Vrishaketu had come and wrapped his arms around Vrushali and squeezed her so tight, she couldn't breathe for a moment and then he refused to tell her what was wrong.

"There is nothing wrong, Ma." He protested. "Can't I just express my affection for you, without anything being wrong?"

Vrushali arched an eyebrow. "Don't get smart with your mother. I know you too well."

"There's nothing wrong." Her son said again and she frowned.

"Since when do you keep things from me?"

"I'm not keeping anything from you!"

"And now you're lying to me."

Vrishaketu sighed. "It's nothing, I'm fine, I was just really upset about something. Let's talk about this puja for the Pandavas' Ashwamedha Yagna that's coming up and that you'll be conducting."

"What were you really upset about?" Vrushali asked immediately.

"It was... It was a thing with Prince Arjun."

Of course, she thought.

"But I'm annoyed with him on the regular, so at this point, this is nothing new."

"You're annoyed with him often, but these days you're not usually that upset with him."

"Ma, can you please drop it!" Vrishaketu burst out. "I'll deal with it!"

"Fine." Vrushali pursed her lips. "But if you need help, you'll ask, right?"

"I won't need help! But fine, I'll ask if I do. Now tell me about this Ashwamedha Yagna Puja."

"Who told you about it?"

"Uttara." Vrishaketu said. "But apparently, this was discussed two days ago, so like.... why didn't you tell me?

"I thought you might be upset." Vrushali said, looking away.

Vrishaketu frowned. "Don't you feel like this whole thing is very strange, though?" He asked. "Like what is the point of this? 'The oldest wife in the family'? But we haven't been family!"

"I know." Vrushali sighed. "But there was no reason to deny it, except for the principle of it." She shrugged. "I was feeling generous and besides, I just have to conduct a puja and its not even affecting our time of returning back to Anga since this is only three days from now."

"Alright." Her son said.

Vrushali blinked. "You're not upset?" She asked in surprise.

"Well, a little." Vrishaketu shrugged. "But like you said, it's a small thing and doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of everything."

"That is ...rather wise of you." Vrushali noted. It really was. She hadn't expected him to be this accepting. He didn't even show the mildest hints of protest.

"I can be wise." Vrishaketu retorted and then said, "I want to go with you when you go to the temple."

"You know that Kshatriya men are--"

"--not supposed to go to the temple for the Puja before the main preparation for the Ashwamedha Yagna begins for whatever reason, yes. But I'm not Kshatriya!" He said brightly. "That's how all the soldiers will get to go with you anyway. I mean, can you imagine if only Kshatriya were allowed to become soldiers as well? There would be no army!"

"Yes," Vrushali said, wincing. "But here's the thing. The whole reason I have been requested to this Puja is because......" She bit her lip. "It's because your father is being considered the eldest brother to the Pandavas and Queen Mother Kunti's Son. I think... by that extension, for this particular occasion at least, you will be considered a Kshatriya. So you can't come with me."

"This is nonsense!" Vrishaketu exclaimed furiously. "What if bandits attack? The Shiva temple is situated so close to the forest and at the edge of the Kingdom. That place is known for its bandit attacks."

"They are sending fifty soldiers with me and the three sages." Vrushali said gently. "I'm sure fifty soldiers will be able to deal with any bandits that may decide to show up and I'm sure no other Kingdom would possibly attack suddenly after this war."

"You don't know that though!" Vrishaketu protested. "If even one single Rathi warrior shows up, all the soldiers will be easily killed within a few minutes. Let me come."

"I will be fine." Vrushali said, cupping her son's cheek, much to his consternation. "Now, if you get into more 'things' with Arjun and it makes you upset, you will tell me, alright?"

"I will be fine." Vrishaketu mimicked back exaggeratedly and Vrushali rolled her eyes.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

After hugging Vrishaketu and Uttara and being sincerely thanked by the emperor, awkwardly thanked by three of his brothers, exuberantly thanked by Arjun and cordially thanked by the Empress and the Princess Subhadra, she had set off for the temple.

(Queen mother Kunti had not shown up and she was thankful for that.)

