Hey Guys!!!!

The Thirty first chapter.

I don't own Mahabharat.

Happy Reading!!

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Third POV 

The weather was strange today, it had suddenly started to rain heavily.
Water mixed with the light blowing wind, made the day seem even more cooler than before.

Ananya took a shuddering breath as she sat there.
The soft wind blowing around her, her arms and legs seemed to have turned in to constant place for goosebumps to reside.

The weather seemed to dis- hearten the young girl's mood even more than before. Water in her hair did nothing to stop her from being overly- annoyed about everything. She felt her head and dress to be much heavier than before.

What annoyed her in the beginning? 
Well, normally she would be happy sitting in a temple but given the circumstance she was scared and stunned. In short, not happy at all.

Why would at all she be? 
Mere minutes before things happened and now her life turned upside down.

What happened, you ask? 

Well, her best friend, Karn filled the partition of her head with Sindoor in front of the temple of Shiva and Parvati.

"Your marriage is the luckiest one." The Priest says. "Marriage here, in front of Devi Parvati, the goddess of marriage, also the temple is guarded by the Banyan tree which is a blessed sign. Plus, marriage today, on the auspicious day of Vat Savitri, is considered the marriage will be the purest and praised upon amongst mankind and gods alike for ages."

Ananya looked at the man with a blank face, it was not that she was hiding her feeling the truth was that she was not feeling anything. She was numb and the void in her heart was growing only bigger.

She turned to look at her best friend- now her husband, who sat there frozen a hand clasping her but seemingly frozen.

Karn was stubbed by his own actions, how could he do that. He has destroyed Ananya's life. His best friend's life. He loves her so much, but still hurt her.
How could he do it? What was going moments ago in his head that he did what he did. She hated him so much and this all would just add on to the fact.

his mind wandering to where and how it all began. 

-- 60 hours ago -- 

"Ananya's mother?" Raj Mata echoes' his words. "Why did you not say that before? What is your name, Lady?"

But both the lady and Prince Karn are silent.
Raj Mata Satyavati could small signs of panic in Prince Karn and so could Maha Mahim Bishma. So, what was he really hide? And why was he doing that?

"Devi?" Maha Mahim moves closer to the lady but suddenly he could just not reach her. And the reason was a very simple one.

Prince Karn was standing in front of the lady. He suddenly came to stand between Maha Mahim and the lady, the lady who was supposed to be Ananya's mother.

"Karn?" Maha Mahim looked at his son shocked.

Prince Karn bowed his head in front of his father not saying anything.
He knew that whatever he said would not be convincing lie enough to either his father or his grand- mother.

"It is alright, Karn." The lady placed a hand on his shoulder, lightly.

Surprise filled Karn's face before his face flirted back to the emotionless mask, he had fixed on his face since the arrival of his father.
And he stepped back. Following the un- said order of his Matey!

"I apologize for his actions." The lady says slowly. "He and Ananya have made it their life goal to protect me under every circumstance. And when you asked me to show my face his protectiveness kicked in."

"Protectiveness?" Maha Mahim Bishma's eyebrows furrowed together. "We will not hurt you so why the instinct?"

"People cannot always be hurt physically, Maha Mahim." The lady answers.

Everyone looked at her with a new found interest. Her statement seemed to put all of them in a bigger dilemma than the one they already were in.
Who is she? And what did she really mean by that? 

--- 

"Who is that?" Princess Dushala questions her best friend.

"Devi Amba." Princess Subhadra whispers, making sure nobody hear her.

"What!?" Princess Dushala exclaims in surprise.

"Shhh!" Princess Subhadra shushes her best friend.

"What do we do?" Princess Dushala asks, worried, If Maha Mahim Bishma or Raj Mata Satyavati saw her, it would be a big mess.

"We have to plan her escape." Princess Subhadra said determined.

"Distraction." They chorused together as they looked at each other.

"I have an idea." Princess Dushala says, eyeing one of the rose bush out there.

"Let me do it." Princess Subhadra says stopping her best friend.

"You think you can do it?" Princess Dushala questions.

Princess Subhadra turns to her friend and glares at her.
Princess Dushala raises her hand in defeat, "Just asking."

"Help us, Devi Durga!" Princess Dushala mumbles and Princess Subhadra takes a deep breath in preparation before she shrieks out aloud.

"What happened, Subhi?" Prince Karn questions, hovering over the said girl.

"We were picking flowers; a thorn seems to have buried itself in her skin." Princess Dushala explains, jumping around.

"I cannot pull it out." Princess Subhadra says, she looked at the verge of crying.

"Let me do it." Prince Karn says, "Just stay calm."

Raj Mata Satyavati holds Princess Subhadra in a close hug to calm her, as a worried Dushala hovered around them.
Prince Karn held her hand applying pressure around the area where the thorn pierced her skin on the forearm of her hand.

And slowly with gentle hands he pulls the thorn.
The pressure that he was allowing around the area, helped in pushing the thorn out, easily and smoothly.

"Why did you scream?" Prince Karn questions, Princess Subhadra as he looks at the thorn he just retrieved from her hand.

"It was so sudden, it hurt more." Princess Subhadra answers as she

"Next time, do not scream." Prince Karn instructs Princess Subhadra as he wraps the end part of her Ang- Vastram around her hand, tightly.

"Aditya!" Raj Mata Satyavati scolds Prince Karn as she whacks him on the head.
"What was that?"

"What was what?" Prince Karn turned to look at his grand- mother.

"Is this what you say to someone who just got hurt?" She scolds him.

"Come on, sweetheart!" Prince Karn protests. "I am just making her strong."

"You found an idiot, Deva." Raj Mata Satyavati says turning to look at her step- son, Maha Mahim Bishma.

"You were there too when I was raising him, right? You practically raised him as your son." Maha Mahim asks. "Yet here we are!"

Princess Dushala and Princess Subhadra giggle keeping a hand on their mouth while the Prince's except Karn hide their smile and amusement.
Prince Karn on the other hand, openly burst out laughing. He had no qualms in doing that, at maximum level, all he would receive was a whack.

And he did get whacked. "Dadi!" He protests.

"That lady left." Prince Nakul says suddenly and everyone turns to the spot

"When did that happen?" Prince Arjun asked surprised. "Why dd we not realise about this before now?"

Silence prevails at the statement, none of them wanted to admit that she had been so slink that neither of them could feel her slip away.

"We were busy with Subhi, she must have left." Princess Dushala says, letting regret seep in to her voice in tons.

"Do you know who she is?" Raj Mata Satyavati looked at the girl, closely.

"How will I know, who she is?" Princess Dushala gives a nervous laugh.

"Who is she, Adi?" Raj Mata turns to her grand- son.

"Leave it na, Dadi." Karn whines. "She will tell you when she is comfortable with telling you about herself. We should rather have something to eat, I am for once very hungry."

"When are you not?" Maha Mahim mumblessarcastically. 

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How was the update for the day?

Sorry for the late update! 

I think the chapter is a very big turning point in the story. 

This is going to be interesting, mark my words. 

(1370 words.)

--Sxxxxx