Prologue
State of Dwarka, 3069 BC
Prince Arjun stopped short, his ever sensitive ear alert for the sound he had heard just now. Soon enough, his honed hearing picked up the sailing of an arrow through the air, as if it had just whizzed past his ear. He walked towards the source of the sound, the training room, and peeked in through the open door. As he saw who was inside, a smile formed on his lips. His beloved son, Abhimanyu, was practising archery, his body taut with anticipation and his form ready to release another arrow.
Arjun leaned against the wall as he said, "Relax your shoulders a bit, son." Abhimanyu, for his part, remained perfectly still, not startled in the slightest by the sudden voice behind him, as if he already knew his father was there. Nevertheless, he followed the instructions. His tensed shoulder became lax and he pulled back the string a bit more, just to release it a moment later, shooting another arrow in the air. The next moment, the arrow hit its intended target and one of the pots hanging at a distance from them broke into uneven pieces.
"Remember, if you become too tensed, it will ruin your balance." Arjun said with a soft voice, imparting the knowledge he had gained from his own guru. His son turned towards him with a smile of his own, happy to have his father guide him after craving for that guidance for the last 13 years.
"I will be sure to remember that, pitashree." Abhimanyu said, his eyes boring into his father's. And as Arjun looked upon his oldest son, it felt to him that his breathe had been seized for a moment. Those same eyes, those same cheekbones. Right at this moment, his son was looking exactly like her.
"Like who?" Abhimanyu's voice brought him out of his reverie. Only now that his boy was looking at him with a confused curiosity, Arjun realised that he had spoken loudly. Nonetheless, a sad smile of remembrance spread across his face as he recalled his long lost daughter. "Your sister, Pragathi."
Abhimanyu frowned. He had heard about his elder sister, the very first child of his father, and subsequently, the Pandavas. His mother never talked much about her, saying that the memories of it hurt too much. But he had always wanted to know about his sister. So with a suddenly overflowing curiosity, he asked, "What was she like? Jiji Pragathi?"
Arjun smiled softly. "She was ... beautiful. Gods, she was beautiful. Like her mother, Panchaali. But she had my eyes and my cheekbones, like you do. It made her look sharper and more beautiful." His face became wistful as memories of Pragathi's brief time with them in the Indraprastha palace flashed to his mind.
Abhimanyu listened with rapt attention and an expectant face, as his father continued to speak, "She was a quiet girl. Usually, she did not throw any tantrum. But when she did," He chuckled, "it was enough to stir up a storm in the whole palace." The archer's eyes glazed over, lost in memories of the past.
"What happened to her?" His son's voice brought him back to the present. Arjun took a more sombre expression. "I ... don't know." A sharp pain, not unlike that of a heated knife, stabbed his heart from the inside when he said that. His princess, his first daughter and little girl had meant the world to him. And he could not protect her.
Seeing his son looking at him expectantly, he sighed. "She disappeared when she was about one year old. One night, Panchaali had tucked her in and come to talk with us in the throne room. Some political matter or other. It's funny," he chuckled again, this time with watery eyes, "I can't quite remember what we had talked about."
Then he sighed again. "We heard a scream coming from Pragathi's chamber. We rushed to see what it was. I remember my heart beating wildly in my chest, so much so that I thought it would come out."
His voice was becoming shaky now and he had to clench his fists and cross his arms to control himself. "When we reached there, what we saw was worse than anything we could have ever imagined. The pillows were ripped open, as if stabbed, feathers lying everywhere and Pragathi was nowhere to be seen. Someone had tried to kill her but she wasn't there. The assailant was long gone and so was she."
A drop of hot water on his arm made him realise that he was crying. He quickly wiped his tears but Abhimanyu had already seen them. Without a word, the 14 years old came forward and engulfed his father in his comparatively small arms, giving the comfort that was needed.
Unknown to them, Dwarkadeesh Lord Krishna had heard them and now his eyes, which were usually a light with mischief, had sadness in them. He had held that girl in his arms once, and somehow, he had felt a connection with her. A connection he could not quite understand. Why he could not understand it, when there was nothing in the trilok that was beyond his comprehension, he did not know. He suspected Mahadev and Lord Brahma had something to do with it. With a heavy sigh, he decided that he had intruded on the father and son's moment enough and started to go on his way, hoping to get his administrative work done before the day was over.
New York, USA, 2017 AD
The constant buzzing of the alarm clock brought Maira out of her quite comfortable sleep and the beautiful dream she was having. And beautiful, it was. She couldn't quite remember what she saw. But what she did remember was this warm glow around her, cradling her gently and caressing her softly while engulfing her in its wonderful embrace.
She cursed her job as she got up. Being a federal agent in the USA was sometimes a bitch. Being a Muslim on top of that? Even more so. Somehow she always felt like she didn't belong here. Like her place was somewhere else, somewhere she hadn't quite found yet.
Strong music blasted throughout the house and Maira winced. As much as she loved her roommate, partner and best friend, Natasha McClain, that girl had no tact or sense of timing whatsoever. She shook her head and screamed, "Dammit, Nats, stop that damn thing. It's killing my head."
"Shut up," her friend screamed back. "I am trying to enjoy here before we have to go to that definition of boring."
Maira rolled her eyes and got into the shower. Twenty minutes later, she was fresh and clothed. She pocketed her badge, tucked her gun in the waistband of her pants and took two extra pieces. You could never be too careful. When she came to the kitchen, the music was still on, her friend was still dancing and the leftovers that she had put in the microwave was in danger of burning.
"Goddamnit, Nats. Go get ready and I will take care of the breakfast. We have to report in, like, one hour." She said, frustrated with her friend.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Nats hopped up and down all the way to the shower. Maira again shook her head with a smile and got to working on the breakfast. By the time Natasha had come, Maira had managed to save and serve the food. It took them less than ten minutes to finish the breakfast and then they put the dishes in the sink for them to do later.
Maira sighed. "Another boring day with boring paperwork. When do you think they will let us go on another mission?"
Nats snorted. "When hell freezes over."
Maira sighed. "You are probably right." They had screwed up big time on their last mission. In hindsight, it was Nats's fault. She should never have been distracted by the flirting of that handsome guy, who later turned out to be one of the arms dealers that were their targets. It was by pure luck that they had gotten out of that situation. Well, that and a little backup. So, now they were stuck at the desk, with glorified paper pushing.
"Alright, let's go." Maira said. Nats nodded and took her gear. Making sure to lock the door and rig up the house in case of any unwanted intruder, they got onto their car. Maira was expecting a boring to death day, like everyday for the past month, not knowing that fate had something else in store for her.
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A/N: So there's the prologue and first part. Hope you guys read it, enjoy and leave a comment about how you liked it.
Edited by Agents - 7 years ago
