"I stumbled into darkness."

I washed my hand in the warm bowl of water to rinse off oil sticking on my fingers while my maids cleaned up the cutlery I ate in. The table was wiped and the maids were busy warming the blankets enough to pass the night in the chill inducing nights of the hilly area. Finally the arrangements were done and I strolled towards the bed. Seeing me ready to sleep Jasvi started blowing off the earthen lamps, slowly the tent started to get shrouded in a thick fleece darkness.

"Help" I heard a whisper from the dark corners. My hands started shivering and lips wobbled to vocalize something, anything but yet again my words failed me. I moved steps back from the direction subsequently stumbling on the bed. My fall brought the attention of all the maids in the room back to me and they rushed to be on my side.

"Rajkumari!" They called out with widened eyes and gaped mouth while surveying any wounds that might have occurred. I stayed there, staring at the corner, waiting for the figure lurking those shadows to come out but nothing as such happened. Sugdha handed me a glass of water but I was unable to have a steady hold on it, my hands were stiff with tremors present in them but somehow I gulped down the water. The cool liquid slithered down my throat, moistening the parched cavity, at least enough for me to let out a shaky breath.

"Are you alright?" Sugdha crooned while rubbing onto my back. "What happened? How did you fall?" She questioned my peculiar reactions. I stayed silent for a while and kept my eyes fixated at the corner.

"Rajkumari." She nudged me trying to get my attention.

"Nothing." I sighed, "It is just that I stumbled into darkness." I muttered.

There was a minute quirk in her eyebrows while she stared at me, obviously not satisfied with my answer but nonetheless didn't inquire further. I sat straighter on the bed trying to don a facade of strength but even I knew I was failing miserably at it.

"Rajkumari must be spooked on losing her balance." Jasvi suggested to Sugdha on noticing my tremulous breathing and quavery voice that slipped through my answer.

"Yes, this might be the case." Sugdha mused, biting her lips she ushered out the rest of the maids who were curiously glancing at my stature. "Jasvi, help me blow off the remaining lamps." She requested the girl on my other side.

Before they could comply with their words the fear I was avoiding resurfaced and I almost screamed, "Stop!"

Though they did as commanded, the confusion was clearly visible on their faces that were etched to be stated but my mind was not ready to part with this secret that they carried, hence I left their wordless questions unanswered and dismissed them with a wave of my hand. The silence returned, engulfing the entire room though the merry singing of soldiers and servants outside the tent contested it with equal vigour. I trotted in the direction of a few scant providers of light and kneeled near the warm solace provided by them and stayed there until my eyes started drooping.

"Gandhari!" Someone hushed near my ears trying to wake me up but his attempts failed. His… It finally struck me that a male was present in my room and without wasting or a nimesh, I popped open my eyelids and turned to the direction the voice came from with my mouth readying to scream at the top of my lungs.

Perhaps my intentions were too obvious or the person already knew my next course of action, he covered my mouth with his palm in order to silence my struggles. I thrashed, trying to escape the hold however the hold was too tight for me to loosen because of my weak resistance.

"Hush! This is me." The voice said in a grim tone with a streak of reprimanding albeit there was still warmth present in it. I squinted my eyes trying to see the visage of my intruder and turns out, my fears were indeed my illusions. The person was none other than Bhrata Shakuni who was not at all amused by the act I pulled earlier. Seeing me comparatively relaxed, he flicked my forehead and hissed.

"What are you doing on the floor?" He asked which came more like a scolding, not that it perturbed me as it was frequent for him to turn into a mother hen.

"Nothing." I replied, trying to veil this new fear I inculcated in the past few days.

"Gandhari." He repeated his tactics, something he always did, even when we were kids and things were… comparatively simpler.

"I could ask you the same." I yet again mustered my sweetest smile and folded my arms around myself. "What are you doing here brother?" I raised an eyebrow in order to portray my pretentious confidence.

"My question came first." He replied and once again our verbal squabble started but this time I was not ready to partake in this fatuous debate.

"Here is a deal- Either you tell me why you are here or I would just scream. The first scenario is easy and straightforward but the second one, you would have to give an explanation to not just me but to everyone out there." I put out my deal with a toothy grin. His face scrunched in distaste and he scoffed, "Then I would answer him with a sad story of a brother who got worried on getting to know that someone tried to spy on his sister. He got so worried that he couldn't stop his feet from leading to her chamber but alas! The sister misunderstood him as an intruder."

"Oh! If he got to know about the wrong being done to his sister then why didn't he arrive earlier? Why now?" I deadpanned at his ridiculous stories.

"He is a pince too. Must be busy finding the culprit." He shrugged after answering and squated next to me.

"Then did he get anything? Was the person arrested?" My tone quirked and my attention was now completely aligned to his words but that soon dwindled down on seeing him shake his head in denial.

"Lost the girl somewhere in the woods." He sighed at the failure.

