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“Tell me,” he said to the informant that waited.
“Chitra, whom you sent to the southern shores, has come back with a young girl.
He says she is one of the abducted ones.”
“How did she escape?” Dasharatha asked.
“I think the blood-drinker let them go.”
That made no sense. What was Ravana’s game?
“Why has she not been returned to her family?” Dasharatha questioned.
There was no answer from the informant, only a troubled look. Dasharatha grew fully awake. He had a feeling that one problem had been solved, only to present another. He took a deep breath of the fresh night air and turned the corner to enter the private council room.
As he entered, he was glad to see Sumantra there, as simply clad as he
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was, with puffy eyes from interrupted sleep. Then Dasharatha turned to the two who stood in the center of the room: Chitra, a middle-aged man who had been in Dasharatha’s service all his life, and a girl, who was so young she did not qualify to be called a woman. This stopped Dasharatha in his tracks. If Ravana would stoop so low . . . Dasharatha’s anger made his command cutting.
“Speak,” he said, standing where he was, at a distance from the two.
The girl shrank toward Chitra, who spoke in her stead. “Great King, on your orders, I kept vigil on the southern side of Koshala’s borders, and that’s where I found her. She could not talk at first, but soon I understood that she had escaped from the blood-drinker.”
“How?”
“Perhaps she should tell you herself,” Chitra said.
When Dasharatha took a step forward, the girl took a step back. Chitra placed his hand on the girl’s shoulder and she looked up at him with great trust in her haunted eyes.
Dasharatha took in the scene. The girl was a child, not even on the brink of womanhood.
Her arms were thin and her body had not taken on feminine shapes. How had Ravana even taken this girl for a woman?
“No one will harm you here,” Dasharatha said softly, taking a step forward. “You are safe now.”
The girl began to cry softly. Chitra’s hands rested on her shoulders.
As much as Dasharatha wanted the whole story, to discern its truth, he could not ignore how fragile and scared the girl was. So he held Chitra’s eyes and mouthed silently, Is it true?
Chitra’s jaw clenched, and he nodded once. He whispered softly to the girl, reassuring her, speaking highly of Dasharatha, encouraging the girl to trust him.
Dasharatha called for water and refreshments. He walked toward a side of the room that was filled with cushioned seats and soft rugs. He beckoned to Chitra and the girl.
Dasharatha was careful not to make sudden movements or to touch her. But once they sat down, Dasharatha moved closer, sitting carefully within arm’s reach. The girl leaned against Chitra.
“Where are you from?” Dasharatha asked conversationally.
“Nowhere,” she whispered. And then, “I used to belong to Kalinga.”
“What is your name?”
“Maharani. But my family always called me just Rani.”
“Rani, do you want to tell me what happened?” Dasharatha asked. “We had no hope until now that we would see any of you again.”
“That would have been better,” she said, snapping her back straight, defiant for the first time.
Dasharatha held her gaze encouragingly, but she wilted again and told her story in a whisper. Dasharatha leaned closer in order to hear her words.
“He . . . um . . . took me from my mother’s garden. I was playing outside alone. He . . . um
. . . he . . .”
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“You don’t have to tell that part,” Chitra said, looking at Dasharatha with pleading eyes.
“Tell how you escaped and what happened right before.”
Rani nodded and spoke with more confidence, the terrible part of the tale left behind for now.
“I was so scared I thought I would die, until he took me inside the flying palace, and I saw how many others there were. Everyone was scared, even the ladies who were much older than me. I saw only one other girl like me.”
“How old are you?” Dasharatha asked hesitantly.
“Ten years,” she answered.
Dasharatha nodded, encouraging her to go on.
“It was really beautiful inside the flying palace, like here. Golden and sparkling with jewels. We were high up in the clouds. But no one cared. As long as he was there among us, we tried to be silent, invisible. But as soon as he left to another part of the flying palace, everyone started crying again. Many were bleeding. But then one lady stood up. She had a big scratch across half her face. She told us to stop crying, that we were powerful, that we could do something. No one listened at first, but she went around talking to each of us, telling us that together we had more power than him. When she came to me, she said, ‘Do you have anything given to you by someone who loves you?’ I handed her the necklace that my mother had just given me for my birthday. She took a piece from it and threaded it onto a string, with beads she had collected from the others. ‘We are loved,’ she told me, giving me back my mother’s gift. I believed her. Everyone started believing her. And suddenly I wasn’t afraid anymore. She didn’t have to tell us what to do. We held hands and it was like the words spoke themselves from my heart. Everyone said the same words. A curse on his heads. A true death curse. I had my eyes squeezed shut, and I stood as one of them in the circle. Then the words came, one voice from hundreds of us:
“‘A woman is strong. A woman is powerful. Love protects us. You will come to know this, Ravana. Violator of the most sacred. You will pay with your immortal life. A woman, just like us, the wife of another, will be your final death.’”
Rani took a deep breath. The skin on Dasharatha’s arms prickled. The curse had power, even here, spoken by one wisp of a girl.
