A young maiden was in her chamber seated on her bed. Her bright black eyes were looking at all the gifts that were given by her brothers.
"Rajkumari! Where are you? Maharaj and Maharani are calling you to the meeting room," Sughada, the chief maid and also Gandhari's closest friend called out for her.
"I am here Sughada and do you know the reason why?" Gandhari asked her as she kept aside all the gifts her brothers gave her.
"How will I know? They just asked me to call you and I am here to tell you that," Sughada said. Gandhari sighed. She somehow knew why her parents called her. It was most probably to talk about her marriage which she isn't interested in. They have been persistant since she had returned from Kanyakul.
"Okay, go and tell them that I will be right there," she said and Sughada nodded leaving the chamber. Gandhari looked out the window. She didn't want to leave her family that soon. She is just in her 20s and she was just not ready. She slowly adjusted her clothes and walked to the meeting room where her parents were seated.
"Pranipat Pitashree. Pranipat Matashree," she said and sat beside them after taking their blessings .
"Why did you all call me?" Gandhari asked as she fiddled with her bangles. Maharaj Subala and Maharani Sudharma looked at each other.
"We received a marriage proposal for you. It is from Hastinapur," Sudharma said. Gandhari sighed and looked at her parents.
"Reject the proposal," she said and stood up. Sudharma and Subala stood up.
"What are you saying Gandhari? You have been receiving marriage proposals for the past one years and you have always rejected them and we said nothing but this proposal is from Hastinapur. Do you what does that mean?" Maharaj Subala said. Gandhari looked at him.
"It means, I will be going away far from you guys and will be losing the freedom I have now," she said. Sudharma frowned at her daughter.
"What do you mean that you will lose your freedom? Gandhari, a proposal from Hastinapur is every girl's dream. You are fortunate to receive a marriage proposal from them, Putri... You can't just say no," Sudharma said and Gandhari was about to reply when a voice spoke from behind.
"Of course, she can say no! It is just a marriage proposal and my sister has all rights to reject it," the man said. Gandhari turned behind and a bright smile appeared on her face.
"Bhratashree Shakuni!" she said and ran towards him. Shakuni spread his arms as he took his lovely sister into his embrace. He pulled away from his sister and faced his parents.
"If my sister doesn't want to get married, then let her be. Gandhar kingdom is her home and she can remain here forever if she wants but her marriage will not happen by force!" he said sternly which which meet with parents disapproval look. Shakuni was the youngest son in the family but he was the most feared prince of Gandhar. Even his own family feared him not for his strength but for protectiveness towards his sister. Shakuni cupped Gandhari's face and smiled at her.
"Don't listen to anyone, Gandhari. Always do what your heart tells you. If you don't want this marriage then don't do it. If you want to stay in Gandhar forever, then you can do so. This brother of yours will take care of you till the very end!" Shakuni said and tears filled Gandhari's eyes as she looked at her brother. She nodded with a smile and wiped her tears.
"Now go to your room... I have brought something special for you," Shakuni said. Gandhari smiled and ran to her chamber to see an item wrapped in a cloth. She slowly picked it up and unwrapped the cloth. Her eyes went wide in happiness as she saw what was inside. It was fireflies that were inside the jar.
"Sughada!" she shouted. Sughada came in rushing thinking something happened to her friend. She went to Gandhari and asked what happen.
"What happened, Rajkumari? Why did you call out for me?" she asked. Gandhari showed her the jar.
"Look what my brother got me! Fireflies! Isn't it amazing?" she said and Sughada smiled at her. She knew why Rajkumar Shakuni brought that for his sister. After all, she was afraid of the dark and these fireflies will make her feel safe at night...
Back to present,
"Wow, Mata! Your brother definitely loves you a lot!" Karn said. He was now seated on Gandhari's lap.
"He does and I too love him more than my other brothers," she said.
"You have more brothers?!" Karna asked trying to act shocked.
"Yes, Putr, I had around 100 brothers in total including my step elder brothers. My most loved brother's name is Shakuni and he is the youngest among all us siblings." she said.
"That's nice, Mata! But, you were saying that you weren't interested in getting married but how are you here now?" Karna asked wanting for her to continue. Gandhari's mind drifted back to the dreadful event that cost her her family's life.
"My decision to not get married at the start wasn't right and as a punishment, I am here now," she said. And her mind once again drifted to the past.
Flashback continuation,
It has been a few days since her parents wrote the letter to Hastinapur that they weren't interested in accepting their proposal with an apology. Gandhari was back to her old self, enjoying her life to no end. She was plucking flowers from the garden for her prayers later when Sughada came to her running.
"Rajkumari! I have to tell you something important!" she said with fear evident in her voice. Gandhari holds Sughada's shoulder.
"Calm down, Sughada. Tell me what happened," Gandhari said. She didn't know why but she felt like something wrong was about to happen.
"Hastinapur is waging a war against our Kingdom as they didn't like that fact you rejected to marry their prince," Sughada said and Gandhari's eyes went wide in horror.
"And how you got to know about it?" she asked calming herself down.
"I overheard, the conversation between Maharaj and the minister! Rajkumari, I am very scared!" Sughada said and Gandhari dropped the baskets of flowers that she had collected and ran to the meeting room. This time the room was filled with her all brothers along with her father.
"Was what I heard true, Pitashree?! Is Hastinapur going to wage a war with us just because I rejected their marriage proposal?" Gandhari asked her father. Everybody's eyes were now on her.
