The Inseparable Princes

69. The Messenger of Raghava

The Ashoka grove was apparently where Maa Sita had been staying for quite a while. It was a vast, dazzling grove. To Hanuman, the place seemed a lot more divine than any other place did. Was it because Maa Sita was there? Wait, so was she there?!

He went from tree to tree, trying to figure out if she was there. And there, finally, he saw a woman wearing an ochre coloured attire, meditating, her lotus eyes closed and her brows furrowed, as she mumbled something continuously. She had an aura. An aura that he had seen around his Lord. An aura that lit up the entire universe. An aura that was essential for the three worlds. An aura that he knew was most certainly divine.

When he peeped down to look at the surrounding, he saw some Rakshasis, holding monstrous daggers and swords, as they tried to scare an undaunted Sita. There was one Rakshasi, he noticed, who was looking very calm and supportive, perhaps, and did not interfere or disturb Sita in her meditation and instead asked the other Rakshasis to maintain a distance. Hanuman raised a brow. That was strange.

He stopped thinking of everything and looked up when he heard a booming laughter echoing in an open garden. Ravana. It had to be him.

A tall, rather humongous man, grabbing and swirling his three kilometre long angavastra, creating a breeze for the poor trees, and trying to behave like a typical Indian Historical Film Lead, walked towards Sita, who looked wrathful.

Hanuman looked at him and raised a brow. He was the king of Lanka, wasn't he? Fairly long, jet black hair, criminally small, evil eyes, a big, sharp nose, a heavily oiled mustache and a gigantic mouth. Hanuman looked confused. Why would anybody, especially the King of a region who would ideally be very busy, oil his mustache the way Ravana had done it? It was preposterous to waste time in things of that sort, thought Hanuman, but his attention was diverted when he heard Ravana's voice.

"Oh beautiful lady, why don't you grace the palace that I have kept open for you for so long? Why don't you understand that a flower like you will wither away in the harsh conditions of this grove. What shelter can this grove provide for you? And how long do you think you will be able to survive here, oh sweetheart?" said Ravana and Sita gave him a fiery glare. Hanuman's blood boiled, and he felt like punching that demon in his chest and making him spit blood, and banging Ravana's head to the ground so that he would reel like crazy. But ultimately, his Lord would kill him.

"Move away, Ravan, and put it in your thick head that you will never be able to have me in that wretched palace of yours! My Raghav will soon come and retrieve me, and if he does not do as I tell you, I will kill myself. But YOU ARE NOT GOING TO SUCCEED IN YOUR CHEAP MOTIVES!" she spat, lips quivering in rage, as Ravana laughed like a maniac.

"You are telling me that an ascetic will come and save you. Where will he come from? From the mainland to an island in the ocean. How will he come? Perhaps by swimming through the ocean waters and dying while he is on the way? Oh, or maybe by flying, isn't it, because he is superhuman, right! Or, or he'll walk on the water!" he paused and burst out laughing, as Sita gave him the most disgusted look ever. That senseless, shameless, thick-skinned man, however, only continued laughing louder. "I-Imagine two ascetic men, wearing some sort of water walking slippers, and walking over the ocean tides and everything! Sure, sure, my lady. I would love to see that day! You have quite a sense of humour!"

"But you do not have any common sense! Return me to my husband and befriend him! He will forgive you, Ravan, he is kindhearted and magnanimous. But if you don't realise your mistake right away, he will come here, how he does is none of your business, and retrieve me. But before that, he will kill you. HE WILL KILL YOU! You're going to die soon, Ravan. You are going to die!" she yelled and Ravana, as always, turned around arrogantly and walked away without accepting defeat that was obviously at his door. This time, it actually was.