As soon as Vrishaketu had left and the door of the Widows' Wing had closed behind them, Bhanumati seemed to deflate. Chandramukhi and Mridula each took one of her hands and lead her to one of the couches and made her sit. Vrushali sat beside them.

Bhanumati turned to look at Vrushali with tired but dry eyes, eyes that seemed to have shed so many tears, they could shed no more.

Vrushali gently guided her head down to her chest and wrapped one arm around the woman, using the other to stroke her head.

"I had managed to avoid the Pandavas and ignore their wives for the most part till now." Bhanumati murmured. "But coordinating your arrival with them for the past few days..."

She sighed. "As much as I wanted to see you both, didi, it has been so exhausting. So..so.." Bhanumati's voice cracked at the end.

"I'm so sorry, my dear." Vrushali said. "You don't have to talk to them anymore."

Bhanumati laughed. It was a harsh sound.

"I just told Vrishaketu didi. It is impossible to avoid them forever in this palace. And now we have agreed to stay here."

Chandramukhi stood up abruptly.

"I know what my husband and brother in law did in that accursed Dyut Sabha is unforgivable," she said, "and yet every time I see that Bheem... I am moments away from cursing him into oblivion."

Angry tears fell from her eyes. "For his actions, my husband's death was almost inevitable in this war. But the way he was killed..." she broke down into sobs.

Mridula made her sit down again and wrapped an arm around her. Vrushali watched, her already broken heart breaking into even more pieces.

"You are the one person here who has actual right to be angry Mridu." Chandramukhi said. "Your husband stood up for Draupadi. He was the only one that day to do so. And yet he was killed. But I don't see the anger burning in you."

Mridula smiled sadly. "Not all of us have world destroying rage like the Samrangi, didi. Not that I blame her for her anger." She sighed. "I'm just so tired. And I know that my Vikarna would not have wanted to live with all his brothers dead."

"How are you handling it didi?" Bhanumati asked Vrushali, lifting her head off the older woman's chest. "Suddenly finding out that the men against whom your husband fought, the men who insulted him all his life are his brothers."

"I found out before the war." Vrushali said.

The other women all gaped in shock.

"Oh yes, Radheya told me and his parents the truth right after he found out. We didn't tell any of our sons."

"What did you do?" Bhanumati asked.

"What was left to do? Radheya was not just going to leave Duryodhan. No throne," She spat, "would make him betray his loved ones. He would rather die. And he did."

"Doesn't it anger you?"

"That's not so easy a question now, is it?" Vrushali sighed.

"It angers me that the woman who gave birth to him never accepted him despite having him in front of her eyes for decades. It angers me to think that she could have prevented this enmity between the cousins from escalating so far if only she had revealed the truth earlier and yet, she didn't."

Vrushali exhaled loudly.

"My Karna could have been a bridge between the Kauravas and the Pandavas had he known the truth earlier, before the hatred had spread so far. But... By the time he learnt the truth, it was far too late."

There was a long silence.

"And the Pandavas?" Bhanumati eventually ventured.

"Surprisingly enough, I don't hate them. It has of course, always angered me whenever they have insulted Radheya, but after what my husband said to Draupadi in the Dyut Sabha," Vrushali closed her eyes and shook her head, sighing deeply.

"After that, any desire to kill him is understandable. It does not mean I forgive them of course," She added. "Especially not for my sons. But it was war. And in my eyes, they are still less to blame than their mother. "

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vrushali left the so called Widows' Wing after what seemed like hours. She wondered if Vrishaketu had returned yet and if he had convinced Radha Ma and Adhirat Baba to settle in the castle.

Suddenly she turned a corner and came face to face with a young girl. The girl, who was probably only a couple of years older than Vrishaketu, was harrowingly enough, dressed like a widow as well. Judging by her royal attire, it could only be Princess Uttara.

This was perhaps the only person in the palace who Vrushali was apprehensive about facing. Everyone else she could handle. But this young girl. This girl who absolutely did not deserve any of the grief she got. Who had enjoyed only a few months of marital bliss, before her equally young husband was so very cruelly snatched away from her.

And her husband had been involved in Abhimanyu's death as well. Her husband was also responsible for her grief.

Vrushali was very glad that Karna had very firmly put off marrying Vrishasena, Chitrasena, Satyasena, and Sushena, all of whom had been of marriageable age because of the looming war. In fact, if they were going by the ridiculously young age Abhimanyu and Uttara had gotten married at, all her sons save for Vrishaketu could have been married off. Even Prasena, who had only been nineteen. Vrushali had no idea how she would have dealt with so many young and widowed daughter in laws.

In front of her, Uttara's eyes widened and she folded her hands and bowed her head. 

"Greetings Angarani."

"Bless you, Uttara."

Uttara blinked several times.

"I was actually looking for you." she said.

"Oh? And what can I do for you, my dear?"

Uttara shifted on her feet. Vrushali wondered what on Earth she had to be nervous about.

"I- I come to offer my condolences for your sons and husband." Uttara muttered.

Vrushali could only stare. This girl had come to offer her condolences. And not just for her sons but her husband as well?!?!

"Thank you. But my dear girl, you are the very last person who needs to offer me condolences. And I won't offer you condolences and insult your husband. The terrible way in which he was killed... no condolences can even begin to cover it."

"Can any condolences ever cover the grief one feels from the death of their loved ones?" Uttara asked with a sad smile. "I offer them nonetheless, as I want to be on good terms with since you are..." her voice became uncertain here, "you are to be part of our family now as well, right?"

"I don't know about the others," Vrushali said, deciding that she should be honest with Uttara at least, "but if you want it to be so, I would not mind being your family."

She took Uttara's hands in her own. "And the first thing I must do is apologise to you for my husband's part in your husband's death."

Uttara blanched but did not withdraw her hands. "I-- I'm not sure I can-- forgive..." she trailed off.

"You don't have to forgive." Vrushali promised. "But apologising nonetheless is not just my duty, but also the right thing to do."

Uttara smiled weakly.

"Thank you." she said and Vrushali released her hands. "I accept your apology. And there is actually another reason I was looking for you." 

"Yes?" Vrushali asked.

Uttara opened her mouth to answer but just then another widow rounded the corner, this one much older, much wiser, a veteran.

And just like that, all the compassion Vrushali had just been feeling, evaporated.

Okay, in certain versions Vrishasena is married and may or may not have a little child, but I literally cannot deal with unnamed characters. As it is, its hard enough with SO MANY WIDOWS OMG.