But Ravana did not weep. He smiled.
“You think you have won, Dasarathi?” he rasped.
Sita turned to him, eyes sharp. “Am I? Count my breaths. No mantra controls me. I am simply choosing to end this war without you becoming a murderer in the eyes of heaven. The divine loophole is this: A god in mortal form cannot kill a villain protected by a virtuous hostage’s voluntary mercy.”
Lakshmana shouted, “She is under magical duress!”
The Ramanaya: The Loophole of Free Will
Rama’s bow trembled.
He vanished into the darkness, leaving Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana standing in the golden light of a battle that had just become a nightmare.
End of Chapter One.
Drainage Wolverhampton