Duryodhan had not asked Bhanumati to move back into their chambers. He didn't leave them for his own personal ones, but he didn't ask her to immediately return either. She didn't think she could have handled it if he had.

Chandramukhi was in a similar situation to her, except perhaps even worse.

Vrushali di had been very tight-lipped about what the scenario was between her and Bhrata Karna. While not as bad as between herself and Duryodhan or Chandramukhi and Dussashan, it was also, very clearly not in a good place, as was expected.

Bhanumati tried to figure out how she had missed the signs all these years before realising that there were no signs to miss.

Duryodhan loved her. Bhrata Karna was very fond of her. Dushansan adored and respected her. The thought of hurting her in any way would have never even crossed their minds.

That made her wonder even more at these men who could be kind and loving towards those they cared about.... How could they do such a terrible thing to anyone else?

Despite everything, she still loved her husband. But such a terrible thing he had done...... it had shaken her. It would be a while yet before she could trust him again.

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Bhrata Shrutayudha had come to Hastinapur and she had broken down in his arms. He told her that he would take her away to Kalinga if she wanted, propriety be damned.

He had become friends with Duryodhan and he had been shocked and horrified upon hearing what had transpired.

She laughed weakly and told her brother that she would be safe in Hastinapur(perhaps even safer than her husband).

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She missed her children.

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She knew that her husband was a good governor to the people and he knew it as well and he liked it.

But couldn't he have remained happy ruling over Hastinapur? Why did he need Indraprastha as well? Could he not have been satisfied ruling half of the mighty Kuru Empire?

What was she thinking, of course he couldn't. Her husband was never satisfied with what he had. He always wanted more.

( Satisfaction is not in my nature , she remembered him telling her with a smirk.)

She refused to go to Indraprastha, which she had found so beautiful.

If she had her way, she would never set foot in that City again.

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The years seemed to pass quicker than ever, somehow.

Mata Gandhari was worried sick as to what was going to happen once the thirteen years were up. She seemed certain that her family's destruction was nigh. Bhanumati wanted to comfort her, assure her that nothing of that sort would happen, but the fear had caught her too.

It had been heard that Lord Krishna had promised Draupadi that the wives of all the men who had been involved in her insult, whether by active participation or by silence, would shed tears on the battlefield.

It had shaken her terribly.

(Part of her wondered if that did not mean that Draupadi herself would suffer as well, in the war for her vengeance. Because after all Yudhishtir was one of the biggest causes of her insult, in fact, he was the root of it. The rest of her husbands hadn't exactly done much protesting either.)

Duryodhan was projecting an all confident air, as if nothing could defeat him when he had the three greatest Maharathis on his side.

She had begged him to not be overconfident and he had said that Hastinapur's allies would respond when the time came.

Bhrata Karna as always took the matter of any possible war very seriously however, and scolded Duryodhan for his somewhat callous attitude.

Five years into the thirteen year period, he went on his Digvijay Yatra. He did four in total.

For the next three years, he was unstoppable. Mowing through enemies as if they were nothing, he conquered several Aryan Kingdoms in all four directions.

He amassed vast amounts of wealth and extracted promises and vows of help in case of a war, even from the smaller, seemingly insignificant kingdoms.

Though Bhanumati had regretted being married into the Kuruvansh a couple of times since that dreadful Incident, in that period she was truly glad she was part of it because her Kingdom Kalinga did not have to face Karna head on.

Vrushali di and their sons would worry about him(the latter also being in complete awe of him) and Duryodhan would assure them that nothing could harm Karna, while also desperately missing him.

Vrishasena, Shatrunjaya, Dvipata, Banasena and Prasena spent practically all of the three years in Hastinapur and Vrishaketu, the later two years.

Just because Bhrata Karna was gone, their training couldn't stop, and in Vrishaketu's case, it needed to start.

