"Since you both are here after a really long time, why don't you both roam around the palace and try to re-familiarise yourselves while lunch gets prepared? There are still a few hours left so it will be enough time for you both to wander around, take a bath, and change into better clothes," said Queen Kaikeyi lovingly.

Ruhi and Ayu wholeheartedly agreed and began to walk around. While passing by the royal gardens, they saw an old and bent woman standing really close to the edge of a vast muddy pool and realised her to be Manthara. Manthara seemed to be unaware apparently and was just looking southwards at the flying birds. Ayu and Ruhi quickly hurried over, when her foot "slipped". Ayu ran towards her and pulled her backwards before she could fall, and Ruhi tried to pull Ayu backwards. But before they could comprehend anything or take a proper look at the lady's face, they both felt two wrinkly hands roughly push them into the concentrated pond and the sound of running away.

Luckily the pond was not very deep and they both knew how to swim. They both resurfaced and looked at each other, all wet and sloppy, and burst into peals of laughter. It did not matter to them that someone might see them in such a weird scene or think of them as madwomen.

Slowly they clambered out of the lake and tried to search for someone, maybe a maid, who could hand them something dry. But what they didn't notice until later, was that though they were wet from head to toe, the swampy mud that filled the pool did not even come close to their skins, even though the pool had much more mud than water. They just put it down to some laws of physics and chemistry that they had probably forgotten about and went away.

Meanwhile, in her room, Manthara was chuckling to herself, thinking that the girls would make a huge fool out of themselves, all covered in mud and be embarrassed by all. But that was not all. This was just the beginning of what she would do to them. A call from her beloved Queen Kaikeyei paused her evil thoughts as she picked up her wooden stick and exited her room.

They soon managed to reach the corridor and entered the room that was assigned to Ruhi and saw the three queens sitting on the bed, pondering over some clothes and jewellery. Manthara too was standing in a faraway corner. They looked at the girls, and their face showed signs of worry and surprise. (In Manthara's case, it was only surprising, as she wasn't able to calculate why they weren't stinking yet)

"What happened to you both? Are you alright? And how did this happen to you?" asked Queen Kaushalya. Ayu replied "Actually, we were looking at the muddy pool and then we both slipped and fell in. We sincerely apologise for everything." and bowed down 90 degrees, motioning Ruhi to do the same.

"What are you both doing? Why are you apologising? Come on, don't be silly, get up!" said Queen Sumitra raising them up. "Dasi!" called the three queens in sync. Three female servants came into the chamber and bowed down. "Please take kumaris Rudranshi and Arunprabha and get them a nice scented bath and a few herbal masks. Then send them here, we shall choose the clothes and jewellery.

The dasis obeyed and took them away. An hour later they both emerged, clad in a simple white saree, looking even brighter and glowing than before. The queens grinned at them and then made them sit on two stools, that were placed before a big mirror. They were excited to finally get two daughters after so many years, the last time they had, only Shanta, who had left them so long ago and began to doll them up. After selecting a beautiful pink lehenga for Ruhi and an enchanting sky blue one for Arunprabha, they began to deck the girls up in golds and diamonds.

After some time, when they were finally finished with the shringaar, they finally asked the girls to stand up and show them the full result. "My dears, you both look absolutely stunning, and like the true princesses of Ayodhya" exclaimed Queen Kaikeyi, cupping their cheeks and giving them a motherly hug.

The girls thanked the queens and then went out, and continued to explore the gardens, and even made friends with some of the dasis. They were missing Hari very much and were worried about what he might be thinking. Only if they knew that even Hari was here too, only somewhere else. The royal cuisine of Ayodhya was completely delicious, and they thanked the cooks when no one was looking. At last, they both went to there respective rooms and fell asleep.

At the middle of the night, Ayu suddenly heard a slight sound. She opened her eyes to see something greyish and heavy looking hovering in front of her. She felt startled and thinking it to be some sort of invasion or something, punched the metallic thing super hard, causing it to fall to the other side while turning her head away to prevent the thing from touching her. She turned around to find a boy with his head covered by a metal bucket and freezing water dripping down his body and hair. She at first was really annoyed with whoever it was, waking someone up that late, just for a silly prank was not funny. 

She then cautiously lifted the bucket to see the face of the prankster and fell back on the bed laughing like crazy, being sure not to be too loud but being unable to help herself. The poor prankster was the youngest Raghunandan, Shatrughan whose face had the hilarious expression which was a mix of shock, bemusement, and defeat. Sometime later she felt annoyed again. Seeing Ayu awake and having a "don't mess with me or my precious sleep" + annoyed + stern expression on her face, he quickly ran out of the chamber. Ayu didn't like beating people or scolding a poor child for silly reasons, so she just tried to go back to sleep.

(Shatrughan: But I am older than her! 😢😢)

Ayu then heard a sort of loud noise, the sound of running, and Ruhi's high pitched scream so she dashed to the door of her room to see what had happened. It was then that she realised that it was not completely bramha muhurat yet, the sun hadn't risen. She was welcomed by the sight of Lakshman running out of Ruhi's chamber, his fingertips black and laughing, followed by Ruhi who had .....err....beautiful enhancements on her face....chasing him with a murderous look.

 The kings and queens all came out yawning and yet alert, thinking of what could have happened. Even Shri Rama came out of his chamber, already well dressed and clean. On seeing the whole scene, they burst into laughter. Even the soldiers were trying not to laugh. Poor Ayu meanwhile was being used as a shield by Lakshman who had grabbed her by the shoulders and was continuously spinning her in all directions to save himself. Ruhi too was no less and Lakshman knew that his demise was decided. Then an idea struck him and he ran and hid behind his Ram bhaiya, since he knew that Ruhi respected him too much to try beating Lakshman when he was behind him. As predicted, Ruhi grumpily went back to her room and came back with a clean yet still annoyed face. They all saw as the sun slowly rose, ad the day began.

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