Lah Ruk Sut Kop Fah – Episode 16

Thanks for everyone sticking this out with me! I’m still determined to finish this series, no matter how many other demands take up my time.

Episode 16

That night, Kamin smiles as he goes back over the delicious meal and great company on the beach. His memories flashes back to the times he held Mattana’s hands: the spider bite, the goodbye backhug, etc. His smile fades when he realizes why Lychee’s hand felt familiar. He quickly grabs his cellphone and dials Hayman.

The young man is happy to chat. The situation in Raya is still okay. Everyone is well, and Mattana has gone on vacation up in the mountains of Chiang Mai. Kamin feels better knowing she is away from him, but ruefully admits to himself that he’s beginning to imagining her everywhere.

When Kamin realizes that Lychee has left the windows open, he heads out into the hallway. Mattana see him there, and decides to have a little fun. She starts tossing magazines and books on the floor, as he tracks the sound and attacks with his walking staff. Once she runs out of periodicals, she attacks him with a closed umbrella. He smashes it aside and nearly beans her with his staff. He stops when she squeals her “name” and pretends that she just arrived to the hallway.

He pulls her into his bedroom, ready to protect her from that known assailant. She finally calms him down and convinces him that it was some druggie that had already run away. He orders her to stay in the room anyway while he performs a quick patrol around the grounds. She promises not to be scared, but a boom of thunder has her scurrying into his arms.

Kamin holds her for a moment, which again reminds him of Mattana and her fear of thunderstorms. But he still thinks that it’s his longing for Mattana that is seeing her mannerisms in an island girl. He admits that the woman in his heart is someone he must protect and worship with his life. She asks if it’s his wife; he wonders how she knew he was married. She sidesteps the question.

He admits to having a wife, but balks at admitting the identity of the woman in his heart. Mattana’s heart sinks, but she tells him to heal soon so he can return to his spouse. He is still silent as she sadly walks back to her bedroom.

At the Rayan Palace, CrazyEyes is using a try of cut fruit and snacks to try to get into Prince Makeys pants…err…apartment. She’s blocked by Hareutai, who assures Mintra that she is taking fine care of the prince and does not need any assistance. Plus, although Mintra’s fruits are pretty on the outside, she’s pretty sure they are rotten on the inside. Plus plus, as the future Crown Prince’s wife, she has the right to be there, not some little Thai lady-in-waiting. Yay! Little kitten is growing her claws, and good for her. Even the guards are impressed and smiling.

Makey is passed out on the couch. Hareutai drags him up and half-carries him into his bedroom. He drunkenly apologizes for assaulting her before and promises it won’t happen again.

When he wakes up the next day, he yells at the guards for allowing anyone through last night, but is informed that Mintra did not spend the night with him.

But she is busily bootlicking up to the Queen, giving hot tea and poisonous words. But to no avail, the queen is happy to have Rayan Hareutai as a daughter-in-law more than any Thai woman.

Bulan and Hareutai go for a ‘stroll’ and meet a local man. In fact, they rendezvous with Sinthorn, who gave them a poison-identifying needle and a request to find the substance being fed to the king, so an antidote can be discovered.

When the women return to the palace, Hareutai’s mother practically pounces on her, gleeful that the Prince has agreed to marry her. She praises her daughter for seducing Makey into proposing, not even thinking that her daughter is much much better than that.

Inside the palace, the two awkwardly meet. The Prince wants to know why she agreed to marry him, even though they don’t love each other. Both admit that it’s their duty to keep their parents happy, so they should make the best of it.

He is impressed by her composure, since she was such a frightened crybaby previously. With a steady voice, she admits that the pain in her life has forced her to be stronger. Makey’s face falls when he remembers his culpability, and turns to walk away. Over her shoulder she quietly but firmly warns him that she will be his wife, and not allow anybody to take that position from her. He smiles as he turns back and nods.

