Ravana went on.
"Here is the plan. When Rama first arrives, Kumbhakarna, you will head off the main force. We won't use the whole of our army. We want Rama to think we are weaker than we are. I plan to send half of the army out. That will be more than enough to aid you, brother. Ideally, you will destroy them all and send Rama running back to his home to hide under his bed.
Shurpanakha, you and I will stay behind. I want you to guard Sita. Make sure no one takes her.
Vibhishana, you will...Vibhishana? Where did that blasted idiot go off to?"
Kumbhakarna shrugged. Shurpanakha studied her nails.
"He will pay for his insolence. But I will handle that brat later.
Shurpanakha, go now. Watch over Sita. Do not let anyone approach her or talk to her.
Kumbhakarna, I want you to eat and drink as much as you need in preparation for this battle. I want you to be as strong as possible."
Shurpanakha slinked off. Kumbhakarna grinned. "I will do as you say, brother. Finally, a command that aligns with my own wishes!"
In the meantime... Vibhishana was back in the library, muttering to himself. "Those fools will doom themselves. I must not place myself with their losing side. I must find a way to join Rama and his allies, to prove to them I am trustworthy. I should go before Ravana catches me."
He sneaks out of the palace and starts preparing what he plans to say to Rama.
Shurpanakha makes her way to the gardens where they are holding Sita. The gardens are beautiful, a twisting maze of blooming flowers and herbs. Rakshasi guards are scattered throughout, watching the wife of Rama. Shurpanakha arrives at the corner containing Sita and enters the secluded area. Sita looks up, hatred and disgust crossing her face.
"YOU." She snarls. "What do you want, demon-woman? Did you forget what happened last time you crossed my husband and our family? I see you've glamoured yourself to hide your true face, but I know. I remember what it looks like, how horrible and damaged it was. You deserved it too. Demon-scum."
Shurpanakha was unfazed. She changed the glamour disguising her scars, and made it look like her wounds were fresh, peels of her skin gaping open, blood running down her face, a vast emptiness where her nose should have been. Her mouth twisted into something that resembled a ghastly parody of a smile. Although she remembers the agonizing pain of the traumatic event, with the glamour she feels nothing.
"Is this better?" She moves closer. Sita looks repulsed, afraid. "Is this what you remember seeing? It's funny, I don't remember you watching at all, when your brother in law mutilated my face. No, I believe you were too busy crying like a baby, unwilling to cast your cowardly gaze upon the torture being inflicted on me. Don't worry though. I'll make sure you know what it looked like. Maybe I'll do yours to match mine, huh?"
Sita covers her eyes and sits down. She keeps her head in her hands. Shurpanakha regards her with a hard gaze, her eyes filled with bitterness and unresolved resentment.
While this is occurring, Kumbhakarna is in the kitchens, joyfully eating plate after plate of food. His brother had given him a command, and he intended to follow it to the best of his abilities! He grinned happily and continued eating.
Meanwhile, Ravana is sitting in the throne room alone, pensive. In his hand is a shard of obsidian, which he toys with, twisting it around in his fingers. Behind him sits a black cat, regarding him with amber eyes.
They wait, in the solemn quiet, for the battle to begin.
Author's Note:
This is the precursor to the final chapter, which will contain the ending battle description! Here we see a teensy bit of what happens when Vibhishana leaves, and how Ravana is spending his time before he meets Rama. Clearly he trusts his siblings Shurpanakha and Kumbhakarna, giving them crucial roles within his plans, despite Vibhishana's betrayal. I think Ravana saw this coming. He knows his siblings well, and despite their differences, is a family guy. He cares about his siblings, enough to at least try and include the untrustworthy Vibhishana, though I think he was hopeful he would get to use him to aid their side. As you can tell Shurpanakha and Sita have a history. In the past Shurpanakha tried to steal Rama from Sita, but was fended off by Rama's brother, who brutally cut her face with a blade, leaving her extremely scarred and disfigured. In my story, I made it so that she has the capability to use a small amount of magic to alter the way she appears to to others. This is called a glamour, which is historically a term associated with magic. Sita is obviously still mad about the whole thing, but I don't think she would have been as brutal as the men were in their attack on Shurpanakha. Kumbhakarna needs to eat and drink a lot when he is awake, and he is usually extremely hungry. In this story, he had already spent a lot of time replenishing, enough to quell, the worst of his appetite, but he is still very hungry and happy to eat more to gain strength. The reason he can make up for half of an army is that he is a giant, with immense strength, and he is a skilled and smart fighter as well.
I linked these stories in the last chapter, but in case they were missed: here is a story about Ravana, which explains the attack on Shurpanakha, and here is a story about Kumbhakarna's curse.
Bibliography: The Ramayana: Uttara Kanda by Valmiki trans. by Manmatha Nath Dutt
Ramanya online edition, Valmiki
The Ravana Leela by Radha Viswanath
The Divine Archer, Gould