THE RAMAYAN DIARIES

DANGER PAYS A VISIT #4

  "What is it? What have u seen?!" spat Baldev at his guard. "My lord...." The guard paused, shaking with fear. "I was up, on the top of the cave, guarding.." "No one is interested in what u were doing, u idiot! Tell me if u saw anything of consequence, or get lost!!" he barked. "My lord.... The army of Mithila has surrounded us from all sides. And, leading it are the 3 princes of Ayodhya." He finished his report, and stood staring at the ground, visibly shaking with fear. "What? How? No one knows....." said Baldev, confused. Then, realization struck him, and he caught hold of Urmila forcefully by her shoulders. "It was u, right? U set this entire thing up. U sent a message to the army in the name of love confession, didn't u?" he accused as he shook the hard by the shoulders. Lakshman, although hurt, could not bear this insult of the woman he so dearly loved. "Baldev! Let go of her this very instant, or I swear I'll rip ur hands off!" he warned and threatened at the same time. "What will u do in this chained up condition? How will u get me? I'm not afraid of u, u coward!! I shall kill u before.." "U cannot do anything now, Baldev! Ur game is up. There is no escape for u now!" shouted back Urmila from the cage of his arms. She could smell victory approaching, and all her fears were dissolved. Lakshman would be safe now. Maybe, she too could manage to get out, and apologize at his feet for all the harm and hurt she had caused. But Baldev would not make it so easy for them. "U cunning, lying cheat!!!" he screamed at her, and slapped her hard across her face, sending her to the rocky floor of the cave. This was more than what Lakshman could bear. "BALDEV!!!!!!" he screamed as he stood up, breaking his chains. Baldev went white with fear. He had so freely insulted him because he was in shackles all this while, under the effect of a powerful sedative. But with him free and in command of all his senses, he knew he stood no chance. "Guards!! Get him!!" he ordered, as he quickly moved to hide behind them. All of them attacked Lakshman at the same time, but he threw them away like rag dolls. Baldev saw his face, and felt like death itself was standing in front of him. His eyes were mad with rage, past any reason. He knew that Lakshman would not stop now till he literally ripped his arms off, unless..... He moved again, and drew his sword from his scabbard. He rushed over to Urmila, who was still lying on the ground, probably unconscious, and held the sword over her head. "If u take even a step further, I shall kill her!" he threatened. Lakshman stopped in his tracks, unsure of what to do. Baldev saw his shrewd trick work, and was instantly at ease. "I may not be able to escape, but I will surely finish the job I came to do. I shall kill her and avenge my insult, and there is nothing u or anyone can do about it!" he exclaimed, booming with laughter at his cunning. Lakshman found himself helpless once again. With the sedative still in little effect, he could not think as clearly as would like to, and hence could not come up with a plan to save his Mila. But, he was in for a surprise. "Not so easily Baldev." He heard the clear, hard voice of Urmila say. She was sitting on the floor now. Although there was a gash on her forehead, thanks to the fall, yet, she was not unconscious. Baldev grew uneasy once again, and pressed the tip of the sword n her tender flesh, drawing out some blood. Lakshman made a move to save her, but was stopped by Baldev's words. "If any of u moves, I shall kill her!" "I think u are hard of hearing. I said, not so easily." Urmila repeated, her voice steel. She picked up a stone lying nearby and hurled it at his head. The villian let out a sharp cry and fell to the ground, the sword dropping from his hands. Lakshman hurled himself at him and started showering punches and slaps at him. Ram, Sita, Bharat and Mandavi entered the cave then, and saw the entire seen. Lakshman, on seeing the palace guards, let go of Baldev. Shatrughan rushed in just then and caught hold of Baldev by his neck. "U scoundrel!! U dared to hurt my Kirti, my brother, and my sister-in-law!! I shall not leave u alive!! He said. All tried stopping him, but he did not listen. Eventually, it took all the 3 brothers to peal Shatrughan off that man.