On the island, Mattana finishes breakfast prep, but Kamin is nowhere to be found. She heads outside and finds him practicing Rayan martial arts. To test him, she starts throwing pebbles at him, before charging in to attack. In just a few moments, though, he’s immobilized her. He knew it was Lychee, because he recognized her footsteps, and no real culprit would play with pebbles before fighting him. She nearly gets caught when she mentions Rayan MA, but smoothly changes mid-sentence and wonders aloud if he’s practicing kung-fu movie moves. Nice save, Mattana!

Kamin feels like he is slower and weaker than before. Mattana gets an idea. They head to the beach, where she ties the two of them together by the wrist. That way they can jog and she can guide him. She starts out by leading him but after a while she is ready to quit. Kamin, however, is ready to run kilometers longer. So, time for piggyback beach fun! She climbs him like a tree, and directs him across the beach. They both end up laughing and out of breath. There’s a flashback of the time she jumped on him back in the village. They really do make a cute couple.

Eventually they make it to the top of a nearby ridge, when Kamin is ready to take a breather. Mattana starts looking for a place to sit, and finds a nearby leave-covered rock. Only it’s not a rock, but appears to be a tombstone of some type.

The real Lychee and her brother are talking. Well, really, he’s yelling at her for doing nothing but dancing to pop tunes. Her job that day was to clean up around a grave site. She cheerfully says it’s done, but clearly her brother knows better, since she’s been hanging around their shack all morning. Their Bangkok boss expects them to properly perform their employment.

On the mountain, Mattana clears away the leaf debris and dirt to find the name engraved on the stone: Prattana.

The queen is trying to feed her husband breakfast. He stares daggers at her as she forces a spoon of porridge between his lips. She snarls that he must want to meet his lover and son in afterlife soon, but she won’t let him go so easily.

She angrily rings the bell, and is surprised when Hareutai answers the call with a tray in hand. She has made soup that His Highness might be willing to eat. Savitri glides out of the bedroom to fetch some medicine. Hareutai is left alone with the king. She quickly advises him that she is trying to find the poison that is paralyzing him.

She starts stabbing the needle into his previous food tray, but nothing is poisoned. Hearing the queen returning, she feeds him a few spoonsfuls of soup. The king tries to show with his eyes where the paralytic is, but Hareutai still leaves. The queen manages to pour some of the potion into his mouth, but he spits it into her eyes. She runs, yelling for her maids-in-waiting to help with the burning sensation.

In the chaos, Hareutai slips back into the room and tests the fluid in the glass. Bingo! The needle turns black. The pair share a wordless look.

Our pair is still on top of the hill, speculating about the identity of the grave. The name is Prattana Pornwisut, who died at just 25 years old. There’s no picture for Mattana to describe. Kamin is reminded of Prattana Temple in Raya, and catches Matt’s mumbled mention of Raya. She covers it up by cheerfully describing the view on the ridge: houses to one side, beach at the base…

Something triggers in Kamin’s mind, like he has been to this place previously. Hmm, how can that be true? They head back down the mountain.

At their house in Thailand, Matt’s father is staring at a photograph of a young woman and a boy. His wife sits down beside him. Aha! That’s a photo of the woman buried on that island. Her death day anniversary is soon, and apparently the very existence of that grave is a secret between King Inthra and Thammarat. She must be Kamin’s mother, since Dad is convinced that the young woman would be happy to know he is living on her island. Mom confirms this when she sighs with the hope that one day Kamin can pay his respects to his mother. Dad flashes back to a day when a toddler Kamin knelt before the tombstone. So that’s where adult Kamin’s memory comes from!

In Raya, our leader has found out the insidious nature of the poison given to the king. It causes temporary paralysis of the voluntary muscles, but it will become permanent if used long term. Sneaky evil General Witoon! Ajarn has an idea for an antidote, but it’s going to take various herbs and mineral waters to create.

