The Princes of Ayodhya-The Ramayan Through Short Stories

Five Splinters

"You wouldn't believe how excited I am, Raja Sugriv!" Ram laughed. "And glad too. We were all so worried, not just Lakshman-" they all glanced at Lakshman again, who was, at this point, hiding under the tables from attention-shyness. "-about how you were, where you were. We were preparing to lead a raid of some sort to recover you. Jal and Neel were the only ones optimistic about everything still. Honestly, you're a pillar to our strength, Maharaj. Good to have you back." Sugriv bowed, blushing from ear to ear.

"Honestly, Raja Sugriv," Hanuman piped up. "Not only are you King, but you can fly, and you're a great fighter! It would have been impossible to go on without you fighting in our army! Surely, the world has seen very, very few kings as wonderful as you!" Sugriv scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Oh don't be shy! It's very true!" And with that, Hanuman crossed his arms, having successfully made his king the most flattered one ever.

Ram nudged Lakshman, who nudged Neel, who nudged Nal, who nudged Jambavan, who finally spoke Maharaj. "I don't have anything else to say. We were all scared, but I think angrier than anything that we could have allowed you to be taken away. You should have killed Kumbhakaran right then and there, Raja Sugriv, or at least torn up his ear or something. It's true, Jal was helping Angad get by. He was the most scared, but he also first proposed the raid." Sugriv's eyes darted between Jal and Angad, but he didn't say anything. Not a single thing. (COME ON, I AM BEING VERY OBVIOUS HERE! SOMEONE FIGURE IT OUT!)

"Our Maharaj!" Nal yelled excitedly. "The hero!" They all barrelled into Sugriv like little children, and Ram just watched sadly. This was how they behaved with their own father whenever he came back from a long trip; they ran towards him with Bollywood shaming hugs and Maa Kaushalya often chided that some day, they may break their father's back. Ram didn't know about back, but he did know that he had broken his father's heart.

It was a disturbing train of thought to which Ram would have bought a ticket to if Lakshman hadn't interrupted his thoughts with a squeeze of the arm and a new pessimistic thought to put them all on edge again. "Yes, this is all good and all, and we're truly very very glad, but this means that Kumbhakaran is still very much alive, and dare I say, angrier than ever? We're still in danger, more danger than we were before."

Vibhishan sat up from where he was brewing his cup of tea, and Sugriv was brought the old cigar to take a long whiff from again. "What concerns me," Vibhishan began. "Is that Kumbhakaran has not returned to the field yet. He should have-" A loud thumping echoed throughout the battlefield, and Ram swore, with a wince, that he could hear the Earth split into two again. What strain Bhoomi Mata must go under, to hold the burden of not only them, but Kumbhakaran himself. "Nevermind," Vibhishan mumbled, setting down his tea.

Lakshman stood up again, gripping his bow tightly, but Ram pushed him down once more. "We'll all go," he said. And so Lakshman stood up again, thinking he must be included in this 'all'. But to his surprise, he was pushed down again. "Except you. You stay here." And with that Ram and the entire general legion marched out, though Angad, Nal and Neel glanced back with pity and turned back around with fright as Lakshman pierced them with such a glare that they would have gotten their tails lit on fire.

-----O-----

"YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS-" Ravan roared. The entire palace shook with the power of his voice, and yet he did not flinch, stomping down from his resting place and walking out to the balcony again, where Kumbhakaran stared at him with his furry, bristly eyebrows knit together, not in worry or shame, or even astonishment, but with equal anger. "THIS MEANS THAT-" he took a deep breath as the palace shook again, and the balcony rattled. "This means that Sugriv is still alive, Kumbhakaran. This means that-"

Kumbhakaran interrupted, his fists clenched. "This means that the king of the monkeys still paces our fields, bhrata! This means that I still need to kill this enemy, who must be stronger than ever now, energized with rage and what-else. But bhrata, why do you worry? I captured him with as little effort as perceivably possible. It should not take much more to kill a puny little ape, now will it?" Ravan nodded along, exhaling a breath of hope.