Rajkumar Devajyot gulped nervously as his sister stood glaring at him. In his defence, he didn't know that Priyala would go overboard in her enthusiasm.

"I didn't expect this from you bhrata. How could you? They're our guests. You should have at least remembered that. Is this any way to treat guests?" Drisana scolded him.

Devajyot only shaked his head slightly in reply.

"I'm not in a mood to translate your signs. Why did you do that? What must be Mata Kunti thinking? Is this our hospitality?" Drisana said disappointed.

"Don't worry they'll live. I'm the proof of that." Devajyot said. Of course he was. Afterall he had been eating those for years. Not all at once though.

"But why did you do that in the first place? I would have understood if bhrata Dheemant did something like this. But you? How could you?" Drisana asked stomping her foot.

"It was bhrata Dheemant's idea only." Devajyot muttered.

Drisana's mouth gapped open. She knew it.

"Bhrata Dheemant!!!"

"I don't know anything." Dheemant said immediately from behind. Drisana turned towards the rest six.

"Of course. You don't know anything. That's why you suddenly took Himani & Poornima bhabishree out. And the rest of you suddenly remembered so important works." Drisana said gritting her teeth.

"Drisana dekho, hum to kebal yeh dekhna cahte the ki Rajkumar Nakul ki pratikriya kaisa hoga agar vabhissah mein kabhi tum pakshala mein jane ka bichar karo to. Kya hai ki tum mei or Priyala mei to ak hi antar hai. Yoh galat cijo se ajib o garib vojan pakati hai or tum sahi cijo se. (Look Drisana. It was only to see how Rajkumar Nakul's reaction will be if in future you decide to enter kitchen. Because there's only one difference between Priyala and you. She makes weird foods using wrong ingredients and you, using the right ingredients.)" Dheemant said and realised his mistake too lately as Drisana frowned at him. The rest looked simultaneously at Dheemant thinking,

'Here goes nothing.'

"How mean bhrata Dheemant!!!!" Drisana cried out loud.

Krishna entered the living room of Kunti with Draupadi where the three valiant, courageous and brave heroes of Aryavart were sitting holding their stomach. Kunti was really worried. Karna hadn't said anything since lunch, Arjun was only cursing Nakul and whenever Nakul opened his mouth, the food he had consumed earlier threatened to come out. Priyala had stuffed him full to show their hospitality, refusing to hear anything.

"Poor souls. I really feel bad for them bua." Krishna said to Kunti.

"Don't pretend Madhav. You were also included in this conspiracy." Arjun groaned.

"No, no Parth. I'm at your side only. That's why I've brought juice for you. This is medicinal. Drink it. You'll be absolutely fine after drinking it." Krishna said smiling at him.

"I'm not going to eat or drink anything anymore." Arjun said.

"Drink it Arya. What you ate earlier, nothing can be worse than that." Draupadi said and handed him the drink. Karna and Nakul took their glasses without a single word. Krishna handed Nakul an extra glass as he had suffered the most. The drink was surprisingly sweet.

"God won't forgive you Madhav. How could you stood there being amused when we were tortured?" Arjun whined feeling better after drinking the medicinal juice.

"He not only took amusement from our misery, but also deliberately dragged me into the trap." Karna spoke for the first time.

"That's why he suddenly remembered his fast. I thought you're here to help us. But instead you pushed us into the well dug by Dravida princes. This is betrayal Vasudev." Nakul complained.

"How can I come between you and your brother-in-laws Rajkumar Nakul?" Krishna said dramatically.

"And us? Which sin's punishment are we getting?" Karna asked pointing towards himself and Arjun. Arjun nodded vigorously supporting him.

"Aab gehu ke sath ghun bhi to pista hai na. Aur aap dono apne anuj ke liye itna nehi kar sakte? (When the two bulls fight, it is the grass that suffers. And you two can't make such a small sacrifice for your younger brother?)" Krishna said. Karna and Kunti both were startled by him calling Nakul younger brother of them both.

