The Story of a Princess - 15

I had been surprised at Ram's reaction to Ahilya's plight. I knew him to be a kind, sensitive man but I hadn't thought that he would be moved to tears.

The next morning, as he was readying to go out, I brought up the topic. I told him how proud I was that my husband could empathise with another to such an extent.

He looked at me strangely. Then lowered his eyes. "You give me more credit than I deserve"

I looked at him questioningly. Take the compliment, man!

"Would you ride with me?"

"Sure", I said, wondering what he was up to.

We climbed onto our horses and moved out, a section of Ram's security team following us. We rode in silence till we reached the outskirts of the town. As brick road changed into mud and houses turned to fields, Ram increased his speed. My horse was equally fine and I was able to keep pace with him. Soon we were quite a distance away from the guards. Ram looked like he would talk but it seemed like he just wanted to fly. So I let him be. I hoped that my silent companionship was helping him somehow.

After a while he stopped. "Would you ride with me on my horse?"

My cheek burned. But it seemed important to him, so I nodded my consent. We tied my horse to a tree so the guards would find him and put some grass in front of him.

Then I sat on Ram's horse and he jumped on behind me.

We had been married for a few months, but physically I had never been this close to him. Don't ask me why. We just hadn't.

Having Ram sit so close to me, holding my waist with one hand and the reigns in the other was sending shivers up and down my body. My heart was beating so fast I thought I was going to die right there in his arms. Was this his intention?

"I had to bring us away. The palace, including the guard, is full of spies. This was the only way I could talk about yesterday without being overheard."

"Mhmm"

"My mother, queen Kausalya, is king Dashrath's first queen. When I was young, I seem to remember that there was a lot of love between my mother and the king.  However, as my mother grew older, the king lost all interest in her. Or perhaps he was just bored, he needed variety." I had never seen Ram so bitter.

"So he married queen Sumitra and then queen Kaikayi. Queen Sumitra treats my mother with the utmost respect, even to the extent of standing up to the king for her sake. I remember she once earned the king's wrath for this." Ram stopped. I kept silent, willing him to speak.

"It was after queen Kaikayi came that my mother's dignity was really challenged. Earlier she had been a trused advisor to the king. She had her own network of spies who gave her all news of the city. She was able to give the king good advice with all the information at her disposal. Now the king stopped asking her for suggestions.  Even if she put something forward he rejected it without giving it a thought. But if queen Kaikayi advised him anything, it would be implemented right away, like yesterday. You can imagine what that did to my mother's confidence. The Kausalya you see today is but a shadow of who she once was."

"That was the reason I was moved yesterday.  Somehow, in every suffering woman, I see my own mother, dying a slow death."