Chapter 99

                                    

                                          
3 years later:- 
                          
Dust jumped up to welcome a gust of dry tropical wind that decreed to pay a visit to Kosal. 
The ringing of Chandrapuri's anklets was reduced to a murmur, as she approached the training ground with a slim sword in her hand.
                          
Standing on the opposite side of the arena, Sahadev smirked at his wife. Beholding the daughter of the lunar deity in an off-white robe, with a weapon in her hand was a glorious treat to his eyes. 
                          
He tossed his sword in the air and caught it in his other hand, making his opponent raise her eyebrows. He proceeded to encircle himself in a ring, drawn with his blade on the sand, while maintaining a daunting eye-lock with her. 
                          
"My chakravyuh. Enter if you dare." 














                          
One could hardly tell if the provocation was triumphant in its motive, as Chandraja walked straight into the labyrinth without a second thought.
                          
The competitive tension between the two warriors intensified when Kairavi tucked the loose end of the garment into her waist. 
Sunlight stroked her enticing face, as she moved towards her husband in a swan-like gait. 
                          
Each step of hers made the Pandav draw in sharp breaths to restrict himself from making the first move. His fingers tightened on the hilt; the lone path to divert his fervour for the time being.
                          
Kairavi had been training relentlessly for the past three years. 
Her once silky hands were now calloused and flexible; a result of swinging astras every day. The youngest son of Kunti posed regular challenges before her, which she thoroughly enjoyed. 












                          
"Quite eager, are we?" She teased. 
"To win? Yes." Sahadev chuckled while gliding the blade across his palm. 
The subtle gesture was meant to summon Kairavi, and the latter picked up the hint pretty well. 
                          
"Not today, rajkumar." 
                          
Her skin shone luminous and impossibly pale, as if it drank light from the sun. 
It bathed her neck and head in a golden reflection. 
                          
Chandreya spun on her heels and kissed Sahadev's sword with hers. The sharp clangour of metal was followed by thundering silence. 
The pandav's weapon was perpendicular to Arni's, successfully stopping it from coming in proximity to his face. 
                          
They stared at each other with sun-burnt orbs. 
His other hand was resting on his spine, boasting about his resolve to combat with only one. A bold move in itself. 











                          
Kairavi warned while angling her wrist, "You're too confident, my dear husband." He did not answer, for it was a subterfuge, that had been successfully fooling her so far.
                          
She let out a half-suppressed, scornful laugh in response to Sahadev's reticence. 
"If intimidation is your game plan, I hope you have a better one."
                          
With one swift movement, she pushed his sword sideways in an attempt to haul it to the ground. 
But the veteran warrior was not new to the ploy. 
                          
Possessing greater strength than her, he reversed the movement, making Kairavi's blade land on the coarse sand. 
She ended up having her weapon trapped between the ground and the Madreya's foot, for he stomped on it just as soon as it touched the terra firma.
                          
She tried wrenching it free but to no avail. She had developed an unassailable brawn, but it was still too weak for the strong. 
                          
Her forte unquestionably lied in crafty modalities to dupe the enemy; a tactic particularly difficult to master when it came to duelling with one of the wisest people in Aryavart. 
"Overconfidence is the certain death of a warrior, rajkumari. I hope you remember."