Outside In by Jennifer Bradbury

Author:Jennifer Bradbury
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books

After Rama and Sita’s wedding, the holy man decided it was time to go back to Ayodhya.

Their reception at the palace put the wedding to shame. They feasted for days, the entire kingdom celebrating the return of the two princes, and Rama so well married. When the festivities at last began to quiet, the king made a decision.

Dasaratha decided to pass his kingdom on to one of his sons when he still had strength left to advise and guide the new king.

It was obvious to all that Rama was the perfect heir. And now with Sita at his side and his adventures behind him, he was ready to rule.

But Kaikeyi—Dasaratha’s youngest wife—feared what might happen if Rama were named king. As the youngest of the wives, she’d always been jealous of the love Dasaratha showed to Kausalya, and of the way everyone preferred Rama to her own son, Bharata. Kaikeyi’s heart was small and cold, and she could only imagine that Rama would toss her and her son out of the palace if he came to power. So she prevailed upon the king to deliver on a pledge he had made to her many years ago.

“Do you recall, King Dasaratha,” she said one evening, “that you promised me two wishes?”

The king nodded. “Of course. One when you saved my life in battle, and the other when you agreed to become my wife.”

“And you recall that I have not asked you for those wishes, in all these many years we have been wed?”

“Yes.”

“I ask for them now.” She drew herself up, her face grim.

Now King Dasaratha grew worried. The timing of her request . . . just as he prepared to name his heir . . .

“Kaikeyi—”

“I wish for Bharata to be king instead of Rama!”

The king hid his face in his hands and wept. “Please, Kaikeyi—”

“Besides, Bharata will make a fine king.” She did not go so far as to say he would make a better king than Rama. Not even she believed that.

Honor and duty bound, Dasaratha had to comply. He took solace in the fact that Rama, as noble and generous as he was, would not mind being passed over. He would, after all, still be in Ayodhya, on hand to advise his brother.

“Very well,” the king replied. “Bharata will be the king.”

But Kaikeyi knew that if Rama remained in the kingdom, even her own son would defer to him, knew that others would insist he be made king. Her fear made her second wish even more devastating than her first. “You will also banish Rama from the kingdom for a span of fourteen years.”

“Kaikeyi! No!”

But the young queen was unmoved by her husband’s pleas, unmoved by his heartbreak.

“A promise is a promise,” she said. “And any man—especially a king—is nothing without his word.”

So it was that the very next morning, Dasaratha announced that Bharata would be named king and that Rama would be banished for fourteen years.

All of Ayodhya mourned, even Bharata, who had no desire to be king, especially under these circumstances.

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