"Gandhari, go to the room dear. We will manage everything," Shakuni told his sister but Gandhari wasn't listening.
"No! I am not going to listen to anyone. All of this is happening because of!" Gandhari said and she fell to the ground. Her brothers ran to her to console their sister.
"It is not your fault, my dear. A girl has all the right to reject a proposal if she isn't interested. This decision was your right and they just can't accept it!" Shakuni said hugging his sister who was crying out loud now. The other brothers agreed, some proposed to solve problems with diplomacy while others proposed to wage wars for their sister against Hastinapur.
"What are you'll going to do now, Bhratashree? Hastinapur has a huge army and I have heard a lot about the Mahamahim Bhishma. He will ruin us!" she said with fear in her voice. Vrishaka, fourth eldest of all brothers, was about to say something when one of their minister came in running with tears in his eyes.
"Maharaj! Rajkumar Achala, the eldest was slaughtered by the Mahamahim of Hastinapur on the way here!" their minister said and Gandhari screamed crying louder. Her father and brothers froze in shock. The eldest prince of Gandhar, their eldest son and their eldest brother was dead.
"It was because of me! Bhratashree Achala died because of me!" Gandhari screamed in agony as she stood up and ran to her chamber and locked herself in. Her father and brothers ran after her and tried to knock on the door but Gandhari didn't open it. All they could hear was her cries.
Soon, the news of Achala's death spread around the whole of Gandhar. The kingdom was in grief. Maharaj Sulaba along with his sons were preparing the soldiers for the war that was about to happen. They knew their army wasn't as strong as Hastinapur, mainly because their main opponent is Mahamahim Bhishma itself but they couldn't back down. They need to avenge the family's dead and also their princess's honour. If they lose, Hastinapur will definitely take Gandhari by force and they weren't going to let that happen.
Gandhari was still blaming herself for her brother's death. It was her fault. She had asked her brother to go to the neighbouring kingdom to get her the flowers from there as they were exclusive. If she didn't ask him to go, he would have been alive. She knew Hastinapur will be reaching the kingdom soon and she had to do something before she loses one more person she loves. She laid down on her bed, only to get up as she heard a loud scream from her mother.
"Matashree!" she screamed and left her chambers and ran towards the direction she is hearing a lot of noise from. She heard the noise coming from the main hall and ran towards it. She saw her father with 20 of her brother in chain including Shakuni and her brother Vrishaka along with others dead on the floor with her mother who crying looking at their dead body. She looked around and saw most of her soldiers were dead and some were captured along with her brothers.
"I am giving you one more chance, Rajkumar. Where is your sister?" Bhishma said placing the sword next to Shakuni's neck who was captured by the soldiers.
"I won't tell you!" Shakuni screeched in anger. There was no way, he was no way he was going to tell where his sister was.
"I have no lose Rajkumar. If you tell me where is she, we will forget the insult that you gave us and bring her to Hastinapura with the utmost respect. If not, we will just kill you and imprison your mother and take your sister away forcefully and I can assure you that won't be great," Bhishma said emotionlessly. Hearing nothing from him, Bhishma's raised his sword to kill Shakuni and then the remaining princes one by one when a voice stopped him.
"I will marry the Prince of Hastinapur!" Gandhari screamed. Shakuni's eyes went to his sister who was crying mess. Gandhari ran towards Bhishma and fell to his feet.
"I will marry the Prince of Hastinapur but please don't kill the remaining of my family! I beg you!" she said crying. The brothers closed their eyes as they saw their sister begging Mahamahim of Hastinapur. The sister who they made sure never to bow down to anyone was bowing down to sell her life. They failed as her brother. They opened their eyes and stared at Bhishma who now was looking at Gandhari. Shakuni's eyes were red in anger. The king was a mess in his inner turmoil as he had failed both as a ruler and as a father.
Bhishma sighed and removed the sword from Shakuni's neck and told Gandhari to stand up.
"I am glad that you decided to marry the Prince of Hastinapur," Bhishma said with a soft voice and motioned his soldiers to bring the clothes that were sent for Gandhari for her wedding.
"Get changed, Putri. We have to leave for Hastinapur for your wedding," Bhishma said. Gandhari took the accessories from him with shaky hands. She saw Bhishma and his soldiers exiting the room. She dropped the items on the floor and fell on the floor crying. The surviving family hugged Gandhari in their tears unable to prevent till the end.
"It is all my fault! What have I done? I should have just accepted the marriage proposal way before but what did I do?! I said no and look what has happened now! Because of my decision, Bhratshrees are dead. " Gandhari said crying. She was feeling disgusted with the way Bhishma behaved.
Didn't he feel any remorse for what he did? He asked her to get ready for her marriage as if he just never killed her brothers. What sin have she done to see such days?? Hey Mahadev, what sin did she actually committed in this life or in her previous life that she had to suffer like this.
But she knew she had to do it for her family. If marrying the Prince will keep her family safe, then that is what she will do!
To be continued...
(A/N: Hey guy please comment below and send me vote along with your love to keep continuing this fanfic 😁😁😁
Note: In actually bhagwat puran, none of this episode happens. In actually puran, Gandhari and Dhritrashtra mutually got married. Also Gandhari family and Kuru family had good healthy relationship. This parts are been taken from the Television serials so they are not much authentic but I am still using them to progress the story.
Thank you 👍)