May 24th, 2022

Deep in the Kingdom of Videha was its capital, Mithila. Mithila was, if not prosperous, extremely colourful. Flower gardens lined every balcony of every street, and long vines and creepers crawled up the cobblestone streets. The sun never shined too much in Mithila, always hidden by the clouds, and the temperature was always pleasantly breezy. In no humble terms, Mithila was pretty freaking awesome, thank you very much.

And in Mithila, there was a very big castle. In this castle resided the good King Janak and his eternally annoyed wife, Queen Sunaina. Janak was a kind, humble king, but often had the tendency of sitting on his throne and yelling through the palace. This was why they had an in-palace messenger, who would send messages from the throne room to everywhere else. It was quite a tedious job, especially when Janak wanted refills for his lemonade.

"Girls!" Janak called. "Girls! My princesses! Where are you? Come to the throne room, I have something to discuss with you!" Janak had two biological daughters: Sita and Urmila. He also had two nieces from his brother: Princesses Mandavi and Shrutakirti. Sita, Mandavi, Urmila, and Shrutakirti were quite accustomed to Janak's random yelling, and in seconds, they were running into the throne room.

Well, Mandavi was rolling into the throne room, followed by a cackling Urmila. Sunaina gave them all her patented 'I'm-disappointed-in-you-improper-princesses' look, but Janak didn't really care. 

In his eyes, the princesses, even unruly Mandavi and frankly quite bossy Urmila, were quite perfect. "Guys, shh." Sita hushed, before turning towards her father with a big smile. "What could be the matter, papa?"

"Ah, well," Janak began, shifting in his chair, and glancing at Sunaina. "I just wanted to prepare you girls for something. It's quite early, in my opinion-" Sunaina cleared her throat, and he hastened to continue. "I mean! Thirteen years old is old enough to know this! In my opinion! I just wanted to let you know to not expect to remain unwed."

Silence. All four princesses stared at him, even Mandavi from her position from the floor, with incredulous looks. Except Sita, who still managed to look gracious. Mandavi got up and brushed herself off, kicking Urmila's shin before looking at her uncle. "What do you mean, don't expect to remain unwed, Uncleshri? We don't have to marry any time soon, anyways? And all of us are marrying if we want to, right?" She crossed her arms across her chest and eyed Janak judgingly. "Right?"

Janak laughed nervously.

~~~

"I really don't see the big problem!" Urmila huffed, shrugging her shoulders. "Marriage is so far away! We're only thirteen. I bet we'll get married when we're at least twenty five! I'm not really excited for it, per say, but I bet it'll work out anyways. Besides, everyone falls in love eventually, right? We'll probably end up marrying people we love. And we'll help Videha. Why not? I don't get why everyone is so upset."

"Yah! Stop being so optimistic, you're freaking me out." Mandavi chided, folding her arms across her chest and flopping down on her bed. "What if I didn't want to dedicate my entire life to an absolute duffer with no emotional IQ and a wish to remarry? Hanh? I have better things to do with my time than lower my self esteem! And Shrutakirti, for god's sake, stop chuckling as if you know something we don't!"

"But I do!" Shrutakirti giggled. "And that's that we all secretly want somebody to love! Sita likes that prince from that camp we visited one time. Urmila just wants somebody to boss around and love. And Mandavi, if he wasn't emotionally unintelligent, I bet even you wouldn't mind having a husband!"

She waved around their respective diaries tauntingly, before opening one. "Though Urmila does seem to have a weird obsession with snakes. She might just go ahead and marry one of those instead. Sunaina Auntie wouldn't approve of that, but hey! Sunaina Auntie doesn't approve of anything Urmila does anyways!" Urmila tackled Shrutakirti as Mandavi laughed in the background.

"Aside from the obvious problem of having Shrutakirti reading our diaries," Sita sighed, deciding not to break the fight up. "I've come up with something else. If we get married, then we'll be separated from each other." 

She looked up, staring into the eyes of all three of her sisters as they looked up from their brawl. "We may never see each other again. What then? Could any of us bear that? I certainly couldn't."

"Oh don't worry about that, didi!" Urmila declared. "Wherever you go, I'll follow! Just sneak me in one of your suitcases! Or I can pretend to be a dasi, and then once we reach there, boom! I'm a princess now, and you can't get rid of me!" She scratched her face unconcernedly. "Besides, I'm never marrying anyways."

"Thank goodness," Mandavi snorted, picking at her nails. "I'd feel bad for any person married to you, even if they were an emotionless duffer who didn't have any talents." Urmila got off of Shrutakirti and proceeded to attack the other.

