Didi!" Shaivya shook her arm.

"Where is Pita?" Devika asked, wiping her face. "Has he returned from the Sabha?"

Without waiting for Shaivya's reply, she hurried and left the room. The youngest Prince of Shivi kept watching, confused.

Who was Yudhishthira whose grief could make this warrior Princess cry?

***

Hastinapura

Draupadi found a visible broken Yudhishthira stare vacantly through the window where Ganga was visible.

"Natha!" She gently called, holding his arm.

Yudhishthira sighed. "Mata Ganga, the mother of our clan, is witnessing so much bitterness in her own family! Still nothing stops her from flowing in her own way, doesn't it?"

Draupadi smiled. "Does it bother you not to be able to let go of this bitterness?"

Yudhishthira half-turned to her, his brown eyes betraying guilt.

"I'm guilty to you, Krishnaa! I couldn't even give you a loving marital home! And now..."

"Swami," Draupadi held him tenderly. "Pray, don't blame yourself for your cousins' misconduct! You are not responsible for how they behave with me."

"But I am indeed responsible for the sufferings you are soon going to face in Khandavaprastha!" Yudhishthira's eyes avoided Draupadi's blue lotus ones. "Am I not?"

"What suffering, when I have you five by my side?" She beamed.

"That's your love for us! But can we take unfair advantage of your love, Krishney?" Yudhishthira's palms caressed her cheek, gloominess clouding his eyes again.

"You, the beloved Princess of Panchala, Yuvarani of the Kurus, who was supposed to spend her life on bed of flowers, - for my reason she has to be in the thorns of a deserted land! How can I forgive myself?"

"You five too are princes of this kingdom. Have you ever get any royal luxury that I will get? Swami, I chose this destiny for myself at the very moment I accepted the noble Pandavas as my Lords! Happiness is not in opulence, Natha, it remains in love and Dharma. And that's what will form the foundation of our new kingdom!"

Yudhishthira stared unblinking at her face that beamed in pride for her husbands. She was the one who could make him believe in himself, even when everything was going so wrong.

"Don't weaken yourself thinking about me, Swami." She said again, coming closer to him. "We have to focus on our new responsibilities now. I know my Lords are able to transform even a barren Khandavaprastha to a prosperous city! I trust you."

Yudhishthira finally smiled, exhaling.

"You are our Shakti, Kalyani! Your trust on us can transform every impossible into possibility!" He whispered, pulling her to his embrace. "I know this!"

Your caring eyes will protect me
From the hardships life would offer,
You will fill all my grief, all my weakness,
With the fragrance of your love!

***

Shivi

"I want to ask you, Maharaj! How could you support this huge injustice?"

Govasana was not prepared to see this form of his daughter.

"What's the matter, Devika?"

"Haven't you heard the news yet? Kuru King Dhritarashtra, your respected ally, has banished the Pandavas from Hastinapura."

"So?" Govasana frowned. "A King has divided his kingdom between two successors. What is injustice in this?"

"Pita, I know that dividing kingdom between heirs is common in Bharatavarsha. But dividing kingdom and sending a prince to a barren land surrounded by jungles and snakes, can never be the same! King Dhritarashtra hasn't given Pandavas a share. He has simply banished them to a desert!" Devika's eyes spat hatred for the unseen Kuru King who had misused Yudhishthira's love for him.

"This is the matter of their family, Putri. How am I supposed to interfere?" Govasana was cold.

"You can raise your opposition as an ally, Pita." Devika suggested. "Maharaj Dhritarashtra will definitely think again if his ally kings don't support his misbehaviour to his nephews. Every king of Aaryavarta has this right to raise voice against injustice of their neighbours and allies. Why don't you do that?"

"Why should I? Those five Princes have already received much more than they ever deserved. In my opinion, they should not have been given anything. Forget not, Devi, they are not King Pandu's blood!"

"Pita!" Devika exclaimed. But she collected herself quickly. "Pardon me for saying this. But on that logic, even Maharaj Dhritarashtra should not get anything because he is also not late king Vichitravirya's blood! Neither does his son Duryodhana deserve the Kuru throne! In a family where all are niyoga born children, how come you judge only Pandavas?"

"Well, even if we set that aside, Duryodhana is the only rightful heir, being the eldest son of the King." Govasana stared hard at his daughter. "Don't you know that only a king's son can be a king?"

Devika laughed. "Again you are mistaking, Pita! Was the born blind Dhritarashtra ever coronated as a king? He is nothing more than a caretaking ruler in absence of his brother. The real King was Rajarshi Pandu, and his eldest son is the only one to have right over the undivided Kuru Rashtra!"

The next moment, her face cringed in a sad smile. "It's Yuvaraj Yudhishthira's greatness that he sacrificed his birthright just for obeying his selfish uncle!"

"You are arguing with your father, that too for some mere banished Princes?" Govasana fumed. "Since when did my humble daughter turned into a rebel Princess?"

"Apologies, Pita! But a true follower of Dharma has no choice other than standing against injustice! Dharma does not change for anyone, no matter who he is!" Devika's fiery personality made Govasana speechless.

"And let me tell you one thing. The ones you mark today as some mere banished Princes, soon they will make themselves the best rulers of this country!" The Princess of Shivi proudly continued. "Their kingdom will soon become the centre of attraction for entire Bharatavarsha! And they won't need any help from you kings to do that! Not to forget, they have Krishna Vaasudeva with them! Victory just follows where he resides!"
_________________________________________

Author's note: The poem used here is a loose translation of a Bengali Tagore song.

Anybody wants a private talk between YuVika? Maybe both emptying their hearts to each other?