Sinthorn heads out to start the collection, but outside the door he find Akanee lounging against a tree. Instantly suspicious they start fight-posturing using Rayan boxing techniques, until Mali shows up. It turns out he was waiting for her to collect some personal items. Akanee storms off, miffed that nobody seems to trust him.  Mali stays back to speak with Sinthorn; she admits to teaching their amnesiac hostage the boxing moves, and tells Sinthorn that she thinks he is a good man, even if his father is the head of the mercenaries.

The villagers are digging a pit in a remote area to creating a hidey hole in case the bad guys show up. Tagoon tells Sinthorn that Akanee is a hard worker who doesn’t complain and does his fair share of the labor. Sinthorn tells the other man to protect everyone while he is out collecting the items for the antidote. Promises are made and manly nods are nodded.

At the Royal Palace, the queen’s eyes are being examined by the court physician. They still sting, but there is no lasting damage. Her jealousy at a dead woman is laughable; after all, Kamin is no longer around either. Witoon intends to wipe out Phu Saitarn Village, since they are the only people who may know of Kamin’s royal blood.

At the village, the antidote is complete except for the special spring mineral water needed to complete it. But Witoon’s troops have already arrived and have started to burn everything.

The villagers start the evacuation. Ajarn gives the precious herb packet to hide it among the people. He intends to wait and buy time by stopping the general.

Almost the entire population is in the pit, which is not very hidden since there’s dirt and debris piled all over the place. I mean, it probably would have been better to just set up tents in the forest like Robin Hood’s Merry Men.

 

No matter, the troops find the town empty. Akanee’s dad wants to search for his son, since he is convinced that the poor boy is a captive. Suthep sneers that the mercenary is  more concerned with his son than with securing his power base. The general cryptically states that even ruthless fathers worry about their sons.

Ajarn Mayka walks out of  his hut when Witoon arrives. Ajarn challenges the general to hand-to-hand combat, knowing that the older man still resents that he could never win against the village leader. Witoon promises to spare the village if Ajarn wins. Darn it, you know he won’t keep his word!

They trade barbs and blows, and Ajarn reveals that Kamin may not be dead. He wins the fight and turns to go, only to be shot to death by Asit, who scream-asks the now-dying man where his son is. Ajarn whispers that Akanee is being reborn as a good person that evil dad will never have by his side again. The mercenary shoots and shoots into the body as Witoon gloats that he didn’t break his promise.

Mali and Akanee come upon the scene. The general wants to know where the villagers are; Asit wants to hug his son. But Akanee just calls him a murderer and fights them  until he’s clubbed unconscious. Mali is captured as well.

At the palace, Hareutai is performing physical therapy on the king, trying to keep his muscle strength as much as she can, knowing that time is running out.

Kamin wakes up to the sound of the Rayan lullaby, his head in the lap of a young woman. It’s his mother! He recognizes her right away and sits up. They are in the near her grave on the mountain. She strokes his face as he smiles at her. She promises to stay in his heart forever and gives him a hug.

Hah! When he wakes up, he’s actually snuggling with Mattana. She is surprised for a moment, but tentatively hugs him back, realizing he’s still sleeping. Once he wakes up, though, he springs away and apologizes to “Lychee”.

He grins as he relays his dream to the young woman, adding that his mother is pretty. She teases him that if his mother’s ghost is haunting him, she will run away scared. She makes sure his walking stick is within reach before heading in to start meal preparations.

Once she is gone, though, he contacts Thannawat regarding the grave. The older man tells Kamin that it’s the grave of a friend of his, She died young and liked the beach so he buried her there. To change the subject, he sets that there is a new drug that may help his blindness, and that Hayman will be by in a few days with some.

Things are not going too well for Akanee. His dad is browbeating doctors to cure his son or else the physician will be a patient. At that, Akanee jumps up – he doesn’t need treatment! He needs his dad to act like a real man and not like a thug. Dad apologizes to the doc, who tells him to bring his son to familiar locations or actions in order to help bring back his missing memories.