~~~

"There's a WHAT?!" Urmila shrieked. Mandavi immediately covered her ears with a wince, and Shrutakirti flinched, but Urmila paid neither of them any mind. Instead, she turned directly towards Sita, who had turned a bright red and was fidgeting with her sari anxiously. 

"I'm sorry. Could you repeat that again didi? I thought I'd heard something quite ridiculous. I heard Competition for your 'sand'."

"It's not competition for my sand, if that makes you feel any better," Sita sighed, staring up at the ceiling and wondering when any of her sisters would grow up.

"Oh! Well then let me guess!" Urmila squealed. "Competition for your friend! Competition for your grand(ness)! Competition for your band! No, wait, that's sad, I don't want the royal marching band going away. Competition for your stand! What do they want, your legs? Oh no. Wait. I've got it. A competition for your land? They plan to buy Mithila?!"

Finally, Sita had had enough. Even Mandavi had managed to figure it out. "It's none of those, Urmila! It's a competition for my hand! My hand, not my feet!"

Silence. "WELL THAT'S EVEN WORSE!" Urmila sobbed. "Did Papa agree to this? Why would he ever want to do that? Is that his weird way of making allies? Honestly, he should get us to brainstorm! And that's such a stupid competition too! Who wants your hand? Literally nobody! Not one person in the entire empire cares for your hand!"

Sita's jaw dropped open. Urmila had always called her the most beautiful person ever. So why the sudden change of spirit? 

Urmila continued to ramble. "Really, I think you'd be better off keeping them. What's Papa going to do anyways? Cut them off? And what are people going to do with your hands? Or, better question, what will you do without them? Did Papa not think about that at all? Hands, really, found no other better prize-"

"Arrey, DUFFER!" Mandavi shouted. "He's holding a competition! For Sita didi's hand in marriage! And no, before you ask, not to marry her hand." She quickly shut Urmila up. 

"To marry HER! And whoever wins gets not only her hand, but also her! Like a piece of property! That's Uncleshri's way of getting allies! Marrying us off!" She huffed, turning towards the window. "You all, stay ready too. It's only a matter of time before he starts considering us marriage eligible."

Urmila stayed silent for a second, before piping up. "Well, that's certainly a better prize than a random pair of hands." Upon Sita's glare, she quickly corrected herself. "I mean, a really pretty pair of hands, nou doubt about it, but what use are those?"

She scratched her chin, confused. "Hey. Will Sita didi be allowed to bring any friends? Maybe we can disguise ourselves and tag along." She wrapped her arms around Sita protectively and tucked her chin on her elder sister's shoulder. "I'd be dasi rather than a princess if it means spending time with you, didi."

Shrutakirti stared at Urmila. "You'd really do anything to tag along with Sita didi?" she asked, awed. "That's so nice of you, Urmila didi. But I doubt Papa or Uncleshri would ever agree. The more princesses, the more alliances." She wiped her eyes quickly to hide her tears. "The only way I can think of staying close is having Sita didi marry a very nice prince who would allow her to visit us all the time!"

"That's too easy!" Mandavi guffawed, folding her arms across her chest proudly. "To marry my Sita didi, every prince from the entire mainland will be visiting! There's no girl more perfect than her, after all. There must be some nice princes among those buffoons! We'll just figure out how to rig the competition so that he wins! It's simple." Mandavi laid back after narrating her genius plan.

"Perfect idea! See, even rakshasis have brains!" Urmila praised. "Maybe he'll be so nice, he can just convince Papa to let us come along as Sita didi's friends, and then we'll be together forever, no disturbances! After all, our sole purpose isn't to marry, right? And as princesses, we ought to have the biggest amount of control over our lives! I'll just dedicate all of my heart to Sita didi, and we'll be happy for the rest of our lives."

"Speak for yourself," Shrutakirti sniffed. "I want someone who is solely mine to love. I'd have liked to marry. Maybe, maybe Sita's dream prince will have a brother?" She smiled at them. "And then we'll all truly be happy. Even if Urmila and Mandavi remain celibate and loveless for their entire lives!"