"Nope. We can't. And you Nakul. In the whole Aryavart, you didn't get anyone else who doesn't have any brother. There's the Sinhala Princess, the Asmaka Princess, the Princess of Karusha, how sweet her voice is, the Kishikinda princess, the Kalinga princess also doesn't have any brothers. Couldn't you see those?" Arjun gritted out standing in front of Nakul. Nakul gulped and signed him to look behind.

"What?" Arjun asked.

"Wow Arya. You seem to know all about princesses. Who has how many brothers, whose voice is sweet, you have full knowledge of them." Draupadi said from behind. Arjun closed his eyes realising the blunder he just created.

"What is this Parth? You have such a beautiful and caring wife, and you keep track on other princesses leaving her. Very bad." Krishna said sighing in disappointment. Arjun looked at him in a crying expression as Draupadi was fuming in rage. She left giving a last glare to Arjun.

"Yeh jo aapne aag mein ghee dala hai na Madhav, uske liye aapka bohot bohot aavhar. (Thank you so much for adding fuel to the fire, Madhav.)" Arjun said sarcastically folding his hand in front of Krishna loudly and left behind Draupadi.

Karna was walking on the seashore. After that horrible lunch, he needed some fresh air. This trip wasn't bad at all as he had first thought. He thought he would be judged and humiliated because of his caste and station as a commoner. So he refused to come with them at first. But Drisana and her family welcomed him with open arms and also Arjun, Nakul and Vasudev too. He had heard Dravida was more liberated than other kingdoms and he could see that. Drisana's brothers though were princes didn't make him feel like he was any less. A few days ago he had a practice session with Rajkumar Dridhaksh and Rajkumar Arjun. He was afraid it was a bad idea at first. But it turned out fun and relaxing. He smiled thinking about it. Today when Vasudev addressed Rajkumar Nakul as his younger brother, surprisingly it didn't feel like a foreign idea or weird.

Vasudev was right. This environment change was good on his raging mind.

"Maharathi Karna!" Karna turned to see none other than Rajkumari Subhadra coming towards him. He huffed in annoyance.

"Pranam Rajkumari Subhadra. What are you doing here? Alone?" Karna asked greeting her.

"I need your help. Please help me." Subhadra said making puppy face.

"What help?" He asked. Why was this girl always roaming alone?

"Come with me." Subhadra said and started to walk expecting him to follow. Karna only looked at her way frowning. After going a little further, Subhadra turned. Not finding him behind her, she started shouting waving her hand.

"What happened? Why are you not coming? Come fast." Karna flinched hearing her shout. She had some strong vocals for sure. Deciding it was best to go with her than hearing her scream, he started to follow her.

"You're so slow when there's some important work." Subhadra said as he went closer. Karna looked at her dumbfounded.

"Now stop staring at me. And look there." Subhadra said pointing at a mango tree. Karna looked at her again not getting what was going on.

"You said you needed help." Karna stated.

"Yes. I need your help to get those mangoes. You know archery. So release your arrow and get them." Subhadra said smiling at him.

"What?" Karna looked at her like she was speaking in some foreign language.

"Yes. Come on. Do it fast. It's going to be dark soon. I need to get back to the Palace too or everyone will scold me for staying out without guards if they get to know." Subhadra said hurriedly. Karna only kept staring at her.

"Why are you standing only?" She asked in annoyance. Then thinking something, she said, "You don't have your bow with you, that's why. Okay. I'll wait. Go get your bow fast."

'Of course. I have learned archery for that only. To get mangoes from trees.'

Karna gritted his jaw thinking that. He started to look around.

"What are you searching? Don't waste time. Go get your-" Subhadra was saying but stopped as Karna picked a stone and threw it at the tree. Perfect hit. Okay. So he didn't need a bow to get mangoes.

After picking enough mangoes, Karna stopped. Subhadra collected them happily. His lips twisted a little seeing her excitement over it. He used to pick fruits like this at childhood. But those happy carefree moments became just a distant memory too soon. He sighed and started to leave.

"Maharathi Karna!" Subhadra stopped him again.

