The Princes of Ayodhya-The Ramayan Through Short Stories

An Emotional Stroll

"Sita, come on now!" Urmila cried, tugging on her sister's arm. Sita groaned, moaned, pouted, and shouted, but eventually gave in, getting pulled out of the room and dragging poor Shrutakirti and Mandavi along with her, getting an earful of insults along the way.

Urmila pulled her cousins and sister all the way to the gardens, where Ram was pacing around agitatedly and rather aimlessly as Lakshman paced behind him exasperatedly, out of breath at how fast his brother was walking. Urmila still marveled at what different images they made, now, many days later.

One was tall, dark, with dark hair and warm, yet icy blue eyes and smiled all the time. He laughed at Sita's words, rarely frowned, and seemed good-natured. The other was even taller, had a lean, muscular frame, with olive skin, and the coldest, darkest black eyes. He had short, brownish hair, and had a hard, stone cold face, which only smiled around his brother. "Listen!" squeaked Urmila, her ears perking up.

"Look, I'll embarrass myself! I can't attend any competition! What will they make me do anyways? Probably something stupid. No, Lakshman, I will not attend this stupid swayamvar." he muttered, just loud enough for the straining ear to catch. Sita winced.

"You've been switching between the two possibilities since dawn, bhaiyya, I'm sleepy. Listen, listen closely. You care for her, if she doesn't reciprocate, then, then-" Lakshman struggled to find something to say, and Ram looked up amusedly.

"Then my name is not Lakshman Raghuvansh, I am not Ram anuja and Bharatanuja, and Shatrughan is better at the sword than me, which is impossible, so as you can see, she reciprocates your feelings!" Ram laughed, clapping a hand on his shoulder as the princesses giggled slightly at his last statement, but Lakshman's face still remained stony and serious as ever.

"Oh, Laksh. You never are bad at cheering me up. But I won't go. That is my final decision." Lakshman raised an eyebrow, folding his arms suspiciously over his chest and squaring his jaw disbelievingly, while snorting.

"Yeah, and at this rate of change, your answer will change in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one-" Ram, predictably, interrupted, whirling right back around again, hands waving wildly in the air.

"What sort of stupid statement is that, Ram! I will attend the swayamvar, I will win, and I will marry her! I don't care what you say Lakshman, if you object or not." Lakshman pretended to be offended and defensive, shaking his head and opening his mouth widely.

"Look, didi. He does care for you! Come onnnn!" squealed Shrutakirti, dragging Sita out by the hair and placing her in front of Ram, where he gaped at her as she blushed, straightening out her braid and discreetly sending a death glare at Shrutakirti.

"Erm, hi! Would you, ah, like to take a walk?" Sita gasped. Ram teetered from foot to foot, weighing his options. He did want to go, but what if he embarrassed himself? What if he accidentally confessed his emotions? What if he failed to be impressive? What if she didn't care for him at all, and was only doing this out of courtesy? What if-

"Yes, of course he would!" cried Lakshman cheerfully, nodding along for his brother. "He's just hesitating because-uh, because-" Lakshman frowned, contemplating his excuse. "Why is he hesitating? Ah! Because he wanted to take you to a specific flower, and he can't remember the directions!" Ram sighed in relief. Thank goodness Lakshman covered for him.

To his surprise, Lakshman began to walk away slowly, his frown even deeper as he seemed to think deeply about something. "Wait, Lakshman, aren't you going to walk with us-I mean show us to the flower, because you remember the directions?" Lakshman nodded, as if the question was stupid.