Lakshman's Daughter

The Prince

It rarely rained on afternoons in Ayodya. Never with thunder accompanied by lightning. A wild storm broke out and the storm proceeded until the evening. Somada looked out at the garden from the Drawing Room window.

The evening sun was finally on the sky after the storm. The squirrels and the birds came out from their nests in the enormous Mango tree that has been standing firm in the heart of the garden since the beginning of the Solar Dynasty. The sounds of the birds chirping and the croak of the frogs from the lotus pond, beckoned Somada to come and play outside. The big old Mango Tree whispered to Somada, summoning her to step out from her shell.

Somada sighed. She hated to be decked up in expensive silks and festooned with a plethora of gold jewelry. She was told to sit quietly on the furthest corner of the room, with Pipi in her hands, while her parents and Maharaja Ram talked about the marriage alliance with the King and Queen of Magadha. The Queen was a youthful and matured lady adorned with jewelry embedded with the rarest stones. The King however was a withering old man with hair and beard as white as snow.

Near them was a young and youthful boy, much older and mature than Luv and Kush. He was dark and had a stern expressionless look on his face. Somada realized soon that he is the Prince who she would be betrothed to soon.

She saw her Bade Pa and Pa in a serious conversation with their exotic guests from far. They spoke in hushed voices and their faces were painted with concern.
Urmila stood up, and so did Prince Dharmendra. He walked out of the Drawing Room. Urmila walked towards Somada, and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"Come with me." Urmila whispered tenderly as she took Somada's hand.

Somada nods and without questioning, as reminded by her Grand Aunt for the millionth time today, she walks out with her mother, holding Pipi tightly. Somada observes how Urmila walks confidently along the corridors that led to the Veranda. She admired how gracefully Urmila's feet made no sound on the expensive marbled floor. It was just the dainty tinkle of her silver anklets that were heard.

Urmila takes Somada to the Veranda that looks out to the garden.

"Somu, you are allowed to speak with the Prince of Magadha for some time." Urmila said as she adjusted the overlapping necklaces Somada was made to wear. "Be on your best behavior and do not brew trouble. Do you remember what I taught you this morning?"

Somada nodded. "Don't pry or cry. Answer politely. Don't burp or slurp or yawn in front of the guests. And most importantly: Be kind."

A few minutes later, "Princess Somada has an announcement to make!" he declared smiling as he walked in holding her hand. She looked at him and he signaled her to obey his word.

"Prince Dharmendra is a wise and good boy. He seems to be a skilled mace fighter, growing stronger day by day." Somada sighed as she repeated every word Dharmendra wanted her to say. "I would be happy to be engaged to him."

The emotions that conjured following this were mixed. A few were thrilled while some were concerned. Somada and Dharmendra were betrothed. They would be married a month after Somada comes of age.

Dharmendra was seated on the biggest cushioned seat in the Veranda, sipping on a glass of fruit cordial. 

Somada walks near him boldly and stands infront of him, staring at him with both her eyes. He keeps the glass down and sinks lazily on the cushion.

"You are in fact smaller than I expected you to be." He says as he rests one leg on top of the other. "I wasn't expecting to be betrothed to an infant who just managed to crawl out of her crib a few days back"

"And you are too older than I expected you to be." She mumbled.

"What did you say?" he spat out.

"Nothing." Somada shrugged as she walked to take the stool closest to her. Dharmendra notices her and kicks the stool with his long leg.

"You shouldn't be sitting down when I am speaking with you." He said crudely "In fact, you shouldn't be sitting down when I am around you."

"Why should I?" Somada asked.

"Because that's how every wife or fiancé is expected to behave with her husband." He says rolling his eyes. He stood up and walked the lengths of the wet Veranda. His voice was stern and firm.

"Perhaps no one has told you as to what is expected from a wife. Allow me to enlighten you: You shouldn't sit while I talk to you. You shouldn't argue or retort when I say something. You have no control over me, but you must comply and correspond to each order of mine whether you like it or not. My order must be equivalent to the order of the Gods. You have no right to interfere in stately or in any of my personal affairs. Your job as my wife is to serve me, satisfy me and to bear my child."

"That's utter nonsense!" Somada shrieked "Which drunkard laid down such preposterous rules for us to comply to?"

"That's what is followed in every household ever since the beginning of time, you insolent child!" Dharmendra sneered at her. "A wife's place is always at the husband's feet."

"No! Pa always treated Ma as his equal. Pa always says that a husband and wife are two equal halves. Neither is superior nor is the other inferior."

"Your father is a brainless oaf! Fourteen years of living like a savage in the wild has muddled his mind beyond repair. Which lunatic leaves behind his gorgeous newly wedded wife to stay in the forest for almost a decade and half?"

"My father is a great man and a devoted brother! That's why he left Ma and went with Bade Pa for such long. No man can do something like that!" "And don't you dare open that stinky mouth of yours to sad one more bad word against my father or anyone from my family!"

"How dare you!" he scoffed as his face grew red with anger. In a fit of rage he snatched the doll from her hands.

"No! Leave Pipi!" Somada shrieked.

"And why should I?"

"My Ma made it just for me! Please leave it!" She saw him pull Pipi's head strongly.

"Do as I say so, then!"

"Alright! Will you return her if I do as you ask me to?"

"Definitely!" he smirked.

He smiled and grabbed her hand, pulling her into the drawing room, with the doll hidden behind his angavastra.

She remembered him returning it to her a few minutes before the departure, but with the head separated from the body, and her dress stained with mud. Somada, utterly shocked, took it and ran to her chambers. Somada tried to wipe the stain of the mud but it refused to leave the cloth. The cloth, as she could remember well, was taken from one of Sita's favorite saris in Mithila which she wore at the prime of her adolescence.  

She looked at it until dusk and hid it underneath her bed just as she heard a knock on the door.

TO BE CONTINUED

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Glossary
Angavastra- a shawl like scarf worn by men to cover their upper body

Ma- Mother

Pa- Father

Bade Pa- The elder brother of ones father or mother