At Mathura, many decades ago :

"I admit that you won. Pray, slow down now!"

Pritha laughed as she pulled the reins and looked back. Her younger brother's chariot was far behind her. She waited till he reached.

"I won't try a race again with you, elder sister!" Vasudeva panted for breath, wiping sweat from his face. Pritha moved her chariot closer to his and patted his back.

"You will, because I'm not going to spare you any soon." She chuckled. Amused at Vasudeva's frown, she caressed him. "Not until my little brother beats me."

"Beat you?" Vasudeva sighed, shaking his head. "You are the expert in everything, elder sister!" Vasudeva wondered aloud. "Be it those discussions of statecraft in the Gurukul or driving chariots, you always are the winner."

Pritha laughed. "My little brother too will excel when he will grow up. After all, whose brother are you?" Her eyes sparkled as she patted Vasudeva again.

"Kumar Vasudeva, Kumari Pritha, we need to move now." The guards accompanying them reminded. "We must reach before the sun is above head."
Both nodded and picked up the reins again.

The chief guard looked relived. This was a regular thing to him. The two siblings always refused to take charioteers while visiting their Gurukul - the ashrama of Rishi Garga at the outskirts of Mathura. Initially they used to share a single chariot but now after Vasudeva too learned chariot driving, he insisted of getting a separate chariot for him. Their father, chief Shurasena, however, never allowed his children to keep a single step outside the palace without a group of selected guards, led by his own senior bodyguard. Since then, it had been a regular matter of worry for the aged chief guard till these two reached home safely.

They reached near the Shura mansion when sun was already in the mid-sky. The street was busy and overcrowded even at this time, the marketplace being still open. People and horses were travelling at random.

A sudden surge of dust flew to Pritha's eyes. She blinked fast to get rid of the disturbance and looked in front. A sharp neigh of horse followed. To her shock, a pair of horsemen rushed in the speed of lightning, shoving the crowd that came in their way.

Who drives a horse this way?

Before Pritha could even feel the anger, a cry in female voice hit her ears. Through the settling dust that rose from the horses' feet, she found a woman, fallen on ground, unable to arise.

"Help my kid! Help! Please!"

Pritha quickly moved her eyes. A child was also lying on the ground, far from the woman who seemed to be his mother. Without a second thought, Pritha pulled the reins and jumped out of the chariot. Now the guards felt concerned and rushed for her help.
Pritha rushed to the weeping kid and took him in her arms before a running chariot almost stumbled over him if she was not there in time. The charioteer had pulled the reins immediately to stop the chariot. Scared, the child threw his arms around Pritha. She patted his back and handed him over to his mother. The woman had stood up by then.

"Hope you are fine now, Aarye." She softly enquired.

The woman caressed Pritha's cheeks and kissed her forehead.

"Bless you, my child! Bless you!" She muttered in moist eyes.

Bowing to her, Pritha turned to her chariot. A worried Vasudeva had come down to check on her. She assured the boy with a smile. Her guards' talks came to her sense now.

"You could have asked us instead, Kumari." Someone groaned.

"There was no need to run yourself." Remarked someone else.

Pritha did not bother to respond. She understood that waiting for the guards to take actions could have made it too late to save the child.

"You indeed are a brave girl." She heard. "And kind too."

Pritha turned her head. It was the rider of that chariot. A tall man of her father's age, smiling at her.

"What is your name, child?" He asked again.

"Pritha. Pritha Shauraseni." She replied. "Daughter of Vrishni chief Shurasena."

The man's eyes glowed hearing the name. He patted her head, beaming. "You must be a pride of your parents."

Pritha joined her hands in a namaskara and boarded her chariot. When she entered the Shura mansion, her father was waiting in person at the entrance, his eyes betraying worry. Pritha assumed that the news had reached him.

"Pritha! Vasu! Are you two alright?" Shurasena drew both close to him.

"Relax, Father. Nothing has happened to us." Pritha beamed. "But we need to investigate who were those men who dared to drive horses like that causing injuries to our people."

