A courtier rushed out of the palace where people went to and fro, awaiting the good news of their Yuvraj having been crowned. Some looked up, expecting a large smile, but being met with a devastated expression. "Prince Bharat is being crowned and Prince Ram is being sent into exile for fourteen years!" yelled the courtier courageously. The crowds stopped moving, and they inched closer towards his platform.
"No, you must be lying." One noble laughed. "Ram is Dasharath's favorite son, and that is not even a secret anymore. It is no mystery. He would not banish Ram, of all of the four of his sons. And why would Bharat be crowned? He is the second eldest prince, you must realize, there is no reason that he would be crowned as king instead of the eldest. He is not even the favorite so the king does not even have reason to."
Several crowds agreed, but then a second courtier rushed out as well, followed by a third and a fourth and a fifth. Each uttered the same, devastating fact. "Bharat will be crowned once he returns from Kekeya...Ram is to be exiled for fourteen years." The disbelieving faces of the commoners and subjects turned to ashen, pale ones. Tears trailed down the elders' faces, and even the young ones stopped laughing.
"Kaikeyi! Kaikeyi!" growled one noble, straightening his large turban and curling his well-oiled mustache around his finger. "She is a demoness indeed. I should have known from the start, do you all not remember all the partying with which she was brought? She definitely must have bewitched the good Dasharath into exiling his own favorite son, I think that is most certainly a possibility. "
Another continued where the first had left off, fists clenched at his side. "A witch indeed, she is most certainly a witch. She has deprived us of our happiness! Ram cannot be exiled! He is so good, and so kind, and he would have made a perfect king! All our good work and efforts to finally have something to celebrate have been diminished. Curses upon Kaikeyi! Curses upon her servants and maids and co-conspirators! Curses upon the royal family!"
But another woman spoke, and her statement was the most impactful. "Curses upon the royal family? Are you mad? We are so devastated when we hear of our prince being exiled, but think of them! A brother, a son, a husband! They have grown up with him, he has grown up with them! They must be feeling grief such that it has never been experienced at such levels! Think, think, imagine, if someone as good as Ram was in your family, only to be wrenched away from you." She looked around desperately.
"If he was manipulated, Dasharath must be lamenting," another piped up. "Kaushalya would be a sobbing heap, we all know of her fragile, good heart, and how she doted upon him. His young wife, so good, so precious! What shall she do, in the palace, without her husband, hanh? And his brothers, and their wives? He is close to his sisters-in-law like sisters! What about Sumitra? So wise, but she will have no answer to this! And speaking of Sumitra, what will her son, Saumitri do?! Rajkumar Lakshman will be devastated! I wonder what he is doing right now." Everyone looked at each other.
-----O----
Rajkumar Lakshman was busy storming the halls, sword drawn. Everyone made sure to keep clear of at least a meter of him. Lakshman wasn't on a rampage to kill everyone in sight, so they need not have been afraid. He was rash when he was angry, but not nearly so much so that he would kill his own loyal servants, maids, dasis, and everyone in between who had done him, nor his family, any harm.
No, Lakshman had a dedicated target, and that was Kaikeyi. His eyes narrowed as the queen's door came in sight, and he growled. Everything was so clear in his mind. In that luxurious room, Kaikeyi must be sipping juice and eating mangoes, and laughing at her good fortune. Everything was so simple. He could just draw his sword and be done with it. Everything was so easy. So very easy.
He was ready to do it. He was ready to kill her. Then suddenly, a breeze flew past him, and he stumbled. It was as if someone had unzipped a part of his barrier and allowed guilt to seep in. That evil woman was the one that pampered him and his brothers day and night. She had given him weapons and swords aplenty. She had always laughed at his grumblings. She felt so relatable, short-tempered and warrior-like. How had he not seen it before?
The slow manipulation of them all. She had won them all over to their side. His temples pained, and sent different images flying into his consciousness. Contradicting images, some showing how blatantly obvious her plan was, others, concealed, but still evident. How had he not seen it before? How was it possible that she had concealed her plan so well? He fancied himself to be some good sort of warrior, and here he was, unable to prevent a war in his own home.
Anticipate. That was the key. In everything really, but most of all in battle. He had let his guard down. Not even family could be trusted. He should have guessed. How was he turned so easily? Lakshman choked, putting his head into his hand. His shoulders slumped a little bit as he leaned into the wall for support lest he fall. No one could be trusted, no one at all, except his brother and his bhabhi, and his wife.
It was his fault. Against all of his better thoughts, no, those were pushed aside quickly, his brain put only one thought into his mind. Your fault, your fault, your fault. He should have known. He should have guessed. That was his job. He failed at the only thing he knew how to do well; anticipate. Predict. Strike. Battle. This was entirely his fault. This entire thing. He should have done better. He could have done better.
He could kill himself too, with this sword. He lifted it up and stared at it bleakly. It was sharp, and it shined in all of its silverness. He could drive it into his stomach. Someone would find his bleeding corpse eventually. It was okay. His trembling hands turned around the sword to face himself. He would soon be free of this trap. He could be free of this prison. This cage. This guilt, oh how it wrenched him every which way!
