While reading the Mahabharata, Mrithika never for once had a thought of ever reliving the epic much less fraternising with the characters, especially the Pandavas for the fact, but fate does have a twisted sense of humour.

If one were to ever tell her that she would meet the preserver of the universe, Lord Vishnu's avatar, in a different yuga, she would cackle at their face and maybe even drop them off at the nearest mental asylum.

However, she was unable to do neither. Though she was glad at escaping the cruel world of 21st century , she was worried that all these may just be a fragment of her wild imagination or a dream that was in the guise of a beautiful lie.

To curb her anxiety, she pricked her finger on the sharp edge of her practising sword and watched with satisfaction as the pure red liquid bubbled at the skin surface. Pleasure rang through every inch of her body as the throbbing pain did not distort her surroundings.

It was all real.

The trees, the soil, the majestic palace of the Kurus, the azure sky, the pure air void of any pollution and of course, the abnormally calm Pandava in front her. They were all real.

"Ugh, my hand hurts. Can we take a break now"? Mrithika groaned as she massaged her shoulder joint from getting cramped due to the heavy sword. She had been practising how to swing it as a part of her balancing class.

She did not have the slightest idea on how ancient mortals managed to fight battles for hours whilst handling such heavy weapons. And according to Sahadev her sword was the lightest in the armoury. She internally scoffed at his words, 'Light, my foot'!

But she remembered how her late grandmother used to say that individuals from different eras or yugas varied in aspects of strength, morality and appearance. And she wasn't wrong, Mrithika could clearly see the difference.

Sahadev sighed and agreed, "Just ten minutes. That's all you get".

Mrithika scrunched up her face in distaste, "Just ten? Give me an hour at least! My arms have cramped up"!

"Do you want to learn or not? Because learning cannot be according to your convenience", He snapped.

"It cannot, but it should be done in comfortable circumstances", she shot back.

"I give up, go do whatever you want", Sahadev threw his hands in the air in defeat. He was tired of arguing with her and he never liked getting involved in one either, to him she was just too persistent for her own good.

He watched Mrithika's face light up with an eminent joy as he agreed to her terms, begrudgingly. He rolled his eyes internally at her stubborn nature, to him it was uncanny to see such a person , a woman, who had a persuasive and determined spirit with no malicious intent hiding beneath it.

Or does it?

Despite having an innocent exterior he knew that she might not be what she shows, especially with those cryptic answers and crafty smiles he could easily guess that there is more to her than she lets them know.

Sahadev had enough knowledge about his own skills and knew very well of what he was capable of. In spite of being the most silent among the Pandavas, he was skilled at observing and reading people.

For instance, he noticed how Mrithika stiffened at the mention of her father during their first lunch together and how minimalist she was regarding her familial life. Not to mention how she mumbled about someone not being able to find her anymore just hours ago.

On analysing his thoughts further he couldn't disagree nor agree with it. It was just conflicted. If she really was that dangerous, why would Krishna send a potential enemy right into the inner circle of their family? And she did mention herself of belonging to the sun clan, the very lineage of Shri Ram, the most pious person who ever walked earth.

"Judging me are you, Devi"?

Sahadev was startled by the snide remark and whipped around furiously to face the intruder with a sword in hand, only to see Mrithika with her hands up in surrender in response to his sword nearly gouging her eyes out.

"Watch were you stick that crude weapon will you"! She screeched in a shrill voice with her back straightening out like a stick to keep the blade from touching her.

"You"! He frowned and pulled his weapon back as he he continued, "Why did you sneak up like that"?

"In my defence, I realised that I forgot to take back my bracelet and returned to retrieve it when I heard you murmuring about me. Tell me Devi, do I really look like I threat to you"?

Sahadev's face was a mixture of confusion, shock and annoyance. He cleared his throat and asked formally, "How did you hear my thoughts? Can you read minds"?

Mrithika snorted at it, "I can't read minds, you were practically reciting them out loud".

"I was"?!

Mrithika nodded with her arms crossed across her chest. Sahadev cringed at his mistake. He wished he could have corrected himself the moment Nakul had accused him of occasionally muttering his thoughts out.

He couldn't blame himself either because in his defence, he thought he was alone. Devoid of any sly princesses such as Mrithika.

