Dasharath sat on his large, golden throne, stroking his thick, grey speckled beard, which he was very fond of, thoughtfully. Guru Vashishta sat on the throne right below him, doing the same thing. The queens also sat beside him, and if they had a beard, they would be stroking them as well, for when people stroke their beards, it's usually because they have an imminently important decision to make.

"I think, Rajguru, revered sage, oh great one, that it's time to get our Bharat, Lakshman and Shatrughan married off as well. Ram's wife needs some companions over here, and they have come of the age. Doesn't Janak have a daughter and two nieces? Perhaps we could get them married to our princes!" The rajguru looked up as the queens began to talk amongst themselves excitedly.

"I don't see why he would decline!" exclaimed Guru Vashisht. "From what I have learned, their astrology maps match beautifully, and the match is auspicious! Raja Janak and Kushadwaj have both expressed a large interest in allying with Ayodhya!" Dasharath sat up quickly, smiling and stroking his mustache now, proudly.

"Yes, yes, yes! It's perfect, meant to be! I think that our princes and their princesses should get along as well, and we need some activity around here! All the rajkumaris will liven up this place like it wasn't since the princes left for Gurukul. Yes, let's send the message immediately!" Raja Dasharath beamed through his mustache and beard, both dishevelled at this point as the old king rejoiced in his fortunes.

Kaikeyi suddenly sat up. "Bharat will get along very well with his wife, quiet and calm as he is! I think he'll be an ideal husband! And Ram, of course, Ram will get along very well! He is so calm and serene!" Kaushalya nodded along.

"Yes, Kaikeyi, I completely agree. Shatrughan might have some difficulties in the beginning but his wife will never be bored, and his wit will keep her happy. I think our princes are quite civilized, we have taught them well!" Sumitra smiled at the subtle compliment towards her. She was always a bit concerned about her two boys.

"I am very excited for this match." she added. "I always was a little scared that Laksh would never marry. Ram has to, he is the Crown prince, the Yuvraj. Bharat was always the hopeless romantic. Shatrughan is a big flirt, doesn't shy away from women. Just Laksh, I thought he would always stay so immersed with his weapons that I was very sad." Everyone nodded along, each absorbed in their own thoughts.

Somewhere in Mithila...

"And Raja Dasharath proposes a marriage between your daughter and niece and his three other sons, Bharat of Kekeya-Kosala, as well as Lakshman and Shatrughan of Kashi-Kosala. He asks for an answer through me." The messenger declared proudly. He had seen the princes grow up before his very eyes. He had thirsted to see the day when they would get married. Janak turned to his Rajguru, astounded, and grinned. Once receiving the congratulations and celebratory nod, he turned back towards the messenger.

"Please tell Raja Dasharath that we would gladly accept the marriage between Urmila of Mithila and Mandavi and Shrutakirti of the North! It's our greatest honor to ally with one of the most powerful forces in India! Please send a hearty confirmation to him!" The messenger nodded and walked out of the room.

King Janak turned towards his wife, Rani Sunaina, who was also smiling. "Do you think that the boys and our girls will agree to this arranged marriage? Will they be able to live with each other? Prince Shatrughan and Princess Mandavi are already enemies, they constantly tease and taunt each other, as are Princess Shrutakirti and Prince Bharat." he asked in fright. Rani Sunaina shook her head, patting his shoulder.

"Do not worry, Janak, listen to this. Bharat-Mandavi, Lakshman-Urmila, and Shatrughan-Shrutakirti! Do you see any problems with that?" When Janak shook his head in awe, Rani Sunaina nodded. "Bharat and Mandavi already are fine companions. Lakshman and Urmila are good friends as well, and I do think our Urmila has fallen in love. Shatrughan and Shrutakirti are partners in everything! It's a match made in heaven!"