She looked around, stepping out of the palanquin once they reached their destination. The Shiva Temple was located on one of the most verdant hilltops she had ever seen. The flora around was truly beautiful and the birds chirped away happily. It seemed like this would turn out to be a peaceful day.

The Sun shined brightly in the sky and she looked up as best as she could, hoping as always, that her husband and sons could see her, wherever they rested in Surya Dev's domain. There was the painful tug at her heartstrings as always but at least the grief that came with it had slowly started to lessen.

"I hope you don't mind that I'm doing this." She whispered to Radheya. "For some reason, I feel that you wouldn't, despite everything."

Sighing, she ran her hand through the mane of the beautiful Shyamkaran white horse that had been selected for the Ashwamedha and it whinnied lightly, nuzzling into her hair.

Smiling softly, she turned towards the sages.

"After you." She said, indicating the entrance of the temple. They were accompanied by four soldiers who carried the items required for the puja while the other forty six remained on guard outside, in case any bandits or other troublemakers decided to show up. Thankfully, over the years, the Kurus had ensured that no orcs or demons remained in the forest, so that was no longer a worry.

She could see that the sages were not very happy that it was her doing the puja instead of Draupadi because even if her Radheya was to be considered a Kshatriya, she was still a Suta despite being a Queen and apparently the eldest wife of the 'family' (and these sages did not belong to Anga who had all grown somewhat fond of them due to Karna's extreme generosity). But she was used to this, so it didn't really phase her. Besides, the Brahmins didn't say anything.

She led the horse inside the temple, the wind whipping through her open hair. She wished she could tie it to prevent it from getting tangled but open hair was just another facet of widowhood and a reminder of what she had lost.

The priest of the temple had kept the basic preparations ready for them. They started a fire in the Yagna pit and sat down around it. It was a beautiful day. Everything seemed to be going well without a hitch. That should have been the first indication that there would be trouble following.

Suddenly there was the noise of several hoofbeats on the ground outside the temple. They all stood up at once. Vrushali briefly wondered if something had happened in Hastinapur and if the Pandavas had come to inform her but then she realised there were far too many hoofbeats for that. Anxiousness clawed in her stomach.

There then the all too familiar, all too dreadful sound of battle began.

Bandits must have attacked, she thought. But Hastinapur's soldiers were certainly capable enough to deal with them.

Except, within a few minutes, the battle seemed to be over.

Now she felt sheer dread settle over her. This was not good. a battle between bandits and the soldiers should not have been over so soon. Suddenly Vrishaketu's words rang in her head.

A single Rathi could kill fifty soldiers within a few minutes.

No. She thought. Surely, Vrishaketu's fears could not have been proved right? Surely, no one could have been foolish enough to attack Hastinapur's borders?

She looked around to see that the sages had gone pale and tight lipped.

As they heard footsteps stomp into the temple, Vrushali thought that she should have listened to Vrishaketu and allowed him to come, no matter what anyone might have said.

The four soldiers who had come inside with them stood in front of her with their spears at the ready but they all knew that it would be pointless if the forty six soldiers outside had been killed so easily.

An old man, probably a King or a Prince or a War General stepped in, followed by ten soldiers. A large sword, dripping blood was grasped in his hand.

Oh we stand absolutely no chance, Vrushali thought, trying to keep herself calm.

The man looked around before his eyes settled on her and his brows furrowed as he took her in.

"You're not the Empress." He stated.

"I am not." She agreed.

"Where is she?" He asked aggressively. "She was supposed to be here for the Ashwamedha Puja."

He was here for Draupadi then. This meant that upon not finding her, he could either leave them alone or he could kill them all.

"She is in her Palace. Or that's where she should be." Vrushali said.

"What?! But the puja is taking place today! The horse is here! She should be--"

The man cut himself off and narrowed his eyes at Vrushali.

"You're doing the puja in her place, aren't you."

Vrushali didn't say anything because that much was obvious.

"But why would you? It has to be the Empress-- the eldest wife--" Now comprehension seemed to dawn in his eyes.

"You're the Queen of Anga, aren't you?" The old man asked, his eyes glittering in an unpleasant way.

"I am." Vrushali said, because there was no point in lying.

The man seemed to ponder on something for a moment.

"Well," He said, "Kidnapping the Empress Draupadi would have certainly been more useful in luring out that cowherd, but I suppose, you will have to do."