"Now what Rajkumari?" Karna asked.

"You helped me in picking those. So you have right on them too. Half of these are yours." Subhadra said smiling brightly.

"I don't want them. Keep it." Karna said.

"Are you sure?" Subhadra asked with a mischievous glint in her eyes that Karna missed.

"Yes." Karna said and folding his hand in greeting left.

Subhadra smirked looking at his back. He would surely get the fruit of not taking the fruits.

Drisana sat angrily refusing to talk to her brothers.

"We all got dragged into it because of you. What was the need to comment about her cooking? " Dhikshit said annoyingly to Dheemant.

"Truth got out from mouth by mistake." Dheemant whined as all were glaring at him.

"Now what to do?" Dridhaksh asked.

"Let's try once more. Together." Dwijendra said.

"Wait." Devajyot stopped them and went away. He returned after a while with a vessel that contained chili pickle, only hit recipe of Priyala that Drisana loved.

"Good idea." Dhritimat remarked and together slowly approached Drisana.

"Drisana, look what we've got for you." Dheemant said too brightly. Drisana didn't even looked at them.

"Shut up Dheemant! Don't speak a single word. You always keep doing weird things and talk without thinking. Drisana will not speak to you unless you cook food for her." Dwijendra scolded Dheemant. At the last part, Drisana looked at them finally while Dheemant's eyes widened.

"What!" Dheemant gasped.

"Yes. You like to comment about cooking so much. So now you will go to the kitchen and cook food to get live experience. Right, Drisana?" Dwijendra said.

"Right, absolutely right, Jyesth. Then he'll understand the art of cooking and the suffering to gain control on that art." Drisana said.

"Yes. Look how delicious chili pickle Priyala has made. Devajyot where's it?" Dwijendra continued. Devajyot immediately came front with the pickle. Drisana took it somewhat appeased.

"What are you looking at? Go to the kitchen. Now." Dwijendra ordered Dheemant. Dheemant looked pleadingly at the rest. They only shrugged. He only brought it on himself.

As Dheemant went with a sulking face, Dwijendra and the rest sat beside Drisana. She started to eat pickles without giving them any mind. Dhikshit poked her on the side and looked at her with a pout. Drisana handed him some pickles as the rest rolled their eyes. These two could give competition to each other on eating chilies.

"My lovely sister, you know how much we love you. We respect your decision of marrying him. But we only want to confirm is he worthy of you or not. Don't we have that much right?" Dwijendra said clearing his throat.

"Were you checking his digestive system by this?" Drisana asked narrowing her eyes. She wasn't going to be fooled so easily with emotional blackmail.

"He could have avoided eating by making some excuses or spit it out saying it's bad." Dwijendra said.

"Of course not. That would have been insulting for bhabishree and if he didn't eat, it would have hurt her feelings as she made it specially for him." As the words left her mouth, she realised why her brothers did it. Her brothers wanted to see if Nakul would respect her sister-in-law's feelings, even though it was torture for him. And that was why Devajyot was there. To make sure Priyala wasn't insulted by any means.

Most would have done what Dwijendra said. But Nakul understood her efforts and intention and respected it. He not only ate with smiles, but also suffered through the extra servings.

"And that proves he is conscientious." Dwijendra said pointedly.

"Do you really need to test him? Don't you trust my judgement?" Drisana asked sighing.

"We do trust you. We're just making sure you didn't turn blind in love." Dhritimat said smirking.

Drisana went to Kunti's chambers to meet Nakul. As she entered, the scenario made her smile. Nakul was sleeping putting his head on Kunti's lap while Kunti lovingly caressed his head. She came near them slowly and sat down beside them.

"How's he?" Drisana whispered.

"Much better after drinking the medicinal juice brought by Krishna." Kunti whispered back with a smile.

"And bhrata Karna and bhrata Arjun?" Drisana asked being worried for them too.

"Karna has gone to take fresh air. I don't think he is ever going to trust Krishna again. And Arjun has sworn to never complain about dishes made by Draupadi." Kunti replied chuckling softly with Drisana.