Shurasena smiled, both relived and proud. Pritha's sense of justice and wisdom of statecraft were beyond her years. Even at this age of ten, her inputs in the administrative issues left the chief of Yadavas amazed at times.

"They need to get punished, Father." Pritha's little nosetrils flared.

"Sure, my little queen. I shall look into it."

"Father, could they be the traders from Magadha? They were running towards the marketplace."

Shurasena's jawlines tightened. The mention of Magadhan traders held him lost in his thoughts for a while before the guard announced a royal guest. The chief of Vrishnis immediately regained his regality and proceeded to welcome the guest.

"Cousin Kuntibhoja! What a pleasant surprise!" Shurasena's face lit up and he drew the guest into his tight embrace. Pritha's mouth opened wide to find that the guest was the same stranger she met on the street just a while ago.

"Pritha, Vasu, greet your uncle." Shurasena turned to the children. "He is King Kuntibhoja, the ruler of Kunti kingdom."

Pritha touched Kuntibhoja's feet with reverence. The King lifted her with an affectionate beam.

"We have met already. Your daughter is a gem, cousin Shura." Kuntibhoja patted Pritha's head. "I envy your fortune."

Shurasena smiled a proud smile at Pritha and then looked up to his cousin. "Thank you for your arrival, Bhoja. My family will be glad to meet you after so long."

"The pleasure will not be any less from my side too." Kuntibhoja said. "But let these little ones have some rest first. They must have been tired enough." He patted both the siblings' heads with both hands.

Pritha felt happy. She had no mood to rest now but moving away from the elders would certainly give her the opportunity to play with Vasudeva and her baby sisters. She cast a pleading look at her father. Shurasena understood and nodded. Grinning wide, Pritha grabbed Vasudeva's hand and flew towards the inner chambers.

***

"This is mine!"

"No, this is mine. That one is yours."

"Stop it!" Pritha chided both her younger siblings. "See, you just crashed a part of my castle!"

Vasudeva and his twin sister Rajadhi looked at their elder sister, biting their tongues. Following Pritha's frown, they found the structure of a mansion she had been making with small clay balls, had been broken from one corner.

"No more noise!" Pritha sounded strict eldest. "This is your car." She handed over the toy to Vasudeva. "And," she turned to Rajadhi, placing a small silver horse on her palm. "this horse is yours. Now keep quiet."

Both quietly nodded and went back to their play. Pritha went to her youngest sister's cradle once to check whether their talks had ended her daytime sleep. Seeing her snoring in deep slumber, Pritha exhaled and put a light kiss on her forehead. She tried to focus on her castle once again, before a guard announced Shurasena.

The very mention of their father made leaf-drop silence in the room. Pritha rose to greet Shurasena, wondering what made him come here at this time, leaving his morning duties in sabha. As Shurasena entered in, the unusual darkness on his face and guilt in his eyes did not escape her notice.

"Father?" She ran to him. "Is everything fine?"

To her discomfort, he slowly shook his head. His facial expression turned unusually grave.

"What is it, Father?" Pritha patted his hands. "Tell me."

Shurasena finally managed to meet her caring eyes. Pritha felt more warmth than usual in his touch as he patted his cheeks.

"Pritha, my child," he tried his best to keep his voice normal. "The destiny for us being together has ended, Vatse. Time has come we have to part our ways."

Pritha held her breath.

"For what?" She dared to ask with a pounding heart.

"I am bound in promise to someone, dearest. I have to give you away."

Pritha's breath raced. The sunny morning suddenly felt too dark.

"Your uncle Kuntibhoja wants to adopt you."
_______________________________________

Author's Note:

Readers of my other books might sense a similarity between my little Kunti and little Yudhishthira and that is intentional. After all, a boy goes after his mother.

Mahabharata says that Kunti was adopted when she was a little older to get handed over to another parents. This sudden change did forever remain as a childhood scar in her heart. I shall try to show her psychology regarding this adoption as shown in the epic itself.

Hope you liked the first chapter.

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