The Inseparable Princes

3. The Prank

"Sita, her name will be!" announced Janaka of Mithila, tears of joy filling his eyes, as he lifted the adorable Bhoomija in his hands. "My daughter," he whispered, running his fingers on her delicate, rose-coloured cheeks.

★★★

The princes of Ayodhya left for their Gurukula, along with Maharishi Vasishtha. The parents bade their children a teary goodbye. The boys, however, very quickly got accustomed to the Gurukula, and did not make any fuss, contrary to how the royals were perceived.

They were taught the Vedas and the Shaastras. They were also taught the use of different Shastras, or weapons, as they're called. While Rama and Bharata didn't particularly mind reading the scriptures, Lakshmana and Shatrughna preferred the warfare.

The twins had also learnt some sword fighting in particular, from their mother, Kaikeyi. They loved the warfare part of it but they excelled just as well in the actual 'studies' portion.

Lakshmana and Shatrughna had always tried to tone down their prankster self, but failed all the time. There was nothing in the whole world for Lakshmana and Shatrughna at that point in life, that could make them laugh like mad, other than pranking their dear Bharata. They enjoyed it that much. But as Dasharatha said, none of them had really seen the true colours of the older brothers yet.

"Bhaiya, not again! These two devils pranked me again. Why don't they have any other job! Why don't they prank you?!" screamed Bharata angrily, addressing Rama.

"Oh Bharat," he said between chuckles,"You never learn,"

"So it's my fault," said Bharata with narrowed eyes.

"No, it isn't. But it isn't their fault either," he completed and burst out laughing.

"Why are you laughing?!" questioned Bharata.

"You fall for their pranks every single time. It isn't their fault that you are so credulous, is it? Also, you don't believe others, but them, you believe so easily," explained Rama, still giggling.

"They are my brothers, but they can't prank me all the time. They... They are so mean! I won't talk to them ever again!" said Bharata angrily, almost in tears.

★★★

"Did we do a bit too much today, Shatru?" asked Lakshmana unsurely, his arms wrapped around his twin's shoulders.

"Perhaps... But what can we do?" countered Shatrughna.

"Exactly. He falls for it every time," said Lakshmana, a smile adorning his adorable face at the thought of his innocent brother.

"It's fine... Leave it," said Shatrughna, turning his face towards his brother.

★★★

"So, what's the plan, bhaiya?" he asked.

"I don't know how, but those two get the most cunning of ideas, when it comes to pranks. We cannot compete with them, but you know what... We can still try our hand at pranking them. But we need to do quite a bit of acting," said Rama.

"Okay okay.... Now tell me the plan!" whispered Bharata excitedly.

★★★

"Laksh! Who is that?" asked Shatrughna suddenly, while they walked.

"Who... Who is that..." asked Lakshmana softly, almost sensing what had happened.

"Is that..."

"Bharat Bhaiya," completed Lakshmana.

"Bhaiya!" they both screamed in unison. They saw Bharata sitting under a tree and crying uncontrollably.

"What happened, bhaiya?" asked Shatrughna, stroking Bharata's back gently, to calm him down.

"Bhaiya, what happened," screamed Lakshmana, upon getting no response from Bharata.

"Ram bhaiya," said Bharata under his breath.

"What about him?" asked Lakshmana.

"He told me that he'll never speak to Shatrughna again," said Bharata innocently.

"Oh," said Lakshmana, sensing that this was a prank which he was going to fail. "So, why did he say that?"

"I don't know," whispered Bharata.

Lakshmana and Shatrughna looked at each other with an eyebrow raised, conveying that they both knew what was up.

"So... So bhaiya is upset with me?" asked Shatrughna, deciding to play along.

"I guess," said Bharata.

'Guess... Really?' Shatrughna thought, regarding how miserably they had planned their prank.

Rama who was hiding behind one of the trees, felt like giving an earful to Bharata, as he was kind of messing things up. 'Plan B, now!' he thought to himself.

★★★

"Bhaiya, where are you?" screamed Lakshmana at the top of his voice, now getting slightly worried for his well being, as he'd always been, after looking for him for hours.

"Laksh bhaiya, he's here..." screamed Shatrughna from the other end.

"Oh, there you are! What is up, huh?" asked Lakshmana with a raised eyebrow, which almost replaced a question mark.

"Sorry?" said the oldest prince.

"What sorry?" asked Shatrughna, baffled.

"Who are you people?" asked Rama.

"Oh get over it, Bhaiya! We can never prank them," declared Bharata, as he put his arm around Rama's shoulders.

"Prank?" he asked cluelessly, after removing Bharata's arms from around him.

"Bhaiya?!"

★★★★★

A/N: Terribly unrealistic, again! But fine... It took me a while to think of a plot for this. It appears, I'm better at writing the more emotional and 'senti' type things... Also, Vaidehi is here, now, so she'll be there in some further parts along with her sisters!

Do vote and comment if you liked it. And, thanks for reading 🙏😁