“Please, I beg of you, postpone the ceremony.” I poured everything I had into our bond.
“I will not.” He held himself like a soldier, although he had not been to battle in over ten years. His body hardened into sharp lines, and he stared at me as though I was the enemy.
“Then, Raja Dasharath, I ask these two boons of you. First, you must exile Rama beyond our borders for ten years.”
He stared at me blankly as though he could not believe my words. I felt as though I stood outside of my body, watching the hurt begin to creep over his face as he realized this was truly happening. Bleakly, I thought about taking it back, about pretending I had jested. But I said nothing, and we tumbled together over the precipice.
“No, no, I cannot, no,” Dasharath said, repeating these words over and over like a prayer.
“And second, you must place Bharata on the throne for these years. These boons I ask of you.”
“No!” he shouted, and I startled. But even then I was not afraid of him. I trusted him. I loved him. Even if I had managed to burn that all away, the impression of all we had shared would not be so easily erased.
He grabbed the collar of my blouse and hung his head. “Please, Kaikeyi. You are wrong. Please do not ask this of me.” His body shook with the force of his weeping, and still he clutched me.
Tears came to my eyes as well. “Dasharath, understand. He is unready. I would not ask this otherwise. When he has spent some time alone, improving himself, then he can come back and rule.” I kept my voice admirably steady as I tore out my husband’s heart.
“Kaikeyi, you do not know what you ask. I cannot go through with this.” He gasped out each word as though it physically pained him.
“Give me one reason why Rama must become raja now,” I said. “A single legitimate reason, and I will gladly withdraw my request.”
Dasharath at last lifted his red-rimmed eyes to my own, and I saw the despair there. “I have a feeling, deep in my chest, that it is the right thing to do. You would not ask me to contradict my sincerest beliefs, would you?” I could see that feeling, wrapped around him, controlling his every moment.
“I would,” I whispered. “You have already broken one such promise to me. Kekaya remembers. My brother remembers. He threatens war upon you for it, unless you make things right. Surely you would not bring war upon your people for breaking your sworn oath?”
Dasharath shook his head as though he had not heard my words, and any hope I had that my husband, at least, might see reason, was extinguished. “Please,” he begged, and I felt the tears slipping silently down my face. But I could not back down now.
“Dasharath, I am talking of war. You made an oath to my family. You made oaths to the gods. Your word cannot be broken.”
A knock sounded on the door, but Dasharath, nearly insensible, merely cradled his head in his hands. I opened my mouth to speak, but no sound came out. On the second attempt, I managed to croak, “Who is it?”
“Kaikeyi?” came Kaushalya’s voice. She appeared in the doorway, and as she took in my tears and Dasharath’s posture, she swept forward and grasped my hands. “What is happening?” she asked. “Kaikeyi, is this about your father?”
I shook my head, unable to tell her what I had just done. Dasharath glanced at Kaushalya. “Long ago, I promised this treacherous woman that I would grant her two boons at any time. And now she has come to redeem them.”
Treacherous? Kaushalya mouthed at me, baffled and even a bit amused.
“She has demanded as her first boon that Rama be exiled for ten years. And as her second that Bharata become king in Rama’s stead.”
However I thought Kaushalya would react, this was not it: head tipped back in laughter, howls of mirth, tears of hilarity spilling from her eyes.
“It is true,” I said quietly.
Her laughter died as she took in my face. “What?”
I merely nodded my head.
“Kaikeyi. No. Why?”
“I am so sorry, Kaushalya.” I reached out a hand, but she backed away from me until she had pressed herself against the wall.
“Why?” she repeated. “Have you been so jealous of me all this time? This is your way of taking revenge?”
“It has nothing to do with jealousy.” I managed to keep my voice steady, despite the sharp sting of pain. Deep in my heart, in a place I could hardly admit to myself, I had imagined that Dasharath and Kaushalya might still come around. Imagined that our bonds were strong and true, and could resist the divine influence of our son. “He is not ready.”