“I opened my eyes. I didn’t know what to expect as we stood there in a huge circle, holding hands. Some of us started crying again. But then flowers showered down on us, a blessing from heaven, and the flying plane soared down toward the Earth, and the doors opened by themselves. None of us dared move because we knew that he was still there, and we knew what he could do to us, any of us.”
The unspoken violence Ravana had committed stood between them. Truthfully, Dasharatha was glad he was spared the details this time. The horrible act stood like a ghost in Chitra’s eyes. Rani looked for the first time into Dasharatha’s eyes, and he saw a sudden flash of triumph there.
“But when he came out, his hundred arms hung dead at his sides. He was pale and 103
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sweating. He couldn’t even look me in the eyes. My heart grew big like the palace. I squeezed the hands of the women around me. It had worked! The curse worked. He did not look at any of us, as if each of us now looked like death to him. He left us without a backward glance, hurrying out and away. When we dared to go out into the sunlight, he was nowhere. That’s when most of us turned and ran.”
Dasharatha’s heart leaped in his chest. Broken families could be reunited. The women could be restored to their homes, children like Rani reunited with their mothers. Although he had had nothing to do with it, there was a sweet victorious feeling. What extraordinary women! Then he realized she had said, “most of us.” Had some women chosen to stay, allured by the seductive power that Ravana was said to possess?
“Not everyone chose to run?”
The girl looked troubled. “Some did not have the courage. They were too . . . broken.”
“But not you.”
She shook her head, the small smile on her face. She knew she had been brave.
Children had amazing resilience, as this girl was proving.
“A few stayed for other reasons. They looked at Ravana in that strange way. Like Mother and Father looked at each other sometimes. But the strangest thing was that she stayed. The lady who gave us courage, who gathered us together. She stayed. She told me, ‘Run, little one, before it’s too late,’ but she never left the flying palace. She was wearing the necklace she had made with all our love beads, and she looked very brave. But she stayed.”
Rani fell silent. “I’m not sure, but I think he might have changed his mind after a while. I was escaping with another lady, but then we saw something large flying through the sky. We thought it was him searching for us and panicked. She ran in one direction and I the other. I hid under a big rock and remembered my mother’s love. The brave lady had told us that love protects. Maybe it worked that time, because whatever it was flew away and didn’t come back. And so I escaped. I don’t know what happened to any of the other women.”
“You have been very brave,” Dasharatha said. Then he told her how he had felt when he saw Ravana’s phantom in the forest that was now dedicated to Lila and Lava. Rani’s eyes widened when Dasharatha revealed that he had gotten sick on the feet of the apparition. “So you see, even grown men are frightened by Ravana.”
This pleased the girl. She looked for a while at Dasharatha, as if still deciding whether he was trustworthy. Dasharatha turned to Chitra, silently conferring with him. The girl had shared her testimony, but there was more Dasharatha needed to know, things best said without the girl present.
“Can I speak to Chitra for a few moments? We will be right here, where you can see us.”
Rani’s anxiety returned, but when Chitra pointed to where they would be standing within sight, she nodded. Thanking her gravely, Dasharatha walked out of the girl’s hearing range. He faced Chitra squarely, becoming king again. “I appreciate the value of hearing this firsthand from the girl, but why didn’t you simply return her to her family? I could have had the report from you.” Without meaning to be, he was angry.
Chitra was angry too. “They did not want her.”
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Dasharatha inhaled sharply. “What are you saying!”
“They said she was tainted and no daughter of theirs.”
Dasharatha closed his eyes. This was it. One terrible problem was coming to resolution, only to bring him another that seemed far worse. He covered his eyes, wishing himself back into a dream or into Kaikeyi’s arms. He had no dominion over a family’s private affairs. He could not order a family to take back a daughter whom they shunned. If he did, he would simply sentence the girl to a life of being unwanted, mistreated, and a worse fate. What, then, could he do? If this girl was but the first of many, if all families reacted this way . . .
“I pray,” he said, “that all families are not so cruel.”
“As do I,” Chitra said. The air between them was thick.
How was it that the two of them, with no blood relation to the girl, could feel so protective of her, when her own family had cast her out? And yet the two men knew it was always the women who paid the price of a man’s violation. Dasharatha had assumed this would be different when Ravana was the perpetrator. And Rani was but a child. An innocent little girl.
Chitra broke the silence. “If I may make a request of you, Great King.”
Dasharatha held still, giving away nothing. The gods knew he had made too many promises already.
“I wish to bring this girl home and raise her as our own. I allowed myself one liberty and stopped at my home to confer with my wife. She is of my mind in this. Rani will be our daughter, if you consent, Great King.”
Dasharatha’s throat tightened. The hour of night left him more open than usual, and he had already seen the tenderness between the two, the way the girl wholeheartedly trusted Chitra. The lord above had his hand on this girl, at least.
“It is an ideal solution. May every rejected female find a savior like you,” Dasharatha said. “Bless you and your wife.”
There was one more thing he had to ask, though he suspected the truth.
“Did he—was she forced to—” The words stuck in Dasharatha’s throat.
He had sentenced criminals in Ayodhya to death, punishment, and penance, depending on the severity of the violation toward a woman, but it had never involved one as young as this.
