Kaikeyi

Kaikeyi and Lakshmana reach Sripura to find a letter from Dasharath. They hurry back to Ayodhya and Kaikeyi checks her bond with Dasharath, which is half as thick as it was when she left. He seems younger but also intoxicated as he tells her that he plans to abdicate in favor of Rama becoming raja. Kaikeyi questions him, but all he says is that his soul told him it was time after talking with Rama. Deeply concerned, Kaikeyi waits until she and Lakshmana are alone to express her worry. She returns to her rooms where Manthara is waiting for her, their bond unchanged. Manthara tells her that Rama made a grab for power only two months after Kaikeyi left, using her absence as an opportunity to consolidate his control. Sita arrives to share her own concerns about Rama. She tells Kaikeyi that Rama has told her how easily he can control others and manipulate the relationships between others, which to Kaikeyi sounds like use of the Binding Plane. Sita also worries Rama will hate her if she is not a perfect radnyi, and she struggles to please him.