Mahabharat: Shiva's Last Variable

(A/N):

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The conversation was interrupted when the great entrance of Trivenivrata finally came into view.

The guards stationed upon the outer towers had already noticed the approaching procession.

At first they remained cautious.

Then one of the soldiers on the watchtower recognized the royal banners.

His eyes widened.

"The king!"

The shout travelled along the wall.

"The king has returned!"

Within moments, the message spread from tower to tower.

The guards rushed to their positions.

The enormous gates of Trivenivrata began opening.

KRRRRRRR...

The sound of the massive wooden and metal doors moving echoed across the entrance.

Beyond the gate, the broad ceremonial road stretched toward the riverfront before continuing into the heart of the kingdom.

The road itself had been designed so that anyone approaching Trivenivrata from the river could see the grandeur of the city before reaching its inner districts.

Stone pillars lined both sides, decorated with carvings of the three sacred rivers, while gardens filled the spaces between the road and the walls.

As Devara’s procession approached, more and more people began gathering.

Farmers abandoned their work.

Merchants stepped out of their shops.

Children ran toward the roads despite their parents calling after them.

The news had already spread.

Their king had returned.

And he hadn’t returned alone.

The soldiers who had marched with him were returning.

The survivors of Malikavana were returning.

And among the procession were guests from Pushkarniya.

Indhumati looked around in wonder as the first crowds appeared beyond the gate.

She could hear people cheering.

"King Devara!"

"Victory to the Maharaja!"

"Our king has returned!"

The sound grew louder as more people gathered along the road.

Queen Devaki smiled as she watched the reaction.

Indhumati, however, found herself looking toward Devara.

He was sitting calmly upon his horse, acknowledging the people with a raised hand while the soldiers around him maintained their formation.

There was no trace of the terrifying Sangili Karuppan form that had emerged from the battlefield.

He was simply Devara again.

Her future husband, if everything went as planned.

The thought immediately made her cheeks warm.

One of the maids beside her noticed.

"My princess..."

Indhumati quickly turned.

"What?"

The maid smiled knowingly.

"Nothing."

Indhumati narrowed her eyes.

The maid immediately looked away.

Behind them, Queen Devaki noticed the exchange and quietly smiled to herself.

The procession finally crossed beneath the massive gateway.

The moment Devara entered Trivenivrata...

The cheering became deafening.

Flower petals began falling from the balconies.

Children waved small flags bearing the royal insignia.

Women stood at the sides of the road carrying lamps and plates of auspicious offerings.

Musicians began playing drums and conches.

The entire city seemed to have come outside to welcome its king.

Devara looked around at them.

For more than a hundred days, he had been surrounded by battlefields.

He had woken every morning knowing that another fight awaited him.

He had watched friends and enemies fall.

He had endured Pushpasura’s relentless attacks.

He had spent the final days trapped within an illusion and had wondered whether he would ever see his kingdom again.

Now...

He was home.

The familiar river breeze moved across his face.

The sound of the Ganga flowing beside the city mixed with the cheers of his people.

Devara slowly smiled.

Ashwatthama looked at him and noticed the change in his expression.

"Feels good to be back?"

Devara looked toward his kingdom.

"More than you know."

And as the procession moved deeper into Trivenivrata,

The three sacred rivers continued flowing around the kingdom as they had for generations, welcoming back the king who had left them behind to fight a war...

And had finally returned victorious.

The royal procession continued slowly through the grand avenue of Trivenivrata,

And the longer Queen Devaki and Princess Indhumati remained within the city, the more difficult it became for them to hide their amazement.

They had expected a wealthy kingdom because of everything they had heard about Devara’s rule, but seeing it with their own eyes was an entirely different experience.

They couldn’t believe their own eyes.

The people themselves caught their attention first.

There was a noticeable difference between the citizens of Trivenivrata and the ordinary villagers they had encountered during their journey.

Even the common people were dressed neatly, with well-maintained garments and ornaments that would have been considered expensive in many kingdoms.

Merchants stood outside beautifully constructed shops, farmers returning from the fields wore clean traditional clothing,

And women walked through the streets wearing jewellery that suggested a level of prosperity neither Devaki nor Indhumati had expected to find among ordinary citizens.

It wasn’t the kind of wealth that came from a handful of nobles displaying their riches.

The entire city seemed prosperous.

Children ran along the sides of the road laughing, while their parents watched the returning procession with broad smiles.

There were no hungry faces in the crowd, no desperate people begging for the attention of passing nobles, and no sense that the wealth of the kingdom belonged only to the palace.

Queen Devaki quietly observed everything from her chariot.

"Your king has certainly done something right,"

Indhumati nodded, still looking around.

"Everyone looks so well cared for."

One of the older women accompanying them smiled.

"Perhaps this is what happens when a king actually remembers that a kingdom belongs to its people."

Devaki gave her a thoughtful glance before returning her attention to the streets.

