It was 4 am in the morning. Anwesha was up and moving. It was so unlike her to be up, early in the morning especially this early but the job she was assigned commanded so and hence she had to follow.

Once taken to the palace, she was interrogated a little by a big looking guy who had an angry look, dressed richly so she knew he was royalty.

Once let off the hook she didn’t get to meet her saviours, though due to her veil she had not seen her face but have overheard them address each other as Nakul and Sahadev.

She this knew they were the Madreya twins and the angry looking guy was most probably prince Bheem. Though she could tell the twins apart, not having seen their faces as of yet.

Then she had been interviewed by the head of the queen’s household- her old nanny, stern and unmoving. On hearing her sob story and her association with the Brahmin clan, she was assigned to pick flowers for the Chief Queen, Yagnaseni and also all the other queens.
Yes, queens. After getting married to Draupadi and establishing Indraprastha, the king Yudhishthir had first married Shibi Kumari, Devika to secure an ally to their side. Their marriage was blessed with a son, Yaundheya, few years after the birth of Draupadi’s  own son, Prativindya.

Bheem had married Suprabha, daughter of Daumagosha the old monarch of Chedi and his cousin through his aunt Shrutashrava- his mother’s sister. He had also married Valadhara, the second princess of Kashi to secure an alliance with Kashi, just like Duryodhan had through his first marriage.  Both his marriages were blessed with sons,  Vasumitra and Sarvaga, respectively.  Bheem also had a son, Sutasoma with Draupadi, after his sons with his other wives.

Nakul had married Karenumati, recently as she had learnt only two years ago, after the fall of Daumagosha as the king of Chedi and the crowning of Sishupal. Sishupal, being a supporter of Jarasadha had not been a fan of Keshava, and by extension the Pandavas. So, Nakul had charmed and married the favourite daughter of Sishupal, securing his support and hence the support of Chedi yet again. 

Sahadev had married his cousin Vijaya, in a self choice ceremony, just a year prior. Vijaya was the daughter of Dyutimat, his uncle and a royal of Madra desha.  Least to be said, she was an unexpected but welcome addition to their family.

All the queen’s resided in Indraprastha, though in different palaces of their own- with hundreds of attendants and female companions and entertainers of their own.  The royal palace was huge-designed like a lotus with each petal representing a palace built for the wives of the Pandavas and the bud being the main palace.

Main palace was the residence of the Pandavas who all shared 5 different wings, not much far apart from each other. The chief queen’s palace was also attached to the main palace with the highest level of security and quickest access. An artificial stream of fresh water was created using the waters of Yamuna and it was craved around the main palace, detaching it from the rest of the structures and buildings except the Shiva temple and Draupadi’s palace.
From what daima, the nanny, had told her, it showed her, Yagnaseni how she is not only special but apart of their unit and integral part of their soul. A real sweet gesture, of course.

So, every morning, for the past month she would pick flowers for puja from the royal gardens around the main palace and then make 15 garlands of white flowers and separate 108 betel leaves in the form of triplets, for the daily puja havan. Then she would go and clean the idol and prepare the clarified butter for the ahuti, and oversee the proceedings of the prasad in the royal kitchen and once the puja was done, she would have to keep the bigger share for public distribution and then send equal shares off to the individual palaces. This was done thrice everyday, once at dawn, again at noon and finally at dusk with the sunset in the horizon.

Though the royals won’t usually join the later two prayers, unlike in the morning when the entire royal clan would assemble together. The Pandavas’ wives would dress in fine clothes and jewellery, sticking by the sides of their husbands, chatting excited with a profound energy. But no one could ever match the elegance of the fireborn, dressed the simplest, accompanied by her young sons- she spoke few words and passed few smiles only focusing on her prayers.

People often called her haughty behind her back, especially the maids of the other wives of Pandavas, who seemed to have a disliking for the lady in favour of their own mistresses but she saw the real queen.

Only Draupadi would visit the temple, apart from the morning prayers. Sometimes she would be accompanied, by her young children and sometimes she would be alone. She would pray  and sit in front of the idol, even when the priest and all the other worker would be gone, she would stay. Sometimes she would be happy, sometimes she would be sad but often she would talk to God.