Cowherd?! What-- Surely he did not mean Vasudev Krishna?! What the hell--

As the man stepped towards her, the guards lunged forward and he immediately twisted his sword into one of their bellies. The sages all shrunk away.

"Stop!" Vrushali shrieked. This man would kill every single person person present here who tried to oppose him, perhaps even the Rishis. Already so many had been killed. She could not in good conscience let the remaining seven men be killed as well, since it would have the same result: This vile old man kidnapping her with some absurd plan of luring out Vasudev Krishna. She didn't even know that man. Yes, she understood that the original plan had been to kidnap Draupadi, which was terrible because honestly, couldn't that woman get a break? But that had at least made sense. At that this point it was just ridiculous.

"If you don't come with me voluntarily, I will kill everyone else here and then drag you with me." The man threatened.

"Yes, I gathered that much." Vrushali said in disgust. "Why do you think kidnapping me is going to do anything, though? I am not friends with Shri Krishna, assuming that's who you meant?"

In fact, she did not even particularly like Vasudev Krishna. How could she, when he had encouraged that her husband be killed when he was unarmed and when he had used his powers to make her Radheya forget about his weapons?

"Oh, he cares a great deal about respecting women." The man said, airily. "He'll come if he gets to know I've kidnapped a Queen close to his best friend."

"But I'm not close to Arjun!" Vrushali says desperately. She knew it wouldn't do anything. She would have to go with him because if these seven people died when she could have prevented it, it would be on her. And besides she felt that going voluntarily would probably cause less trouble for her.

"Oh, but I'm sure feels remorse for killing your husband, now that the truth of his birth is known. He would feel guilty if you were kidnapped." He said with a terrible grin and Vrushali barely stopped herself from slapping him. She didn't think it would be particularly wise.

As he moved towards her, the guards moved forwards again but she raised a hand to stop them.

"No." She told them. "Go to the Palace and inform my son immediately. He will have to make arrangements in Anga."

"And please inform the Pandavas of what happened here." She requested the Rishis, who still looked rightfully scared. So was she.

"But your majesty!" One of the soldiers protested. "We have been tasked to protect you with our lives. It would be disgrace and dishonour if we stood and did nothing as this man abducts you."

"Your compatriots have been killed." Vrushali stated sadly. "I do not wish the same fate for you. We have a crisis of men nowadays, as it is."

"But Your Majesty--"

"It is also your duty to obey me." Vrushali said as calmly as she could, in the situation. "Do so."

She turned to the man. "And who are you exactly? Given that you're a fool who hasn't learned anything from the past few years and so desperately want to meet Vasudev Krishna as an enemy, he will need to know who you are."

"Don't run your mouth, woman." He growled and roughly grabbed her arm. "I'm Anushalva, brother of Shalva." He shot at the Rishis.

"I'm coming with you voluntarily." Vrushali spat. "Let go of my arm."

"No." He said, glaring at her. "No, I don't think I will."

As he pulled her along, all she could do was walk with Anushalva, lest she be dragged along.

Outside there was a massacre. All the soldiers of Hastinapur lay dead, interspersed with a few from Salwa. Ten more soldiers of Salwa stood beside Anushalva's chariot.

The temple was truly too far from the main city and it had been arranged that no one else was to come offer oblations to the Lord in that particular temple that day so news would not have reached the Pandavas on its own.

She did not know what Vrishaketu would do after this, especially since this could have been avoided if only she had listened to him. And she prayed to God that she survived this because she wasn't certain that Vrishaketu would be able to handle losing another parent.

Welp. We're in the last arc of this story now.

Not me coming up with ridiculous rules like no Kshtriya being able to accompany her, just so Vrushali can get kidnapped lmao.

I request everyone reading this to please not ask me for faster updates because I am in grade 12 and everything is really tough at the moment.

(Also, Anushalva is a made up character who doesn't exist. If anyone knows where I picked it from though, kudos to them! I've not going to be following the exact same plotline though, as should be obvious.)

I also kinda love the header pic. AI did a damn good job.

If you liked the chap, don't forget to leave votes and comments!

(Spoiler for Next chap: Arjun to the rescue!)