THE BEDEVILED PRINCESS

Chapter 1

The rays of sunlight are painting the walls of the fort. The sounds of chirping birds is echoing everywhere. A young woman walked towards the tulsi mandap ( sacred tulsi plant placed in a pot ) with a plate filled with flowers , incense, haldi ( turmeric) and kumkum. She started doing pradakshin ( encompassing ) around the tulsi mandap. Her red saree is shining bright as the sunlight embraced her. After that she prayed to the suryadeva .

Kausalya : Sita ! 

Sita : yes maa ! 

Kausalya : Where is Ram ?

Sita : he went to pickup Bharat along with Lakshman.

Kausalya : ok ! The priest will be here in at 10:30 am. Tell your brother-in-law to get ready as soon as he comes. And tell your husband to look after the arrangements.

Sita : ok maa ! 

Kausalya : i am going to temple ! Take care dear ! 

Sita : ok maa !

Sita nodded and went inside.

Urmila : didi ! I'll take care about the cooking. You go and look after the arrangements.

Sita : ok Urmila ! Tell me when they come back.

Urmila : ok didi ! 

Sita went into the master bedroom and opened the locker. She took out the silver Pooja set with golden finish and the jewellery for the goddess and locked it. There village have a tradition. Every year the royal family performs a puja to goddess Durga for everyone's well-being . Till now they don't have any problems , but this year the villagers are facing poverty and illness. People are getting missed all of sudden in the forest which is near to their village.

Ram : sita ! 

Sita : haa ! 

Ram : where are you lost ?

He saw tears in her eyes.

Ram : sita please ! You can't be this sensitive. Don't think about that ! 

Sita : how can i be calm ? What if it won't work ? I can't loose you !

Ram hugged sita.

Ram : Sita will always have her Ram along with her.

Sita : promise !

Ram : promise ! Now let's go ! We have work.

Sita : Bharat ! Go and get ready ! Maa is right ! You need someone to push you all the time.

Bharat : bhabhi stop it ! Don't babysit me. 

Sita : then go and get ready ! Now !

Bharat walked into his room stamping his feet. Urmila and Lakshman chuckled.

Sita : Lakshman ! Did you check if everything is ready for the puja ?

Lakshman : yes bhabhi ! 

Sita gave the bag filled with puja set and jewellery to Lakshman. 

Sita : take it there and give it to maa !

Lakshman : ok bhabhi !

Urmila : didi ! Everything is ready ! 

Sita : ok ! 

Sita stood up from the place where she is sitting as she is done with making the garland. She packed carefully in a cloth bag.

Ram : shall we go ?

Sita : your little brother didn't show up yet !

Bharat : I'm here.

Sita : ok ! Let' go.

The whole raghuvamshi family went to the temple. They saw the elders of the family sitting on the mandap (dias) near the holy pyre. Sita, Ram sat at one side and urmila , lakshman sat on the opposite side. The puja started. The whole villagers who settled there in their seats near the mandap prayed to the goddess silently. After the puja is concluded the priest started reading the horoscopes of the royal family.

Priest : maharaja ! You and maharani will be having a healthy year ahead. Yuvraja Ram and yuvarani  Sita will become parents. Yuvaraj lakshman and Yuvarani Urmila will also have a great year.But there is one problem.

Dasarath : what's that guruji ?

Priest : one person from the royal blood line will be dead. It may be someone from your sibling's family or also the extended family. 

Sita started panicking but Rama placed his hand on her shoulder assuring her that nothing happens. Urmila sensed the tension and even she felt bad. She hated her brother-in-law's sudden decision about that issue but she respected him for being a true yuvaraj. She always admired and loved sita and she is unable to see the pain sita is undergoing.

Priest : and Yuvraj Bharat will get married this year !

Bharat : what ?

The Raghuvanshi  family chuckled at bharat's reaction.

.........

How's the chapter ?

Raghuvanshi family : 

1. Dashrath : father of Ram , Lakshman , Bharat.

2. Kausalya : Mother if Ram , Lakshman , Bharat.

3. Ram : the elder son.

4 . Sita : the elder daughter-in-law.

5. Lakshman : the second son.

6. Urmila : the second daughter-in-law.

7. Bharat : the third son and the youngest.

.........