"Oh" I muttered. "Then what brings you here? Don't repeat the reason because I know that is not the entire truth." I stopped him from continuing his nuisance.

"Well, you are not exactly wrong." He pursed his lips and leaned closer. "Remember the fall that I wanted us to visit?"

"The one that was near the capital?" I inquired.

"Yes." He flashed a toothy grin.

"What about that?"

"Want to visit there?" His smile got bigger.

"Isn't that place near the capital and aren't we two villages away from the city?" I scrunched my brows at his proposal.

"Well the fall is just a few Nadika away from there that too when we walk." He said, "We could have a quick visit if you want."

"You mean, this was the waterfall, two villages away, was the one you were calling nearby the capital and wanted to visit when the celebration was at it's peak?" I phrased my question point by point for which he nodded enthusiastically.

"Can I call you insane?" I copied his enthusiasm and seemingly innocent smile.

"But it would have been fun if you had agreed with the plan at that time." He pointed out but I just looked at him incredulously.

"No, we would have practically gotten disowned by our parents if we had done that." I smacked my head in annoyance and didn't even bother to look at him.

"You know, Mother is not here so we could sneak out? No one would know." His words were hushed and his fingers rubbed against one another as if a devil enticing a mortal to fulfil his desire.

"But if someone finds us missing then?" I pointed out the obvious.

"Then what are your maids for?" He twisted his lips in a smirk.

"I won't ask them to lie."

"But I would." He clapped once and Sugdha entered the chamber with a veiled plate.

"You had planned everything for the start right?" I sighed knowing his answer.

"Now get ready!" He chimed and left the tent, giving me space to change.

Unveiling the plate, I prodded through the outfit he arranged for me which was just a simple red antariya. With Sugdha's help, I quickly changed my dress and stepped outside where my brother was standing on the curtain made door.

"This plan is horrible." I started as soon as I exited my tent which was graciously ignored by my brother who hushed me and pointed ahead us where two guards were chatting with one another. Thankfully the little gala of soldiers were at it's peak hence my words were subdued by their cheers and singing.

"Follow me." He whispered and held my hand to help me with steps. With light steps we passed through various tents lined up to fulfil their purposes.

"Stop!" We halted as soon as we heard someone whisper but soon relaxed when we realized it was not for her.

"No." Came another whisper from the adjacent junction. Feeling curious, I peeked to get a glimpse of what was happening only to be enthralled by it later. Two figures were entangled with one another, presumably a man and woman due to their different builts. Soaked in their ardour they had their arms around one another, sharing warmth of not only bodies in the cold mountain nights but the warmth of love and promises too. Though the petite figure was muttering words of denial, her actions were just opposite to it and was indulging the man with occasional giggles and sweet words of amour. Together basking under the soft moonlight accompanied by light emitted by the fire nearby, they embraced each other with tenderness disregarding the threat of being discovered as if the moment was still for them and everything else perished in the moments of togetherness. A moment of bliss, that was what I contemplated from the features I noticed.

"Have you seen enough or should we skip our plan to visit the fall?" My brother interrupted my view with his rude words that made me blush and draw back my sight.

"That won't be necessary, we should leave." I muttered trying hard not to blush but that was impossible when my brother was pursing his lips in amusement looking at my action.

"Are you sure? I mean you look completely occupied by that." He snickered, earning a glare from me.

"I was not!" I denied but lies were never my forte.

"Sure." He stated but his tone sounded sarcastic rather than accepting. I grumbled in reaction but was yet again ignored by my brother who was marching ahead.

Soon we were out of the camp and on the outskirts of the forest. The trees towered the night sky enveloping them with their branches and the roots made the ground bumpy to even walk.

"Help" I heard the whisperings yet again like someone was crooning to me, asking to reach out for the sound. A cold wind passed through my tresses making me shiver and the darkness of the place wasn't helping either.

"Gandhari!" My brother called out and every ominous feeling I had prior vanished with his voice. "Walk faster will you?" He signalled me to speed up. Tucking a lone lock of hair behind my ear, I rushed my steps to reach out to him.

"You walk too fast." I grumbled while trying to match his pace which seemed to increase every time I tried to catch up to him.

"Or you walk way too slow." He said in a monotonous way while kicking a pebble near his foot.

"That's not true." I frowned but my brother just shrugged at it and continued walking. The darkness was there, so was the cold streak in the winds, the animals were still prowling in the woods but nothing scared me while I debated with my brother throughout our journey.

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Hello people the update is here! Hope you liked it, tell me through your comments.

The statement into darkness is intentional because here Gandhari is not stating the obvious.

There is a word "antariya" which is a 5m long cloth that you wrap around your lower body. It is also called dhoti.

Also help me out with something. Which of the following covers should I keep vote with your comments.

1.

2.

3.

Am rooting on you guys to suggest me the best covers and don't forget check out new aesthetics! The old ones would remain as it is because I am in love with them to unpublish it or remove it.