Yes, she would talk to the idol, quite like how Anwesha would do- as a kid or a teen or even now as an adult. Sometimes her tone would be pleading, while sometimes it would be accusatory as if the gods had wronged her. But Anwesha knew, it was true. They had indeed wronged her, and she was paying the price of their cruelty, dying a little everyday.

There were no physical wounds or pains inflicted upon her, but the ones to her heart by people she considered her closest. Maybe Anwesha was wrong but that’s what she could understand from her observations.

Often Anwesha would feel tempted to unlock her abilities and hear the thoughts and learn the desires of the doyenne but she refrained herself. It would be a violation of someone vulnerable, and Anwesha with her morality and good head on her shoulders, couldn’t do that to another woman.

Another thing she had noticed about Draupadi was that she was very protective of her children, dotting on them herself and doing all their chores herself, with minimal assistance but she didn’t usually entrust anyone else with her children, except her nanny. The only time she would find the children alone, would be when they would play in the gardens. It was a daily occurrence.

Today she was late in getting up, and if she didn’t  hurry she would have to hear an earful from the nanny. Strangely even after a month of being here, Anwesha was unaware of the name of the nanny for everyone just called her nanny, as the queen did. Not that she minded.

She had already taken a dip in the Yamuna and dressed in a white saree. Her wet hair lay on her back, dripping. She couldn’t use the veil hence. Taking the brass flower basket, she ran to the garden.

It was drizzling as she picked all the different white flowers from Nayanthara to Jasmine. It was off-season rain, unexpected and pleasant, as the sweet smell of parijat flowers filled her nostrils.

Her mind flew to the beautiful enigma, the wife of Pandavas – her dark and uncalloused skin, smooth and always so refreshed. Her honey brown orbs twinkled as she played with her children or even talked to her nanny, her eyelids seemed sewn by hand. The palm of her hands were fine like the leaves of  Kalpavriksha, her dark thick hair like yarns of silk- tied into buns and braids, decorated with jewels  and crystals from around the world. She was breath-taking, heavenly.  Even the way she draped her saree, around her pear-shaped body and how she walked gracefully, taking slow and soundless steps like a temple elephant. She was perfect in every way imaginable, she was what Anwesha desired to achieve someday, as a young girl and now as a woman.

As she traced her steps, Anwesha hummed her favourite song from the books of Tagore, the one about forbidden aspirations. It starts with a  desire of belonging, of love and passion.

Amaro Porano Jaha Chay
Tumi Tai Tumi Tai Go
Amar Poran Jaha Chay
Toma chara ar e jogote
Mor keho nai kichu nai go
Amaro Porano Jaha Chay
Tumi Tai Tumi Tai Go
Amar Poran Jaha Chay

And eventually the person agreeing to let go of thy love for the happiness of thy lover with someone else, of sacrificing the selfishness in love and accepting the harsh truth and yet finding happiness in someone else’s smiles.

Tumi sukho jodi nahi pao  
             Jao sukhero sondhane jao

It’s  not easy love, she tried to bargain and beg for love, for thy lover to stay, stating his importance in her life but again let’s  him go when he desires to, not wanting to be an obstacle in his life.

Anwesha finished her song, having picked up enough flowers and betel leaves for the puja. Picking up the basket, she sat down to made the garlands in peace. She lightly places her veil back on her head.

Unaware someone watched her as she continued to hum the song, making garlands for the lord of animals and gods alike.

The youngest Pandava prince, Sahadev had sat in the royal gardens in peace, last night to read the star chart of Arjun’s youngest born son by Chitrangada and fallen asleep. He was woken in the morning by the singing of a nightingale.

The lyrics of her songs were foreign but her voice sounded divine mixed with desire and pain. A seasoned artist for sure.

But when he had sat up and looked for the singer, he had found the lady they had saved. He didn’t  even know her name nor had he cared to ask about her whereabouts, once he had brought her to the palace and given her in the care of Draupadi. But it seemed she wasn’t  all she displayed – a helpless young widow. There was more to her for sure, maybe she was a spy like his elder brother Bheem suspects.

Prativindya and Sutasoma, the darlings of Draupadi and his equally favourite nephews ran inside the garden and started playing with their practice swords never the widow. He wondered she looked like behind the veil – was she ugly or maybe plain featured.

