The Inseparable Princes

55. Gone

NOT PROOFREAD! SORRY!

★★★★★

Lakshmana walked through the forest slowly. "You want to make me your wife, don't you?" These brutal words repeated themselves over and over again in his head. Suddenly, he tripped over a little stone and stopped.

"Oh no!" he muttered to himself. "I shouldn't have. No. No!" he was literally going crazy. He was feeling like he was becoming deranged. But he also knew that he couldn't return. Perhaps he just had to go to his brother. Perhaps he didn't have another choice.

He continued walking rather lifelessly, before he heard a voice.

"LAKSHMAN?" said Rama in an incomprehensible tone. Lakshmana knew who it was, very clearly. He didn't dare to look up at that face.

Many times in his life, Lakshmana had felt that he was undeserving of all the love he got from his brother. But for the first time, that day he felt like he was an actual curse upon his brother's entire life. He was a burden. A bane. An unnecessary object. A useless being. An incompetent human. He was all bad things.

"LAKSHMAN!" yelled Rama in visible rage. "What on earth are you doing here?!" he continued screaming. "W-Why did you leave Sita alone?" His voice faltered.

However, his voice only faltered. Lakshmana felt like he didn't even have a voice. He stood there, not even wincing a little at whatever Rama had said and screamed and yelled. He figured that he was feeling empty enough to not even reply to his brother. That was a seriously bad condition.

"TELL ME!" yelled Rama again. Lakshmana still only stared at Rama's feet. Rama gave Lakshmana a moderately painful slap, but the latter didn't wince, nor move, nor did he hold his cheek. He stood as firmly as a wall. "TELL ME!" he tried again.

Lakshmana felt like choking himself to death. Like stabbing an arrow into himself. Or just picking a few of the poisonous berries and gulping a dozen of them down in one go. Or drowning himself in Godavari. That last one appealed to him the most.

"I should never have trusted you!" stated Rama. Lakshmana broke. Once again. For the millionth time that day. He definitely didn't have as strong a pain-bearing capacity as everybody supposed. Or did he?

For he didn't retort or argue. He just swallowed hard and walked behind his brother who was speeding up, but couldn't run because of too many plants and shrubs. After reaching a clearer area, they sped past everything.

★★★

"Devi!" said a man clad in saffron. He seemed to be a Sanyasi, judging by the appearance and clothing. His eyes, however, send to suggest that he was an extremely cruel man. Sita got up, wiping her tears away.

"P-Please have a seat!" she stammered, offering a pine mat to him, before turning to go back into the cottage to get him some fruits.

"Who are you, oh gorgeous lady?" asked the Sanyasi. She stopped. Chills ran up her spine. Breathing heavily, she tried to ignore him and walked into the hut, pretending to have not heard anything. Ravana grinned maniacally, before assuming a supposedly serene smile on his face once again, when he saw Sita approaching him again.

"H-Have these, Brahman Devata." she said uncertainly, her voice shaking and her trembling hands giving him a tray full of fruits. This man was not a Sanyasi. This man was certainly a cheap cheat. He wasn't one to be respected. She knew it, but she couldn't say anything, for she didn't have evidence of any sort.

"I'm not here for these fruits!" cried the Sanyasi, before laughing thunderously. Sita went blank. Her brain wouldn't help her at the moment. She stood still, breathing heavily, her heart pounding against her ribs and her eyes looking bloodshot. He instantly assumed his true form, that of Ravana. A demon who supposed that he looked absolutely like the most handsome man in all the worlds, but did not know how mistaken he was.