Bank of Ganga, near Pandava camp

"Didi!" Shaivya could not resist his curiosity anymore. "Why did you..."

"Sssh!" Devika warned him by putting a finger on her lips. "No question! Just follow me!" She whispered.

"But I'm not getting you!" Shaivya whispered too. "What are we going to do?"

"You will know soon!" Devika said. "Just remember to second me in whatever I do or speak!"

The younger brother nodded, still clueless about what was happening. But he was aware of his sister's intelligence, hence chose to keep faith on her.

They reached the western corner of Ganga. This place was comparatively less crowded than the main camp area. They saw very few night guards roaming around with flambeaus in their hands.

Devika touched the seethe of her sword once. It could be necessary at any moment! Her cautious eyes searched around the darkness, observing each guard present there.

Who among them could be a spy from Sindhu or Shivi?

Her gaze rested on a particular guard. His face was not clear from here but she noticed something odd in his body. Her face lit up.

"Look!" She nudged Shaivya, whispering. "That man on the left!"

Shaivya's head turned to the guard Devika indicated.

"What?"

"His elephant-marked armlet is wrongly placed!" Devika said fast. "Soldiers of Hastinapura would never wear it on left arm! It's their sign of honour!"

"But...how can we be sure?" Shaivya's doubt seemed valid. Devika herself was not sure that the man was indeed a spy. He could have been a new worker of Hastinapura who did not yet know about their practice. How to confirm the truth then?

"Come!" Devika stepped forward, thinking of some plan. Shaivya mechanically followed her.

"Hail the Lord of Kurus!" Devika loudly said, drawing the guard's attention to her.

"Everything fine, brother?" She asked again. "Seems like you are waiting for boars and pigeons to have feast on five elephants?" She looked straight through the guard's eyes.

It was a great risk to use such codes. But Devika had to take it to reveal the truth. Boar was emblem of Sindhu and pigeon was of Shivi. And elephant belonged to the Kurus, leading to the obvious meaning of five Kuru princes getting killed by Sindhus and Shivis. She knew that if the guard was indeed a spy, he would catch the coded message.

Thankfully, it did work. The guard's eyes widened in hope. He came closer and looked around before lowering his tone.

"Yuvaraj Kotikasya sent you two, right?" He whispered.

Devika nodded with emphasis, followed by Shaivya.

"Thank Mahadeva! I was waiting for you only!" He said. "I'm Prince Jayadratha's messenger."

Devika took a deep breath. She was already halfway to the mission! Just she had to keep her brain cool as much as possible!

"Where are the others? Or you are alone?" Devika asked next. She was sure Jayadratha had sent a group.

"They are waiting closeby for my signal." The messenger of Sindhu said. "Our Lord wants to finish the Pandava family by the next prahara."

"Ah, you fools!" Devika slapped her forehead, acting to look worried. "Whom would you finish? Our targets are not there in their tents!" She whispered. "I'm coming from the main camp. They have fled!"

"What?" The Sindhu spy almost screamed. "Just a while ago my friend has seen them in place. How did this happen so soon?"

Shaivya came forward, understanding Devika's hint.

"Don't you know that prince Bhima's speed is equal to that of wind?" Shaivya said. "He must have carried his brothers to some safe distance!"

"Then we have to find them!" The spy cried. "Don't waste time! Run!"

"Wait! Where will you run? Do you even know in which direction they have fled?" Devika raised an eyebrow, giving the spy a much needed pause.

"Brother Kshatraratha! Pandavas have fled!" A chorus reached them. Devika found a group of people approaching them. Must be the other spies of Sindhu!

"We saw a wall of arrows on the west riverbank. They seemed to have fled to Hastinapura!"

"Wrong!" Devika strongly denied. "That's their trick to befool you all, dear friends! They have made the wall in opposite direction to misguide you! They have fled to Kampilya, their marital home!"

All the eyebrows were curved.

"How can you be so sure?" One of them asked.

"See what I found on the eastern bank!" Devika beamed, handing over the arrow she was carrying to them. "This is Yuvaraj Yudhishthira's arrow! You can check his name engraved on it!"

"Yudhishthira's arrow indeed!" They gasped. "That means we need to go to the east!"

"Exactly!" Devika encouragingly nodded. "They have tried to do the same eyewash to us as they did in the tunnel of Varanavata. But they don't know how intelligent we can be!"

"Thank you so much, brother! Without your alert search we could never have known their correct location! You return to Yuvaraj Kotikasya and inform him. The task will be done in a while!"

"Alright!" Devika said, "As you wish! But make sure that none of your group stands near their empty tents like a fool!"

They nodded and rushed to the eastern direction. Devika finally smiled.