"I have brought 'Kachiku' (black sapote) for them. It'll help them in digestion and also give relief to their tortured taste buds." Drisana said giving the fruit basket to her. Black sapote was an exotic fruit that tasted like chocolate pudding.

"Putri?" Kunti called her softly. Drisana removed her gaze from Nakul to look at her.

"My Nakul is very sensitive and kind. I always used to fear that someday he'll get hurt badly because of it. And when you came in his life, I was afraid of my fear becoming true. You hold the power to damage him irrevocably. I've felt him suffer in those past years even though he tried to hide, even though I knew he contacted you and used to come here to meet you. I don't want him to suffer again putri. And that can be only assured if you always stand with him at every situation. Will you promise me to do that?" Kunti asked.

"There's no power strong enough to keep me from him, Mata." Drisana replied looking at Nakul's sleeping face.

"Nakul ka hath aur sath, kabhi mat chorna putri. (Don't unhand and leave him, putri.)" Kunti whispered caressing his hair again.

Draupadi was seating near the fountain at the palace garden. She was still angry with Arjun. He always did that. She didn't like to hear any other girls name from him. She didn't like him noticing anyone else other than her. She didn't like him even looking at other women. Why didn't he understand?

Her heart was afraid. Arjun was one of the most well-known warriors of Aryavart. Along with his good looks and wealth, he was the dream of many girls who wouldn't even mind to be second or third wives of him. Draupadi wasn't naive. She knew marrying many times was nothing in royal families and she was afraid someday she would have to share him with someone else. She didn't doubt Arjun loved her. But men could be rather generous when it came to women. He loved her that didn't mean he wouldn't love anyone else. Look at her brother Dhristyadym. He claimed to love Drisana and now just in less than three years, he had three wives. Not that she despised him or he wasn't a good husband to them. But that made her worried for her own relation.

As she was contemplating these, a flower appeared in front of her. Draupadi turned her face to the other side, not looking at him.

"Won't you even look at me Panchali?" Arjun asked softly. Draupadi remained quiet.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything. You know how much I love you and only you." Arjun said turning her towards him. Draupadi still stayed quiet. "Say something please." Arjun pleaded. He didn't like when she stopped talking to him. He would rather take her anger than this silence.

"Why should I say anything? Go to that Kishikinda princess whose voice is sweet." Draupadi said angrily.

"Not Kishikinda, Karusha." Arjun corrected her smartly. If looks could kill, Arjun wouldn't be alive after that.

"Whatever. Go to her." Draupadi shouted and turned her back on him. Arjun stopped his laughter from escaping. He knew his wife was hell possessive about him and he enjoyed ruffling her feathers.

"Are you sure? You wouldn't mind if I go?" Arjun asked.

"No. I don't care." Draupadi said almost crying in anger.

"Okay. Let Nakul get married first. Then we'll go to Karusha to hear her voice. You know I heard her voice is so heavenly that even gods come on earth to hear her play Veena. The Karusha King is searching for an eligible groom for her. One strong warrior Prince who also takes interest in music." Arjun said sitting comfortably beside the fountain. Draupadi was about to brust. "And I also heard the Princess likes archers."

"Don't even think about it. If your legs take even one step towards Karusha, I'll- I'll -" Draupadi shouted pointing a finger at his face.

"You'll?" Arjun asked controlling his smile.

"I'll throw all your weapons on sacrificial fire. Remember all your weapons remain in my reservation?" Draupadi completed after thinking a little. Arjun's mouth gapped open. He didn't think about that.

"Yes, Arya. I promise if you even try to remotely flirt with any girl, let along think about marrying again, I'll sacrifice all your weapons to Agni dev." Draupadi said smiling sweetly at him.

"I wasn't even thinking anything like that and when have you ever saw me flirting with anyone? I can't even flirt with you properly." Arjun said gulping.

"But you can keep tracks on all the eligible princesses and also know whose voice is sweet and her requirements for marriage." Draupadi said mockingly.