“I beg you not to ask,” Chitra said. And that was the answer, the confirmation of Dasharatha’s fear. Curse upon Ravana’s immortal life. He had learned nothing but perversity.
“That’s why her family rejected her?”
Chitra’s eyes grew hard. “If only that were the case. They did not even want to hear her story. Her mother was willing, but the father closed the door. They would not let us in.
Finally Rani begged me to take her away, anywhere. I think she cried more about her family’s reaction than what that monster did to her.”
“But what was her crime?” Dasharatha demanded, though he expected no answer.
“Being a girl,” Chitra answered. “Being a girl, in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Dasharatha straightened his back. There was nothing he could say to deny Chitra’s words.
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execution, amputation of limbs, or the loss of genitals. But the woman would nonetheless have to face society’s scorn. A raped woman was shunned, as if the fault was somehow hers.
“I thought it would be different in this case,” he told Chitra. “Ravana is not some ordinary man, but a blood-drinker of such power and malice that a grown man is made weak before him. Each of those women should receive our heartfelt support for their courage.”
Chitra nodded and then shook his head.
The king said, “If she is carrying his child, you must let us know. Ravana’s spawn is not something we can ignore or take lightly.”
“She’s only a child,” Chitra reminded the king. “Her moon cycles have not yet begun.
My wife asked her. I cannot say if it’s a kindness or the greatest tragedy. At least she is spared that.”
“Yes.” Dasharatha was relieved, though only momentarily.
This girl was to be the first of many. Somehow Dasharatha did not have high hopes for their homecoming now. Some of them could be carrying Ravana’s children. There was no easy solution to this.
“You are thinking about the others that may be carrying,” Chitra deduced. He was a clever man and highly trained scout.
“Yes,” Dasharatha agreed. “And what we might do with the half-breeds. As a man, I question the morality of shunning an unborn child, even one with Ravana’s blood. As a king, I’m afraid I have less liberty. But that is a matter for tomorrow. Let us focus this night on your poor girl. I need not tell you that it’s best to keep her recent past a secret. You, who hold Ayodhya’s secrets in your heart, know what people are capable of. Kindness and compassion is not often the first path of the masses.”
Chitra nodded. He knew it well.
“She will always be welcome in Ayodhya’s court,” Dasharatha said. “This tragedy will not be held against Rani here.”
And yet they both knew that even the king could not stop tongues from wagging and tales from being told. Chitra would have to school his adoptive daughter well; he would have to instruct her to have swift and sure answers regarding her sudden appearance in Ayodhya.
Dasharatha had the feeling that the morrow would bring much unsavory work his way.
He was too weary now to even contemplate it.
“You must be tired, trusted Chitra,” Dasharatha said. “Will you stay with us this night? I know your home is several hours away on horse.”
They looked over at the girl, who was nodding off to sleep and then sitting up straight again, looking at them. She had not let Chitra out of her sight. It was not customary, however, for a girl on the brink of womanhood to share a room with another man, whether father or brother.
“I will ask Queen Kausalya to come,” Dasharatha offered. “She has a gentle hand with children. She will know how to handle the girl.”
“The queen herself. You are too kind, Great King.”
Minutes later, Kausalya appeared. Dasharatha felt deep relief flood his heart, seeing her 107
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stark, unadorned face. She had hastily tied her unruly hair into a knot, and though her silk garment was lavish, she wore no jewels. She had indulged in no vanities, choosing imme-diacy. She looked at Dasharatha with grave and alert eyes.
Whispering into her ear, Dasharatha told her the situation. She shook her head, looking down at the ground. When she looked at the girl, Dasharatha felt the horror running through her body.
“No,” she whispered, looking up at Dasharatha. “She is just a child. Her cycles have not yet begun.”
How she knew these things, Dasharatha did not question. He only clenched his jaw and sighed. “Take the girl to a suitable resting place. She is frightened of everyone but Chitra.”
Kausalya knew the rules of conduct and nodded. She took a step toward the girl but turned to her husband. “Once she has healed and come of age, I will welcome her into service here. We must do the same for all the women who return, only to be turned out. We must not aggravate the injury done to these women by isolating them from society and turning on them. Shame on the girl’s family!”
They regarded each other, and Dasharatha felt very old. He saw in her eyes that she knew how the rest of the fates would play out. This was the very reason girls were guarded so vigilantly. Once lost, they could never be accepted again. He would need her assistance in the days to come. He himself did not yet know what the right response was to this crisis after a crisis. Together they approached the girl, who immediately fastened her eyes on Kausalya, the only other female in the room.
Kausalya held out her hand to Rani. There were tears in her eyes as she said, “Will you allow me to be your mother, just for tonight?”
Rani took Kausalya’s hand, and the queen leaned her cheek against the top of Rani’s head. Rani’s head slumped against Kausalya’s chest.
“We will see you in the morning,” Kausalya said to Chitra.
Dasharatha was grateful again to Kausalya for her grace, for her mother’s love, for being so empathic with everyone she met. She was a true queen, through and through.
