Story: A Cautionary Tale

Sansa had found herself again in the Queen Cersei's chambers. She always disliked these odd little meetings, but had no choice in the matter. This one had begun like many others: with the queen drinking. She often required that Sansa drink with her and tonight was no different.

As Sansa entered the room Cersei was seated at her table, back turned toward her visitor. Before Sansa could give a formal greeting, the queen commanded her to sit and have a glass of wine. Sansa obeyed, and no words were spoken for a minute while Cersei stared silently through the open balcony doors, out over King's Landing.

"How are you this evening your grace?", Sansa asked meekly.
"Have you ever heard the story of Rama and Sita?", Cersei retorted.
"No, your grace. Those names sound foreign. Did this story take place in Westeros?"
"You are a smart girl", Cersei said smiling and looking at Sansa for the first time since she entered the chambers. She then took a long sip of her wine, looked back out to the balcony, and continued.

"The story is from the far eastern islands. This place believed in other gods and reincarnation. Rama is the reincarnation of one these gods. He was destined to be king of Ayodhya, but the night before his coronation he was banished by his own father, exiled from his home for fourteen long years. His wife and brother were so loyal that they followed him into exile, vowing to return the day that his banishment was lifted.

This group of three encounter many different people during their time in the forest, and eventually word spread that Rama was roaming with his beautiful wife, Sita. This news reached a powerful demon, Ravana, who was said to have ten heads and ten sets of arms, if you can believe that. Well, Ravana saw this as an opportunity to kidnap Sita and make her his own wife.

The love story of Rama and Sita is an enviable one. You see, Sita was the reincarnation of a goddess, the lover of the god Rama was reincarnated as, so their love is divine, straight from the heavens. Sita was so beautiful and had many suitors, but in order to win her hand in marriage, Rama pulled back the string of a celestial bow. So, you can imagine how strong the couple's bond was and hard Rama fought to find and rescue Sita from the evil Ravana.

However, once she was freed Rama wanted nothing to do with poor Sita. She had been trapped at Ravana's palace for years while Rama tried to locate her and rally an army strong enough to defeat the demons who tormented her. Although he was happy to see her safe from harm and restore his reputation as a great warrior, he could no longer guarantee Sita's purity.

Of course Sita had remained loyal to her husband, body and soul. Yet, only after she proved her loyalty through a trial by fire did Rama reluctantly allow her to stay with him. It was at this time that the fourteen year exile was completed and they returned home to Ayodhya.

Alas, once the couple returned and Rama was crowned king, more trouble arose. The people of Ayodhya were still unsure of Sita's loyalty while living such a long time in another man's house. They were quite disapproving of an impure queen, causing them to look down upon Sita and Rama alike. So, Rama banished his own wife to live the rest of her days in the forest, away from any home, lover, or family. "

At this point Cersei looked back at Sansa and asked, "What is the lesson of this story?"
"I'm not sure, your grace", Sansa replied.
"Without purity, a woman is nothing. By losing her purity, Sita lost her husband, her power, and any hope of happiness in this world."

With that the queen dismissed Sansa to return to her own chambers. Sansa leaves wondering if this simply a cautionary tale or if the Queen Cersei is trying to confess to some mistake of her own.

Author's Note: For those of you who don't watch Game of Thrones, Sansa are main characters in this television series. I took this storytelling idea from the list of writing styles Mrs. Gibbs has listed for us. I really enjoyed telling the story from this perspective because it helped me think about the characters for both Game of Thrones and the Ramayana more in depth than I normally would have. I chose Cersei to be the narrator for this story because she has a pessimistic view of love, views men as the only holders of true power, and has a history of impure acts. I appreciate any comments on who would also make a good narrator for this story (PLEASE no spoilers, I'm on season 4).

Bibliography: Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Paley, Web Source
Image: The Rains of Castamere_Cersei Lannister by Alessia Sagnotti, Deviantart