The entire party returned to the palace with the culprit. Rajrishi Janak sentenced him to 18 years of prison life for harming the members of the royal family and royal guest, and for conspiracy. Urmila was sitting with Sita in their room, getting her wounds dressed, when Lakshman stepped in, his head covered in bandage. Sita took cue, and left the two to resolve their misunderstandings. Lakshman walked over to the bed and sat down beside Urmila. He picked up the bowl of medicinal paste, and started applying the herbs to her foot. "I am terribly sorry, Mila. It was all my fault. I should have listened to Kirti. I should have acted more maturely and responsibly. I'm sorry for putting u through all of this." He said, apologizing. "No, Prince Lakshman. It is me who should be begging for forgiveness. I shouldn't have said those words in the first place. And all that conversation in the cave... I'm really sorry about that too. I did not mean any of it, it was all just to buy us some time. I'm so sorry I hurt ur feelings repeatedly." She said, tears filling up her eyes. "No, no. its my fault again. I should have believed in u, understood what u were doing. Instead, I doubted u, ur love. I am truly not worthy of u Mila." He confessed. "Never ever say that again. Its me who is the unworthy one." Lakshman opened his mouth to protest, but Urmila cut him short, "Enough of this now. No one is guilty, no one is unworthy, and both are forgiven." She announced. Lakshman grinned at this, and continued with his work. "There's more, isn't there?" asked Urmila. Lakshman sighed. How easily she could see through him. "yes, but its rather embarrassing. U see, when that bird came...when u said u loved him... that saying in Mithila, well,.. no bird came when u said u loved me." He said, embarrassed at his words. And Urmila started laughing hysterically. "Mila! Why are u laughing? What did I say? This is why I didn't want to tell." Protested Lakshman at his indignity. "Prince Lakshman!! I must say I am amazed. U really thought it was true. Even that dunce Baldev could understand!" she saw his expression go sour at the comparison, and quickly reframed. "It was no heavenly bird sent by Kamdev. It was Sita didi's messenger bird. It has acted as our S.O.S. call since childhood. Whenever we were separated in unknown places, and one of us would not return for long, Sita didi would send it to the missing sister. If it returned with a leaf, twig, cloth, anything, it meant that the sister was in danger, and it would then lead us to her." She explained. Lakshman was amazed at the pure genius of Sita, as well as Urmila. How wise of Sita to come up with such a non-suspicious method, and how ingeniously had Urmila used it as a part of her plan. Urmila started laughing again, and got up from the bed to get water from a nearby table. Lakshman frowned, and then his face suddenly lit up with mischief. It was his turn to tease her. He jumped off the bed after her, and caught hold of her arm. He spun her around swiftly, and pinned her against the wall, holding her wrists above her head singlehandedly. "U think I am funny?" he asked huskily, his hot breath blowing all over her lovely face. "Very" whispered Urmila. She had intended it to come out sharper, but her emotions had clearly gotten the better of her. Lakshman raised one eyebrow, and used his free hand to catch a stray lock of her hair and secure it behind her ear. He slightly ran his fingers over her lips, making her tremble. He then placed his hand at the side of her neck, and leaned down. His lips were only nanometers away from hers. "allow me the pleasure to show u my other shades as well, my enchantress." He whispered. Urmila's breath was coming hard now. Her head spun, and she felt drunk and dizzy. He was going to kiss her for the very first time. Just then, they heard the door open, and Lakshman quickly let go of her, his face turning scarlet. Standing on the door were Mandavi and Kirti, with a tray holding 2 glasses. Mandavi's face was shocked, amazed and thrilled at the same time, while Kirti was expressionless. Urmila sighed. Leave it to her sisters to spoil such a perfect moment for her. "Badi Ma has sent turmeric milk for the two of u. It will give u strength to do whatever u want to do with much more vigor." She said, her face still blank. Mandavi stifled a laugh at the double meaning in her sister's words, while Lakshman blushed a shade just next to beetroot. The two of them turned to leave the room, and Kirti stopped at the door. "Latch the door behind us, Urmi Didi. And then u may continue." Mandavi could contain it no longer. She stared laughing loudly, and lakshman looked like he wanted to disappear into thin air. "I should probably leave" he said, still looking at the ground. "U may, but finish ur milk first!" said Urmila. Lakshman snatched the glass from the tray and drank it all in one go. He turned to leave, when Urmila called out to him a second time. "Earlier, u were asking me if I find u funny, right? Well, I think there's so much more to u." she moved from the wall, and started walking towards him with exaggerated slowness. She smiled sweelty, and remembered Mandavi tell her that this expression of hers "swept men off their feet". She saw Lakshman's face now, and immediately knew she was right. She finally reached in front of his, and pulled hard at the string of pearls around his neck, drawing his face closer. She reached up to his ears and murmured seductively, "I also find u absolutely irresistible" she said, biting his ear lobe. She then moved to the corners of his mouth. "And sooo yummy" she giggled, as she wiped the milk stains from there. She then did the most unexpected, and gave a swift peck on his lips. She moved away then, and giggled with delight once more. She rushed to the door of the room, and before leaving, turned around and gave him a wink. Lakshman stood there, transfixed, dumb found. He was too flabbergasted to react. Will he ever be able to understand her fully? And was there any end to these pleasant surprises? He hoped not. He ran his fingers over where ever she had touched him, and smiled. He loved her madly, and there was nothing anyone could do to change it. And today, he had fallen for his Mila all over again.

THE END