"I don't want to leave you, didi!" cried Urmila, sitting in her bedroom with her sister and cousins. "You'll leave, be married to Prince Ram, and then we'll see you only rarely! I wish we weren't separated, I really wish we weren't!" Sita hugged her tightly as Shrutakirti pouted and Mandavi rolled her eyes.

"Look, Urmila, I think you might be going along in the entire procession. It's pretty obvious that you love that Prince Lakshman, and besides, I think it's a great match. You all don't worry about Shrutakirti and I, we'll never marry!" Urmila wiped away her tears and turned towards Mandavi, eyes wide.

"Oh dear, have I been that obvious, rakshasi? Do you think he noticed?" She exhaled, before turning towards Sita once more as she shook her head. "Anyways, Raja Dasharath would never agree to that! What are the chances?" Suddenly, a man appeared at the door, and the princesses all turned towards him.

"The King has requested your presence immediately, hurry up!" They all looked at each other, before Sita gestured that they get up and leave, and so the four princesses walked down the halls forlornly, but curiously, wondering what was in store for them. Sita pushed the doors open with Urmila and Mandavi's help and they walked in, surprised to see the four princes there as well, assembled tightly.

"Yes, gather around, gather around." Raja Janak proclaimed happily. "It's a celebration indeed! Raja Dasharath has offered his sons in marriage to you three! Isn't it a happy day, so auspicious, what a great occasion!" Mandavi choked, Shatrughan almost fainted, Lakshman's hand slipped on his dagger, causing a small cut, and Urmila's heart hammered. Only Shrutakirti remained composed. Whom would she marry? She hoped it wasn't Bharat, her enemy, nor Lakshman, the boy she viewed as an elder brother.

"Shatrughan-Shrutakirti has been proposed!" Silence, before Shatrughan stood up, turning bright red, before being lifted up by a beaming Lakshman and thrown into the air, caught again, and kissed sloppily on the forehead.

"I never thought I would see this day, Shatru, but it has become real! You are marrying, I am so proud of you!" he cried as Bharat and Ram laughed. "However," he paused. "If Shrutakirti ever reports any dilly-dallying at all, rest assured that I still am great with my dagger as always." Shatrughan gulped, before being back on two feet and congratulated heavily by Ram and Bharat, laughter filling the boy's area. Shrutakirti simply smiled, turning a light pink as Mandavi nudged her.

"Bharat-Mandavi." The shy lovers turned to look at each other with wide eyes before hastily looking the opposite way. Everyone took that to mean that they were fine with the match as Shatrughan teased Bharat to no end and it was Shrutakirti's turn to nudge Mandavi as Urmila solemnly warned Bharat of the rakhsasi's power.

"And Lakshman Urmila." The deafening silence once more as, frowning, the two turned to look at each other for a moment, before at the king, then back at the other. Finally, Urmila began to do what she always did when she was nervous. Ramble to no end.

"I mean, I guess weddings are fun, I wonder what theme we'll have, I think gold, silver, and red, won't that be pretty? Don't you think so? I mean, maybe green? Actually, no, not green, too shabby." Lakshman gaped at her moving mouth, which was rapidly moving at the pace of light, and turned towards his gaping brothers while raising his brows incredulously, as if saying 'You want me to marry this?!'. However, eventually Urmila quieted down, and they both nodded simultaneously.

"So it's finalized! Along with Ram and Sita , you all will be married as well! Wow, the celebrations didn't increase double or triple, the happiness increased quadruple times! Oh, this is such good news!" And the dancing king jumped off his throne and ran off into another compartment of the palace as the couples were left to stare at each other uncertainly.

"This is awkward. We're all brothers and sisters in law now. I'm going to marry you, you goody-two-shoes who doesn't speak!" Shrutakirti snorted, shaking her head as Shatrughan triumphantly lightened the mood. "I never thought that a flirt like me would marry someone like you!" She rolled her eyes.

"Well, this is great, right? Now we all get to go to Ayodhya together! No separations!" cried Sita . "And it's not like we hate the person that we're marrying. Imagine if Shrutakirti and Bharat, or Shatrughan and Mandavi married. We would have a situation on our hands, now wouldn't we?" Some hesitant laughter, before the two groups separated.