He was snapped out of his thoughts again ( which were a lot quieter this time) when the Rajput Princess unceremoniously clapped her hands and said, "You know what? Perhaps it's appropriate for you to suspect me of being suspicious. After all, I could be anyone! I could even be a Rakshasi or...or perhaps even a pisach who managed to trick your little friend Madhav. You should be very careful, I might belong to a tribe who holds grudges against the Kurus", she whispered the last part ominously whilst tilting her head downwards to peer at him from beneath her eyebrows.

"What"?! He breathed out in disbelief.

Mrithika rolled her eyes and snickered, "Arey Bhagwan, Devi. You should look yourself into the mirror more like your brother, perhaps then you will realise how comical you looked!"

Sahadev responded with a roll of his eyes of his own and said, "Of course I knew you were jesting. I was shocked at the fact that you offer to claim to trick Govind even as a jest! And don't call me DEVI"!

Mrithika held up her hands and shook her head dramatically, "Oh no no, I only meant it as a jest. How can I, a mere puny Kalyugi, manage to trick the great Dwarkadeesh Krishna?! I can only dream of it".

The younger Madreyā chuckled at her antics, "Whatever it is, you're running out of time, Mrithika. So I suggest that you hurry up with your interval".

Mrithika licked her dry lips and concurred, "You're right, I should get going. I'll probably look for some water and snacks— um...are you thirsty"?

Sahadev denied with a shake of his head, "I'm not. If I am, I will arrange it through one of the maids, you need not worry about it".

A gentle breeze blowed out her bangs from her face momentarily, giving a clear glimpse of her brown eyes that shined like honey in the afternoon sunlight before her ink like locks settled back in place, shielding her eyes just like a curtain's purpose for a window.

It left a pang of disappointment in his heart.

He wondered why she had a strange hairstyle of bringing a few cut strands to cover a part of her face. It added more mystery to her already mysterious aura that seemed to somehow attract him in an anomalous manner. He couldn't seem to resist it despite his strong will and that made him more eager to unravel her labyrinthine secret.

She was just too confusing.

A/N

I hope the chapter wasn't too tedious today and what do u guys think about the pairing of Sahadev and Mrithika? I know most of you have commented Karn, Arjun, Ashwatthama and even Krishna but after pondering over for awhile I came to conclusion.

First ; There were to many stories of Karn on wattpad and Mrithika definitely knows the MB and everything that he did so their views would contradict. She would absolutely not associate with him since he's like the bff of Dury Bhai and a member of Mama & Co. And my dear readers already know that Mrithi has bad blood with Dury Bhai.

Second ; my reason for Arjun is almost similar to Karn's. Too much stories based on him too and the fact that he has or will have four wives is a known fact to Mrithika. Do u think a 21st century girl who's familiar with the one - wife rule will bear to share her husband with four other women? Nah nah ^^. Also all of them have shown Arjun as the love interest but have we ever seen his friend side? Yes, quite rarely though. And instead of serving as a love interest I thought why not explore a friendship angle?

Third ; Believe me, your dear Author did consider Ashwatthama once along with Sahadev and thought abt deeply before concluding that their chemistry won't work out. Also it did not fit the plot I planned and left a lot of plot holes. For instance, we all know how he gets cursed to be a cheeranjeevi by Krishna and it's obvious that Mrithika wouldn't want to get involved in unwanted heartbreak as such.

Fourth ; Vishnu has only one consort and that is Mata Mahalakshmi Herself! Therefore, for that Mrithika has to be an ansh or incarnation of Mata Lakshmi which she is not. So to put it simply, my dear Krishna has to be out of the picture too :(

Lastly ; my inspo for AMITAVĀ was after reading numerous stories based upon Mahabharata and almost none of them had pairing of Sahadev in them. Like people!! my youngest Pandava almost gets ignored most of the time and comes mostly as a side character so he deserves some love and appreciation tooo. He's absolutely underrated and after careful contemplation he fits the storyline perfectly like a glove. Ik he has two wives ( Draupadi being the common one for the five brothers) but we shall see how it turns out.

I hope you guys aren't too dissatisfied and leave the story just because of the pairing. I promise I'll try to give u the best of this outcome and for that I need ur support and love. Also add this book to ur library so that u get notifications whenever I update :)