"Shaivya!" She turned to her brother. "They are on their feet. You will reach Kampilya sooner by horse."

"Me? Why?" Shaivya wondered.

"Reach the palace and inform everything to Yuvaraj Dhrishtadyumna." Devika instructed. "Ask him to prepare for punishing these assassins who came to kill his brothers-in-law! Quick!"

"Understood! But you?"

"They might come back anytime. I have to watch over the camp till the daybreak." She calmly declared.

***

Pandava camp

Devika's brow arched as she heard a familiar whistle. She knew that it was the signal that Sindhu and Shivi's spies used to communicate.

Clutching her sword, she looked around.

"What those fools have done!" She heard someone whisper in frustrated tone. "Definitely someone has misguided them! Pandavas haven't fled. They are here only!"

Devika's heart almost stopped beating.

What would happen now?

"It's already the second prahara. Let's complete the task first and then go in search for them." Another voice said.

It was the last thing Devika could have tolerated. Even before the two men could move ahead, one of them found her open sword held under his chin.

"Dare you touch the five brothers before killing me!" She roared. Her weapon slashed the assassin's throat in the next moment. As the man fell down on ground, Devika sensed more people had come behind to launch attack on her. She spun round and took out the second sword too from her waistband. With two swords in both her hands, she stood at the middle of attackers. Whoever came within the reach of her arms either got their limbs chopped off or chests pierced.

"Watch out!" A concerned male voice warned her. It was familiar.

Devika stepped left, ducking the blow that was launched on her from right side on the back. And then she saw the one who warned her. The person himself had joined her with his own sword.

"Rajkumar Nakula!" She gasped. "Stay away!"

"It's my duty to help the one who is fighting all alone to save us!" Nakula quickly uttered, his sword flashed in the darkness.

"No! They're here to kill you! If you or your brothers are harmed then it'll be my biggest defeat, Kumar!" Devika uttered without breathing. "Please stay away!"

She could not wait to see if Nakula listened to her or not. The next moment another couple of attackers jumped over her. Devika fought with all her strength and courage. When she was done away with the last assassin standing, she found a sharp blade hanging over Nakula's head.

"Kumar!" Devika cried out as she jumped in to guard Nakula. The sword launched on her right shoulder, making blood gush down her bosom. For a while Devika lost her balance. Before falling down she sensed a pair of strong arms holding her.

The arms she wouldn't mind dying within!

Then, it was all dark.

***

Devika opened her eyes on a bed inside a tent. Whose tent it was, she did not know. Neither did she have enough strength to think much. The only thought that came to her was safety of Pandava family. Her eyes eagerly searched every corner of the tent, waiting to see everyone fine.

"Everything is alright!" She heard Yudhishthira's serene voice. "Don't worry!"

Devika's eyes returned to and rested on his face. He was smiling. She breathed in relief.

He indeed knew how comforting and healing his smile was to her!

"Rajkumar Nakula?" She feebly said. "Is he..."

"I'm fine." Nakula came forward, smiling. "Without you taking that blow on yourself, I could have been in Yama loka by now."

"And that assassin?"

"Jyeshtha has killed him as soon as his sword made you bleed." Nakula informed. "We have never seen him in this furious form as we saw today!"

Devika stared at her beloved with moist eyes. Now it had been clear to her that who sent Nakula to help her in the battle.

Seeing their eyelock, the other four brothers exchanged glances and grinned. They also had realized upto which extent their eldest brother could go for his love!

"It is unbelievable that Yuvaraj Yudhishthira, who cannot even knowingly kill an ant, killed a human being!" It was Krishna, in his standard mischievous voice.

"It was not a human being, Keshava. It was a pile of adharma which needed to be removed from earth." Yudhishthira calmly spoke. "And I had to save the one who saved my Nakula's life!" Love dripped from his large copper-hued eyes. Devika stared unblinking, as if drinking his serene beauty with her own thirsty eyes.

She had to tear her gaze away as she heard Nakula chuckle softly, followed by Bhima. Lying down in front of so many anxious eyes suddenly felt uneasy. Devika struggled to rise, but her head ached a lot.

"Don't!" Said the royal physician. "You are too weak to arise. Take rest!"

Devika's head fell on the pillow, much against her wish. She could sense that her long hair had been scattered around. Feeling at a loss, she searched for the headpiece that had covered her hair.

"Where is my turban?"

"It is not required anymore, Princess of Shivi!" Sahadeva smiled. "You can leave this disguise now. Danger is over!"

__________________________________________

Author's note: The emblems of Sindhu, Shivi and Hastinapura are taken from the text. They were the symbols their flags carried.

So, how was the chapter? Did you like our warrior Princess?

What do you think will happen next? How will Draupadi talk to Devika?