But then, he stopped. He still had a duty. A duty as a brother. Lakshman sat up, and put the sword back in its case. Before he reached Kaikeyi's room, however, he spotted Kaushalya's, and stepped inside, head down. The lady was sobbing on the floor, and Ram was hugging him. Said Ram looked up, and spotted Lakshman, breathing a heavy sigh of relief. Kaushalya reached up and grabbed her son's arm, pulling him down.
"R-Ram! Don't leave! We won't be able to live without you! We'll all die. You will return to a palace filled with corpses! Y-you don't wish for that to be our fate, do you? S-st-stay! St-ay." She choked upon her own tears, and pulled her ghunghat up to dab at her eyes. Ram reached down and picked her up, setting her on her bed, but Kaushalaya would not be consoled. Her chest continued to heave loudly.
"Maa, you must understand. I cannot let our name be tarnished! You cannot let me stay, with all of your conscience! Maa, please do not cry. I am going for a good cause. Papa wishes me not to, don't blame him. Maa Kaikeyi-" Kaushalaya spat on the floor bitterly at the name, and Ram closed his eyes, before continuing. "Maa Kaikeyi wants me to fulfill her promise. It is my honor, Maa. It is all of our honors at stake."
"NO! HONOR CAN BE DAMNED!" shrieked Kaushalya. "Everyone can be damned for all I care. Everyone can die. You must stay here Ram. Your father's wishes aside. Your second mother's wishes aside. I don't care about them. You need to stay, you need to be crowned king, and then we will all be happy!" Before Ram could interrupt again, she searched his light eyes with her own, furiously hiccuping upon every sob but still keeping dignified. She kept her head in the air haughtily.
"Don't go on about honor and name. I very well know that absolutely no one will care about the Raghu clan's honor and name, no one will speak up. You are ridiculous with your arguments. Satisfy this aging lady's wish, I beg of you son. The only son who has come out of my womb. You must not leave! What will convince you? WHAT WILL CONVINCE YOU?!" she shouted again, beating her chest.
Ram grabbed her hands before she could cause herself any harm, and shook his head hesitatingly, becoming choked up on his own. "N-No-Nothing, Maa. N-Nuh-nothing can convince me otherwise. It is my dharma! And that is what we all are, right? Mere servants of dharma, fated to follow it wherever we go? R-righ-right?" he went into a coughing fit, a mix of sorrow, guilt, and choking tears, but Kaushalya shook her head.
Lakshman could not stand it. He could not stand seeing his elder mother go hysterical when he could do something about it. He could not stand to see her tears falling if he could stop them. He could not stand any of it. "I say that we just exile her." The two turn towards him. "I mean, easy, right? We do not associate Kaikeyi with our name, bam! Promise gone, queen gone, exile gone! Problem solved."
Kaushalya shook her head. "Exile is too good for her. She tried to break apart our family. She tried to cause emotional harm to Sita, I, Sumitra, you, all of the brothers, and Dasharath! Manipulative, cruel, sly, planning, treacherous! Treasonous! Exile is too good to be true, too good, simply, for her! No, I cannot see that." Ram breathed a sigh of relief, but sadly for him, Lakshman was not quite done.
"I can kill her," he stated. "I can kill her, and we can be done with it. She deserves that, do not you think? We do not speak of it. It is done. She is dead." Kaushalya's head darted up again, and she wiped away her tears, standing up at her third son's proclamation, sealing in everyone's mind, his loyalty, devotion, and utter faithfulness towards his family.
"Yes, yes, you do that. I agree! Then Ram can be crowned, and he won't be exiled! Kaikeyi was the root of our problems! And then she will be eliminated! Forget treachery! Forget exile! Forget treason! What do you say, Ram?" Ram had walked towards his brother, arms crossed across his chest in disbelief.
"You can be prosecuted for that. Raja Yudhjit will be demanded that her killer be beheaded, do you know that, Lakshman? Do you know that?" Lakshman nodded. He had thought it all through. He would fulfill his duty to his family, eliminate Kaikeyi and make sure no one else was harmed. Then whatever happened to him, happened to him! That did not matter any more. "You would be beheaded." Ram muttered again, fists clenched.
"What will happen to your sisters? Hanh? What will happen to Sita, who dotes upon you like a mother, and Mandavi, who is your good friend, and Shrutakirti, who looks up to you as a caring elder brother and role model? What will happen to them Lakshman? What about them?"
"They will manage. Sita bhabhi will dote upon your son like a mother. Mandavi can find a friend in Shatrughan, goodness knows they need to get it together. Shrutakirti has many an older brother to look up to. They will find others." Lakshman muttered. Ram did not stumble. He was startled, but he continued forcefully, eyebrows furrowed in anger.
"What will happen to Maa Sumitra? You are the enhancer of her joy? What would she do without you? She would spend the rest of her days in misery and lament, Lakshman! Would you confine her to that cage of sorrow because of a stupid, selfish wish of yours, hanh? Would you deprive her of her of a son? Would you?" Lakshman's face did not soften as Ram had expected it to. His resolve did not break.
"Maa Sumitra has the luxury of another son from her womb. Shatrughan brings her joy, surely he can enhance it! She had three other sons other than I, I am not her favorite, and I am not the only. She would lament for a week, a month perhaps. Then you all would help her recover, I hope. I pray." Ram felt queasy. He never thought that he would see a day that Lakshman would admit that he was not his birth mother's only son. It was part of his brother's almost non-existent childishness. Now even that was gone.
A/N-Double update todayyyyyyyyy