"Aiii, Kirti, when did you get this mean?!" Urmila cried.

~~~

"What do you mean? I've always been like this." Lakshman said, staring up at his father, who sat on the throne. The entire court was looking at him quizzically, even Bharat and Shatrughan. Ram bhaiyya was rubbing his eyes exhaustedly, but Lakshman could very easily see the smile spreading across his face. "Papa, I've never wanted to marry anyways. Whatever gave you that idea?"

"I thought it was a moment of childishness!" Dasharath cried, putting his head in his hands. His crown almost toppled off, but he quickly caught it and placed it back on. 

"I thought you'd grow up and be the womaniser that Shatrughan is right now! Oh no! Now one of my children is going to remain wifeless! Whatever will I do?" He put his head in his hands again (after removing his crown this time).

"I don't see the problem." Lakshman grumbled. "Papa, you have three other children. Ram bhaiyya has to get married; he's the heir to the throne. Bharat bhaiyya is handsome and writes love poems for a living. If he doesn't get married, I'll leave my sword and become a monk in the Himalayas and send you guys postcards."

He looked at Shatrughan, who gulped visibly. "Now this idiot, I don't know about him. He'll have plenty of girls who like him, but before he chooses one, he'll grow old and withered and probably will never marry because he's so indecisive. Then again, he's a flirt, so one kingdom may just take his comments as an act of proposing marriage. So if he gets married, it'll just be a big accident, like every other thing he does."

Sumitra stood up in an instant. "So what you're saying is that I've gone through 9 months of pain and raising two children, hoping to get double the amount of grandchildren, but in the end, I might not get any?!"

 She turned towards Kaikeyi. "Didi, let me adopt Bharat, na? You've always had a soft spot for these two, take your pick! Take them both for all I care! I want some grandkids! Some nice, cute little grandkids toddling about this castle."

"No problem, Sumi, we can share!" Kaushalya laughed. "At least my Ram is confirmed!" She looked towards her son pointedly as Ram smiled graciously at everyone with his yes-i-will-have-children-guaranteed-or-your-money-back-lifetime-warranty smile.

~~~

That very day, a few hours later, Vishwamitra had showed up, asking for Ram (and by extension, Lakshman, who always tagged along with Ram, like a buy one get one warrior celestial-but-doesn't-know-it prince free deal) to help defeat Tadaka and other demons who had been terrorizing his camp. At that moment, Dasharath called Vishwamitra up to where he was seated on his throne.

"Oh great sadhu, rishi, Vishwamitra sahib," he began, clearing his throat. "I've heard some things about Mithila. Some great things. I have also heard about their princesses. Especially the eldest one, Sita. I do believe that she and my Ram may be perfect for each other. So, if possible, could you please take my sons around to Mithila to participate in the swayamvar taking place there? Don't tell them, though."

"Of course!" Vishwamitra chuckled. "I love seeing young love! Especially with Ram. What a nice kid! Err-prince. Whatever! I think they'd be a great match as well! And did you hear, there are three other princesses there! Three girls for three boys! It's perfect! Vishwamitra the matchmaker, that I am!"

As Dasharath and Vishwamitra evilly cackled over their evil villain plans, Ram scooted his throne closer to Bharat's. "Hey, Bharat," he whispered. "Psst." Bharat turned around in his throne to stare at his elder brother. "Bharat, you better get married. Or did you hear what Lakshman said? He'd go to the Himalayas forever! As a monk!" Ram almost fainted. "Lakshman could starve! OR DIE!"

"Yes,yes, that's all okay bhaiyya." Bharat agreed. "I'm not exactly too sure about this kingdom's safety without Lakshman. Apparently, he keeps a lot of the big naga-asuras away. But what of Lakshman's actual marriage? Don't you think he would benefit from a wife? It would prevent him from throwing himself into danger without a second thought!"

Ram gasped. "So are you saying that I am not enough to keep him away from danger?! BHARAT!" he paused, calming down. "Besides, married or not, Lakshman's happiness is all that matters. And if he's happy without a wife, then that's fine with me! Besides, bhaiyya-bhaiyya bonds are the most important, na? What if she took all of his attention away from me?" Bharat face-palmed as Ram half-sobbed in his chair. 

A/N-Alright, second update for this story! Definitely a filler chapter, but it sets stuff up pretty well for the next one. I think. Anyways, DID YOU GUYS KNOW that Nitesh Tiwari is also making a Ramayan movie? With Deepika Padukone as Sita? I found that out yesterday.

Anyways, I just realized that this book is going too fast and I should probably slow down in terms of progress. Like, maybe the next chapter, I'll talk about Urmila taking in a breath to shout at somebody. Or maybe I'll slow down the updates themselves! Great idea!

I'll make a bunch of themes for myself, meanwhile!