As the kids continued to run around the garden and later settled near the woman, Sahadev got up to keep a close eye on them. It was unlikely of Draupadi to leave the kids alone, but she must have been busy if she did what she did.
The woman seemed to be engrossed in sewing the garlands with the huge needle, humming the same tune to herself.

‘Which kingdom of culture does the song belong to, to sound so foreign.’, he wondered when he heard a scream.

The boys sat in shock scared as a long snake lay before them, killed with the sewing needle. The widow, who has once seemed so defenceless, stood there totally normal as if it was killing animals was her playtime. It was only after the nanny of Draupadi, entered the gardens hurriedly, did she pretend to be equally shaken by the events of the morning.

Soon enough the garden filled with people, including Draupadi who must have had heard of the commotion in the gardens and come to check.

The nanny drilled on the widow, accusing her of purposefully ruining the offerings to God as some fit of jealousy towards the queen- totally ignoring the carcass of the snake that lay at the feet of the young princes.

She even proceeded to complain to Draupadi about the same who gave the widow a stern look.

Before it was too late, he had interrupt the drama, otherwise the widow might have been thrown out of the palace as well. He couldn’t  let that happen, yet.
He was curious about her, to know more about her. He hated not knowing something especially something so well within his limits. Now he had to know her, her name her identity and her face. He can’t  let her get fired before that.

“Let the woman be, nanny.”, he commanded making the women look up at him. He could feel her eyes stare at him from under the veil.

“Kumar Sahadev, you here !!”, the old lady exclaimed, noting the presence of the prince.

“She did not ruin the offerings on purpose, oldage seemed to have made you go blind slowly. Please come to the infirmary, if you need help.”, he said sarcastically. He had never been a big fan of the old lady who held a strong influence over his beloved wife.

“You clearly can’t  see the dead snake lying at the feet of the princes, it seems. This woman, whatever her name is, didn’t  sully the good name of the queen or misuse her kindness. She saved her children from a poisonous snake. If not for her swiftness, they may have been harmed.”, he screamed as Draupadi gasped.

She looked at the two children who sat, cowered in a corner behind the widow, hugging each other. With tear filled eyes, she picked them up in her arms.
“Follow me to my chambers, you !”, She said as she stormed off, the nanny following her behind.

“Thy name”, Sahadev repeated barely audible but he knew she had heard.

“UMAVATI”, she said as she did as the queen had commanded.

Anwesha followed the fire-born to the sanctuary she called her chambers, but to her it was like a temple. Her deities abode.

She stood without words, eager to follow any command of the queen, even if her life was on line.

“Tell me what had happened.”
And she did. She narrated how she had been making garlands, absorbed in her work and how the princes were playing with practice swords near her, unscrutinised.

Draupadi shot and angry look at her nanny who looked down.
“Why were you not with the princes, when I had commanded you to ? Does my command mean nothing to you ? “, she asked as the woman gulped.

“You coddle them too much dear, they are royal blood. They are strong kshtriyas, no harm shall come to them. “, she tried to assure her but stopped once she noticed the unforgiving gaze settle upon her.

“When I said something, it must be followed. Understood ?!”,she questioned the old lady who nodded and retreated into an invisible shell to protect herself from a mother’s wrath.

Anwesha continued how a rustling noise in the semi wet grass had alerted her of the reptiles presence and her agile eyes like an eagle had spotted the creature approaching the playing, unaware princes. To save the prince’s lives, she with no other way , with all the bravery she could muster- killed the snake with the needle, stabbing it till death.
At the end of the story, the queen not only looked convinced but also impressed at her. She raised an eyebrow before smiling softly and nodding.

“But you have dirtied the princes in your endeavour. What about that ?”, she asked sternly, making Anwesha’s heart drop.

“Go and clean them now. From hence forward, you are responsible for their care and safety. Understood?!”, she said as Anwesha nodded eagerly, her veil long fallen from her head as the queen and princess looked in awe at the beautiful nymph that grinned at them.

The young princess shyly held her hands, as she lead them away to bathe and help them dress.

The queen, was left mesmerized at the young woman’s beauty and bravery.

So, second chapter is here. Please leave your opinion and reviews. The updates will be once a week every Saturday.
Also check out the main character aesthetic.