Vrishasena at twenty one, had brought them here immediately after Bhrata Karna had left and insisted that Duryodhan help him with their training. Duryodhan had immediately agreed and somehow, by hook or by crook, he had managed to get of all people, Pitamaha Bheeshma who so detested Karna, involved in a bit of their training till Karna returned.

Unlike the Kuru princes, they could not go to Brahmin Gurus, despite that fact that they were Princes and that too sons of a King because unfortunately, as much as the insults based on caste had mostly subsided since Bhrata Karna had become King of Anga and since the world truly saw his prowess, there were some matters where they continued to persist.

(Seeing them in Hastinapur only reminded Bhanumati of her own children more. Oh how terribly she missed them, but she knew that even if Duryodhan had not sent them off early, at this point in time, they would have still been in Gurukul and Kanyakul.)

When Bhrata Karna finally returned after three years, Pitashree Dhitarashtra exclaimed that no one, not even the revered Grandsire had ever brought in this much wealth.

Duryodhan immediately insisted on giving half of it to Karna. Karna protested, saying that he was a vassal of the Kingdom and that he had brought in the riches for Hastinapur, but Duryodhan countered that vassals were not asked to give up all their accomplishments to their liege-lords and demanded that Karna stop being ridiculous and generous and take half of what he himself had won.

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Bhanumati missed her children so terribly and now she could see that so did Duryodhana. She could not imagine how most royal mothers dealt with their children leaving for so long.

Duryodhan finally broke and decided that he would have their children called back at the end of nine years. Both of them, not just Lakshmanaa. Bhanumati was overjoyed to have her children back and also, she supposed, to receive the confirmation that the man she had fallen in love with still lurked in there somewhere, beneath all the hatred and atrocities.

This was because while nine years was the minimum compulsory time one had to spend in a Gurukul, boys were encouraged to stay for ten to twelve years at least, to achieve their maximum potential. But the Duryodhan she had fallen in love with once would have had his son closer sooner, rather than later.

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When their children returned, Bhanumati truly felt joy for the first time in nine years.

Lakshman had grown into a fine young man, though he was nowhere near as bulky as his father. Duryodhan was rather put out by this and by the fact that Lakshman preferred the sword instead of the mace or even the bow.

Lakshamanaa was the most beautiful girl she had ever seen ( No, I'm not biased Vrushali di .)

She grabbed them both in a tight embrace. "My babies." She whispered, much to both their offence.

When Duryodhan's turn came to embrace their twins however, Lakshamanaa hesitated.

Duryodhan blinked as the girl fidgeted.

Lakshman took her hand. "It's alright." He whispered, soft enough that he might have thought they couldn't hear, but she and her husband were standing too close.

"You're his daughter. He loves you. He won't ever hurt you."

Bhanumati's breath caught. They had heard then. She glanced at Duryodhan just in time to see his face fall. It was the first time in nine years that she had seen any sign of regret on his face. It made sense that only his daughter could ever make him feel it even a little.

When the twins finally stepped within Duryodhan's arms, he clutched them to his chest as if his life depended on it.

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They had two years of peace. Two years out of the thirteen when they were actually happy. Bhanumati and Duryodhan had managed to reach some kind of peace, mostly because of the presence of their children. She had even moved back in with him despite her misgivings, but the fear of an encroaching war stayed somewhere at the back of her mind and she did not want to think of how war snatched away so many husbands from their wives.

She knew Duryodhan was strong and in case of a war, he would have three supreme warriors protecting him and it would be impossible for enemies to get to him and kill him as long as any of them were alive and two of those three were actually impossible to kill, due to presence of Ichchamrityu vardaan and Divya Kavach-Kundal. But fears and worries for loved ones did not listen to rationality.

Whatever he was, however he was, he was her husband and only her husband for he had never married again. She would do well to spend as much time with him now as possible.

And then Mama Shakuni suggested that they hold a svayamwar for Lakshmanaa.