Urmila let out a deep breath. She still couldn't believe it, her brain was racing with mixed emotions and thoughts. She was marrying the man she loved, would never be separated from her sister, and she must be dreaming! It couldn't be possible! She was marrying Lakshman, her best friend, her confidant, the man of her dreams, and a dream it was! A tiny joyful tear trickled out of her eye. It was not followed by another.

Mandavi sighed. Bharat liked her too. He had blushed, and they had exchanged a little smile before they looked the other way abashedly. She clutched her forehead in astonishment. There was no way she was marrying, in childhood, adolescence, ever since she knew what boys were and what marriage was, the thought of marriage had never come across her mind. And yet here she was! Marrying a man who would respect her.

Shrutakirti burst into laughter, jumping up and down a little bit, her anklets with bells attached to them. She was marrying! Oh she had dreamed about it for ages, the ceremony, the makeup, the jewelry. The man. She was perfectly fine with marrying Shatrughan, the wit. The kind, the honest, the respectful. Hopefully, the faithful. She knew he was perfectly fine with marrying her! Who cared about the rest?

The brothers all sat on one bed in the shape of a square, each staring at the face across from them. Bharat suddenly burst into tears, and Shatrughan lunged forward as they cried in each other's shoulders, scarcely believing it. Bharat knew he was marrying someday, someone, and with a sad childhood full of daydreaming about his future, marriage had come up a few times. And here he was. In the future. About to marry.

Shatrughan sobbed. He sobbed for the woman he was about to marry. He sobbed for the future that suddenly seemed so near. He sobbed for the happiness of his brothers. He sobbed for the childhood slowly disappearing. He sobbed for the lost freedom. He sobbed for all the habits he would have to let go. He sobbed for the overjoyed mother he would have. But most of all, he sobbed because of happiness.

Ram stared into Lakshman's eyes, breaking his feelings apart, piece by piece like a honeycomb. Was it possible that only days ago, it was this brother who had followed him into Mithila, teasing him about Sita ? Was it possible that he was not going to be this brother's sole loyalty anymore? Was it possible that he was about to have to share Lakshman with someone who loved him equally as much?

Lakshman opened his mouth and closed it multiple times. Just days ago, he had confessed, not to the woman he loved but to the brother who was everything to him. The brother for whom he would give up the world had he owned it. Words were like magnets, Lakshman realized that day. Thoughts were a capped magnet, power that wasn't yet realized, power that was held in. Restrained. Words were the magnets once the cap was removed, once the power was realized, once it was unleashed. And they attracted things with power that no sword, nor arrow, nor divine astra could command.

A/N-Numerous chapters later...we finally have it! Dasharath has decided, god bless him, finally! Shatru-Kirti, Lakshmila, and Bharma are all a real thing now, not just figments of my imagination. Now, down to business. If I have guessed correctly, you all want confessions, and you want them now.

Well, you're just going to have to...waaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiitttt. Not for long, of course. Jeesh. The next chapter is going to be a little different because it's just going to consist of scenes instead of an ongoing story. I think you might enjoy it, however, since I normally write in story form, and many of you enjoy that, I just wanted to warn you.

I just wanted to again specify, so you don't all get your hopes up for chapters twice a day, to all of my newer readers, of which I'm actually gaining more (!!!), unless otherwise specified in a chapter or message on my message board, I update 1 chapter only, every single day at about 3 o'clock in the morning, INDIAN TIME. Don't expect an update earlier than that, unless it's the weekend, in which case, I do update at different timings, but nevertheless, I do still update daily. And I'll probably update before most of you wake up...so actually, unless you wake up before, like, 5 o'clock in the morning or something, you will have an update every morning. There are some exceptions, like bad wifi, or I want to celebrate something with a 2nd daily chapter, but otherwise, I have a set posting schedule.