She had heard stories about Devara’s administration, but stories could always be exaggerated.

What she was seeing now could not.

The people genuinely looked happy to see their king return.

And that, more than the magnificent palace or the enormous walls, impressed her.

Indhumati, meanwhile, found herself searching for Devara whenever the crowd became too large for her to see him clearly.

He was several chariots ahead, surrounded by Ashwatthama, Karna, Shakuni and the returning soldiers.

Every now and then, he turned his head toward the crowd and raised his hand in acknowledgement.

Each time he did, the cheers grew louder.

Indhumati smiled without realizing it.

Her mother noticed.

"You’ve been looking at him for the last few minutes."

Indhumati immediately looked away.

"I was looking at the city."

"Of course I saw everything."

"Mother."

Devaki laughed softly.

"I said nothing."

Indhumati narrowed her eyes at her mother before turning back toward the palace.

The procession eventually reached the innermost section of the capital.

The streets became wider.

The buildings became more elaborate.

The royal palace could now be seen clearly ahead, rising above the surrounding structures with its great domes, towers and golden decorations catching the afternoon sunlight.

The road leading toward it had been cleared entirely.

Guards lined both sides.

The moment Devara’s chariot reached the final approach, the massive royal gates slowly began to open.

The sound of the doors moving echoed through the courtyard.

Devara looked ahead.

And stopped.

For the first time since entering his kingdom, the smile on his face disappeared.

Not because he was unhappy.

Because he had suddenly become emotional.

Standing beyond the opened gates...

Were the people he had been thinking about throughout the entire journey.

Rajmata Satyavati stood at the centre, holding an Aarti plate in her hands.

Beside her stood Queen Gandhari.

And behind them...

Were his other wives.

All of them had come personally to receive him.

They were dressed in their finest garments, their hair carefully adorned, jewellery shining beneath the sunlight, and each of them held the same mixture of relief, happiness and restrained emotion upon their faces.

They had waited.

For more than a hundred days.

They had watched messengers arrive with news from the battlefield.

They had heard about the war stretching from day to day.

They had heard about Pushpasura.

They had heard that Devara had been buried beneath the earth.

They had spent nights wondering whether he would return.

And now...

He was standing before them.

Alive. Victorious. Home.

Devara slowly climbed down from his chariot.

For a moment, he simply stood there.

Rajmata Satyavati’s eyes became moist.

Gandhari’s lips trembled into a smile.

His wives looked at him as though they were making sure he was real.

Devara looked at every one of them.

"...."

Then he smiled. A tired smile. A relieved smile.

The smile of a man who had finally returned to the place where he belonged.

He walked forward.

The Aarti flame flickered as Satyavati raised the plate.

She slowly circled it before him, her eyes never leaving his face.

When she finished, she placed the plate aside and reached toward him.

"Come here."

Devara immediately stepped forward.

Satyavati placed her hand against his cheek.

For several seconds she said nothing.

She simply looked at him.

Then she pulled him into an embrace.

Devara closed his eyes and hugged her back.

"You took too long," she whispered.

A faint laugh escaped him.

"I know."

Gandhari stood beside them, trying to maintain her royal composure, but her eyes were already wet.

When Satyavati finally released him, Devara turned toward her.

Gandhari didn’t wait.

She stepped forward and embraced him as well.

"You scared us."

Her voice was quiet.

Devara rested his hand gently against her back.

"I’m sorry. You should be."

He smiled.

"I’ll accept the punishment."

That finally made her laugh through her tears.

Behind them, his other wives were waiting.

Devara looked toward them and immediately noticed the emotions they were trying to hide.

He walked toward them.

One by one, he greeted them.

There were no grand speeches.

No royal ceremony could properly express what was happening.

These were simply people who had spent more than a hundred days waiting for someone they loved to return.

And finally...

He had.

A short distance away, Queen Devaki and Princess Indhumati watched the reunion quietly.

Devaki’s expression softened.

"So these are the women he was worried about."

Indhumati nodded.

Her gaze moved across Devara’s wives.

She understood now why he had hesitated when her father had suggested an immediate marriage.

He hadn’t been trying to reject her.

He had simply wanted to come home first.

Indhumati smiled faintly.

"He’s very loved here."

Devaki looked at her daughter.

"Yes."

Then she gently added,

"And if you are going to become part of this family one day, you’d better be prepared for it."

Indhumati’s face immediately turned crimson.

"Mother!"

Devaki laughed.

Meanwhile, Devara finally looked beyond his family and noticed the large group of guests standing behind them.

His eyes settled upon Queen Devaki.

Then upon Princess Indhumati.

A small smile appeared on his face.

He raised his hand in greeting.

Indhumati returned the gesture.

And for a moment, amidst the music, the flowers, the cheering citizens and the three sacred rivers flowing around his kingdom...

Devara stood between the family he had returned to and the family he was slowly beginning to welcome into his life.

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(Author note:)

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