The Princes of Ayodhya-The Ramayan Through Short Stories

Endings and Beginnings

Sita stood in Janak's throne room, hands folded calmly as Janak looked about ready to cry, and Sunaina looked sorrowfully determined. The rest of the courtiers seemed somber as well, sad to be parted with their cheery princess, though Sita did not know why at that time. She turned towards her father curiously.

"Sita, we will be organizing your swayamvar soon. Be prepared, putri." Sita nodded forlornly, bowing her head before stepping out of the throne room, not allowing anyone to be privy to her emotions.Once she was out of everyone's eyesight, she ran to her room desperately, needing a good cry alone. But even there, she was ambushed by her sisters.

"Didi! What was it?" asked ever-curious Mandavi. Sita looked up sharply. There, sitting on her bed, were her cousins and sister. Rubbing her temples, she sat next to them.

"I am going to get married in three weeks, my swayamvar will happen when a man can lift the Shiv Dhanush I lifted when I was a baby." she said. Mandavi stuck her tongue out at the word "marriage" and the mere thought of boys, and Shrutakirti giggled.

Urmila, however, plopped down next to her, and comforted her, although sad herself. It wasn't long before they would be separated, and she would regret that day ever occurred.

"Do not worry, Sita. Maybe your husband will be kind and let all of us come along as your companions." She said calmly, ready to sacrifice her "dream man" thoughts to prevent her sister's loneliness.

"Yes, please! We're never getting married that way, and we'll stay together forever!" cried Mandavi, really liking Urmila's idea. Shrutakirti, however, realistic and innocent, frowned.

"Father won't like that. He wants to be allied with as many kingdoms as possible, and that means marrying us off." Urmila turned around sharply, smacking her on the shoulder playfully.

"Don't ruin my plans, Shruta-" Sita cut in at this point, upset. "Your plan depends on me wanting to get married! I don't, the problem isn't that I don't want to be separated from you all, the problem is that I don't want to get married! There's no possible person that I could love like that! There isn't, and I've accepted that!" she cried sharply, surprising her sisters into silence.

Sudden Setting Change

"I'm here, aren't I?" asked Ram, but Bharat shook his head. "No, there still isn't anyone who could convince him otherwise. Lakshman is adamant that he will not take the post of army general, nor any big government office." They continued pacing down the halls sadly, looking very much like a king and his advisers.

"He'll follow your commands gladly, bhaiyya, everyone knows that." Shatrughan tried to explain. "But he won't be happy in that post, although god knows why. He loves fighting with a passion." Ram shrugged as Bharat laughed.

"Bhaiyya, come look at this!" came a shout from down at the garden. Ram looked up at his brother's voice quickly, and ran down the steps, Bharat and Shatrughan following. There Lakshman stood, in the fountain.

"Look," he whispered softly, holding out a small red robin that rested on his hand. "-an animal that didn't escape from me the minute it spotted me." Ram smiled warmly, and Bharat did the same. The third prince didn't have a heart of stone after all. Shatrughan found it a great time to interrupt loudly.

"But bhaiyya! Robins are not animals, they are birds!" Startled by the loud voice, the robin flew away. Bharat frowned as Lakshman stood up sadly, not even finding it in him to shout at Shatrughan. That was rare.

"There is no one that can make me as exasperated as you, Shatrughan." Bharat sighed, clapping a hand on his back and walking away.

Sudden Setting Change