Bhanumati protested, saying that she was nineteen and that they could keep her with them for a couple of years more, but Mama Shakuni said that with the possibility of a war approaching, they needed as many alliances as possible. Soon enough they would have to start marrying off whatever daughters had been born to the hundred Kauravas.

Bhanumati understood his point, understood the necessity, but it seemed so awful to her, that her daughter and her nieces would be used as bargaining chips for alliances.

Duryodhan seemed to actually agree with her at first, but then of course Mama Shakuni convinced him otherwise.

As always , she thought darkly.

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Lakshmanaa looks like a goddess , she thought.

Clad in a red and gold sari, laden down with gold, she looked nothing short of ethereal.

And it wasn't just a mother's opinion either, since clearly everyone present seemed to think so.

But since everything was going so well, she should have known that it wouldn't last.

Someone clearly couldn't bear the thought that he might not win her daughter's hand.

A dark skinned young man inched closer than he was supposed to. Duryodhan frowned suspiciously and requested him to move back.

And then within one breath and the next, he suddenly disappeared with Lakshmanaa. It happened so quickly that Bhanumati didn't even register it immediately.

After a moment of profound silence, the Kridangan erupted into chaos.

It took a few more moments for realisation to sink in for Bhanumati. When it did, she started laughing hysterically.

This had to be the Gods' idea of a cosmic joke.

"This is karma!" she told Duryodhan, sobs now getting interspersed with the laughter.

"You kidnapped me from my Svayamwar, and now your daughter has been kidnapped from hers !"

Vrushali di who was sitting beside her tried to calm her down but Bhanumati was too far gone now. She buried her head into her hands and started sobbing in earnest and Mata Gandhari and Chandramukhi hurried towards her as well.

Duryodhan growled.

"We'll get her back. They can't have gone too far yet. There's no chariot Karna can't catch up to!"

Bhanumati looked up to see Duryodhan, Dussashan, Bhrata Karna and Lakshman rapidly moving towards the exit.

It was true that Bhrata Karna could certainly catch up with them, but for some reason Bhanumati felt hopelessness settling in.

"It was Vasudev Shri Krishna's son!" Mata Gandhari exclaimed behind her.

"I would have never thought that Vasudev's son would do something like this, since he is so well known for respecting women's wishes."

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When the four men returned, looking enraged and downtrodden at the same time, Bhanumati descended upon them in a great fury.

She screamed, she raged, she attempted to shake Bhrata Karna(and failed, because all these warriors were stupidly large and strong unlike her sweet, lean Lakshman), demanding to know how he could have possibly failed in catching up to and stopping a chariot driven at best by a mere boy.

"I did catch up to the chariot." He told her mournfully, not looking up to meet her eyes.

" What happened, then?! " she exclaimed and turned to glare at her husband.

"We caught onto them and I offered to bring her back." Duryodhan said, looking surprisingly lost.

"She said that she couldn't come back. That now that she had been kidnapped, no other man would want to marry her. I told her I did not care, that she could stay here her whole life but.... She said she could not, because it would bring dishonour upon the family."

Ah yes, the concept must have seemed strange to someone who clearly did not care whether he brought shame upon his family, Bhanumati barely stopped herself from snapping back.

The possibility of war looms ahead , she reminded herself. Make most of it while you can. Now is not the time to have fights.

(Of course her daughter suffered the same fate as she had. At least she had managed to find love. Lord only knew whether her daughter would have the same luxury, especially given the current state of events.)

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Later Mama Shakuni said that it was not as bad as it seemed because now in case of a war, Dwarka would have to support them.

Bhanumati seriously wanted to punch him. Hard.

At least her husband looked equally displeased for once(even though he might even have agreed with his uncle somewhere deep inside).

Right. So I don't think this is a particularly strong chapter, but it needed to be posted. There will be at least one (or maybe even two) more chapter(s) before the war starts. 

I know I'm usually concerned about abrupt endings even when they mostly turn out to be fine, but this time, I really am concerned. Like. I truly did not understand how to end this thing, but oh well.