The Ramayana is not a static story. Like any myth, it evolves and changes with each telling. Even today, the Ramayana exists as a Sanskrit epic and as hundreds of different translations, as stories told around dinner tables and episodes of television shows, as movies and plays, as comics and books. Each version says something slightly different and new about these familiar characters. With Kaikeyi, I add my own voice to this long tradition. Thank you for reading.
MAJOR CHARACTERS
AGNI: God of fire; carries offerings to the gods ASHA: Servant of Kaushalya and Kaikeyi
ASHVIN: Prince of Kekaya, younger brother of Kaikeyi ASHWAPATI: King of Kekaya, father of Kaikeyi BHANDASURA: A fire demon
BHARATA: Prince of Kosala, son of Kaikeyi and Dasharath DASHARATH: King of Kosala, husband of Kaikeyi, Kaushalya, and Sumitra, and father of Rama, Bharata, Lakshmana, and Shatrugna DHANTERI: Servant of Kekaya
KAIKEYI: Princess of Kekaya, Queen of Kosala, wife of Dasharath, and mother of Bharata KAUSHALYA: Queen of Kosala, mother of Rama KEKAYA: Queen of Kekaya, wife of Ashwapati, and mother of Kaikeyi LAKSHMANA: Prince of Kosala, son of Sumitra and Dasharath MANTHARA: Trusted servant of Kaikeyi
NIDRA: Goddess of sleep
RAMA: Prince of Kosala, son of Kaushalya and Dasharath RAVANA: King of Lanka
SARASVATI: Goddess of wisdom and learning SHATRUGNA: Prince of Kosala, son of Sumitra and Dasharath SITA: Princess of Videha, wife of Rama
SUMITRA: Queen of Kosala, mother of Lakshmana and Shatrugna VAMADEVA: Sage blessed by the gods, learned tutor of the princes of Kosala VIRENDRA: Minister of War of Kosala, advisor to Dasharath YUDHAJIT: Prince of Kekaya, son of Ashwapati and Kekaya, and twin brother of Kaikeyi
CHAPTER ONE
I WAS BORN ON the full moon under an auspicious constellation, the holiest of positions—much good it did me.
In Bharat, where the gods regularly responded to prayers and meddled in mortal affairs, the circumstances of my birth held great promise. This did not matter to my father, who cared only that my brother Yudhajit followed me into the world minutes later under the same lucky stars. Regardless of birth position, Yudhajit, being a boy, was the heir to the Kekaya kingdom. I was but a dowry of fifty fine horses waiting to happen. For each of my mother’s subsequent pregnancies, my father made sacrifices to the gods, requesting sons. In return, he was blessed with six more healthy boys, portents of future prosperity.
The people of Bharat have often blamed my father for my sins, as if a woman cannot own her actions. He was not a perfect man, that I freely admit, but for all his faults he loved each of his sons fiercely, playing with them in his throne room, bringing them the finest tutors in all the kingdom, and gifting them ponies so they would grow into brilliant cavalrymen.
If he bears any fault for my actions, it is through his inaction. I remember few occasions when we exchanged words, and fewer still when he sought to speak with me—save one.
My brothers and I were playing hide and catch in the sweeping field behind the palace and it was my turn to find them. I kept my eyes shut as their laughter faded into wind, opening them only after counting to twenty. I immediately saw a glimmer of movement by the stables.
I crept slowly toward whichever brother was hiding there, knowing that they would get more nervous by the second, and planning how best to catch them. I doubted it was Mohan, who was three years younger than me. He was short and slow and knew I could easily grab him. Shantanu was a bit older and was fast as a deer, but I could try to trap him by chasing him toward the palace wall. If it was Yudhajit, he would be almost impossible to catch, though maybe—
Shantanu stumbled out from behind the stable. With a whoop, I began sprinting toward him, my blood racing through my veins. But as I followed him past the side of the building, I stopped short. Had I just seen movement? I whirled around to find Yudhajit pressed against the wood, and my face split into a wild grin. He must have shoved Shantanu out of their mutual hiding spot to distract me.
I spun, chasing Yudhajit around the stable, knowing as I did that I could never beat him in an outright footrace. He rounded the corner out of sight, and from just beyond the wall came a strangled shout. A second later, my shin collided with bony flesh, and I fell onto a tangled heap of bodies, Yudhajit right below me.
“I got you!” I shouted breathlessly. Someone, probably Shantanu, groaned. I rolled off the pile and onto the hard ground, laughing, asking if they knew where Mohan was, when I saw legs coming toward me.
I sat up, squinting at the guard, aware my white kurta was smeared liberally with dirt and grass and my hair was falling from its braids, but only half-embarrassed. “Yudhajit, get up,” I hissed.