66697602-The-Ramayana-R-K-Narayan

The night continued in this kind of talk. Dasaratha made a
last effort at compromise: “Very well, as you please. Let
Bharatha be crowned… . But let Rama also stay here. You
know him. He will hurt no one. Let Bharatha be the king by all
means—he is good. But please, I’ll touch your feet—I don’t
mind prostrating before you—but let Rama stay here in his
own home and not go away. How can he walk those rough
forest paths and go on living in the open, unsheltered … ?”
“He can, he is not the soft infant you make him out to be.
For fourteen years he must live away, wear the bark of trees,
eat roots and leaves… .”
“Do you want him to die … ? Ah …” The King screamed.
She merely said, “Don’t create a scene. Either you keep
your word or you don’t, that’s all.”
The night spent itself in dead silence. Kaikeyi stayed
where she was on the floor; the King lay on the couch. No
one interrupted them. It was customary not to disturb when
the King was with one of his wives. Even servants kept
themselves out. For all that, it was inevitable that the King
should be sought out sooner or later. There were many
matters on which he had to be consulted. His chief minister
was at his wit’s end. “Where is the King? Where is the
King?” was the constant question.
The assembly hall was growing crowded with distinguished