The Inseparable Princes

1. The Princes

The princes were all one year old, Rama being one day older than the other three. The enjoyment experienced by Kaushalya, Sumitra, Kaikeyi and Dasharatha was completely unparalleled. Signs of Rama and Lakshmana being together for eternity had shown up instantly after the birth of Lakshmana, however, they were just as close to Bharata and Shatrughna.

The boys could all speak fluently enough for a one year old. They also loved playing around random games, keeping themselves engaged for a large part of the day.

"Where is Ram?" asked Kaushalya after looking for him for hours together after the puja for his birthday was done.

"He must be playing with his brothers, Kaushalya. Did you see the three of them while you looked for Ram?" asked Dasharatha.

"No, I didn't," she replied.

"They must have gone for some important work, Didi," said Kaikeyi from behind.

"They are one-year-olds!" said Kaushalya, unimpressed.

"Lakshman! Shatrughna! Stop it both of you!" shouted Sumitra at the top of her lungs when she saw them both trying to lay their hands on the sword kept in Kaikeyi's chamber, just next to Dasharatha's, where these people had been.

"Didn't I tell you? Come, let's see what they were doing," said Kaikeyi, chuckling at the thought of her most mischievous sons.

"Kaikeyi, why don't you keep your swords out of these devils' reach?!" said Sumitra in frustration.

"Don't call them devils, Sumitra," said Dasharatha with an affectionate smile, as he and Kaushalya picked Lakshmana and Shatrughna in their arms.

"Maa always does this, pitashree," complained Lakshmana to Dasharatha.

"What did she do, my baby? Tell me, and I'll tell your Maa not to do it, okay?" said Dasharatha, smiling affectionately.

"Like father, like son. He wants to use Kaikeyi's sword, along with this kid," said Sumitra, pointing towards Shatrughna.

"Why did you say like father - like son?" asked Dasharatha curiously.

"Because you love warfare, obviously," answered Kaushalya on her little sister's behalf.

"I thought you found out that I was also just as mischievous when I was young," said Dasharatha with a baby-like pout,"

"Ram and Bharat aren't as much like you, I suppose," said Sumitra with one eyebrow raised.

"We, perhaps, just haven't got to see their true colours yet," said Dasharatha cheerfully.

"Well, that reminds me, where is Ram?!" asked Kaushalya again.

"Laksh, you must be knowing," said Kaikeyi.

"No, Maa. He didn't have any time to meet us after that Puja," he complained.

"Bharat bhaiya will know," said Shatrughna.

"Maa! Maa!" squeaked Bharata, while on the corridors.

"What happened, my baby?" asked Kaushalya lovingly.

"Maa....Maa, Ram Bhaiya," he said, as he tried to catch his breath.

"What about him?" asked Sumitra.

"He fell down," said Bharata in fear.

"What! Where? How?!" asked Kaushalya as she let Shatrughna on the ground.

"Take us to the place where he fell," said Dasharatha, as he handed Lakshmana to Sumitra.

★★★

"There!" said Bharata, pointing towards Rama, who had tripped and fallen, and also wounded his knee.

"Ram!" shouted Dasharatha, as he reached to his son, and saw his knee bleeding due to the cut.

"Pi...pitashree..." cried Rama.

"Yes Ram, nothing happened, okay?" said Dasharatha, as he lifted him in his arms and took him towards the Rajbhavan.

"Ram! What happened? How did you fall?" asked a worried Kaushalya.

"Maa.... Maa, I was looking for Laksh,"

"How did that make you fall, Ram," asked Sumitra.

"I saw Bharat, he was standing behind that big tree. I thought that was Laksh, because they were wearing the same coloured clothes. When I ran towards him, I wasn't looking, so I tripped over that rock," narrated Rama, between sobs.

"Oh Ram," said Kaushalya, as she dressed his wounds. "Couldn't you have been more careful,"

"Sor....sorry Maa, I'll be careful from next time. You please don't cry," he said innocently.

"Ram, you're going to stay here all day. No moving out," said Sumitra sternly.

★★★

"Why are you crying, Laksh?" asked Kaikeyi.

"Ram bhaiya got hurt because of me!" he said.

"What! Why? Why do you think so?" she asked.

"Because he got such a big hurt because of ME!" he complained, stressing on 'big' and 'me'.

"Oh come on, Laksh!" she said, as she chuckled. "He fell while he looked for you, not because of you,"

"But he fell while he looked for ME!" he says, accusing himself like he had committed the biggest crime.

★★★

"Maa, is this really real?" asked Shatrughna with his eyes widened, on hearing Kaikeyi narrate the same story.

"Of course! Laksh was always like that. Can't you still see that?" she asked with giggles.

"Maa, Laksh is impossible!" said the five-year-old Bharata, with a grin.

"Of course, just like you," said his mother, as she pinched his chubby cheeks.

★★★★★

A/N : This is my first work here, and I've no idea if you people liked it. Let me know in the comments please. Sorry, if the chapter was just kiddish and stupid 😅🤪