Dad tries kindergarten pictures, but that just gives his son a headache. He heads out to grab the doctor again, but ducks when he sees Hayman at the Pharmacy window. He sidles close enough to overhear the younger man. Hayman is oblivious, and speaks aloud that he procured the medicine and will take it to Kamin right away. Uh-oh, The mercenary knows his enemy is alive and probably ill.

Back on the island, Mattana is looking around for Kamin  near the house. Up on the hilltop, the two kids are clearing the gravesite. The real Lychee charters that the woman pretending to be her is doing a good job taking care of everything, so she doesn’t think she should have to clear the grave. Kamin is nearby and overhears. Double uh-oh, he now knows “Lychee” isn’t Lychee.

Mattana has reached the crossroads on the hilltop, still looking for Kamin. He does the walking-stick equivalent of storming past her on the way back down. Once at the dinner table, he complains about the food and leaves in a temper tantrum. She is puzzled and unhappy as she cleans up the mess.

Kamin is just standing in his room when she softly opens the door and tells him there’s a new meal on the table. She reaches out to touch his sleeve, but quick as a snake he strike some out and hauls her into his arms. He sneers that she must want to get close to him, and tumbles onto the bed with Mattana pinned underneath him.

He blames his actions on her seduction and his loneliness as he begins to kiss her in earnest. She finally manages to pull away, and yells that she never thought of having sex with him.

”Then why did you follow me here, Mattana?!” He fires back.  Uh-oh times three…

He leaves the room. She is in shock for a moment, it whirls around to chase after him. When she catches up, she begs him to listen. But he doesnt want to. His purpose on being there was to completely avoid her.

She explains that it’s pure coincidence that she happened to be on that island. He bitterly laughs at fate; since he met her, his life is only chaos and sadness. And how can she fix that? Can she make his eyes well again? Isn’t his life better without her?

That cuts her, and in a low voice, she asks Kamin if this is how he really feels about her. He doesn’t answer directly, but begs her to get out of his life.

As he walks away, she snarls at his retreating back. If she is such a burden to him and his unreasonable attitude, she’ll leave and never come back.

On the other side of the island, Hayman arrives at the kids’ hut. He finds out about Mattana.

Eek! The mercs are there to, heading for the main house, and Kamin.

Meanwhile, Mattana has contacted the junket and the boat is already transporting her away from the island. But the more she thinks about, the angrier she becomes, until she realizes that she has left him all alone.

In his bedroom, Kamin tries to convince himself he did the right thing, chasing Mattana away so she can find happiness with a better man. A noise brings him out of his reverie; someone is breaking in!

Now things are on a collision course. Hayman is running down the hill; and Mattana has come back to the beach, determined to have it out with the captain. She arrives at the house first, and finds furnitures items strewn around. The mercs got their first! She drops her bag and starts searching. She hears a gunshot, and heads for the source of the sound.

At the crossroads, Kamin is hiding as four mercenaries taunt him. The guys in black spread out; Kamin hears one near him, and takes him out with a few blows, snapping his neck for good measure. He runs to a new location as the other three find the body.

The next one he knocks out with a few well-placed kicks. Running to one of the trees, he flashes back to Mattana’s lessons, and how she taught him the layout of the area.

The two bad guys left find the unconscious one. And through all this, Hayman finally reaches the house.

 

Mattana finds the two downed mercenaries and thinks proudly about her man. The knocked-out one is regaining consciousness, so she puts him out again, and takes his handgun.

Kamin is still sound-tracking the other two complaining men, who are now sticking together. Mattana sees Kamin and hurries over to his location. They decide to make a run for the beach.

“Hey Kamin!” The mercenaries have found them!

FINAL COMMENT

Things are certainly getting exciting in Thailand! Not so much in Raya. Everything seems to be in a waiting pattern in that country, waiting on their big hero. The idiot queen has no idea that the poison is becoming permanent and deadly. But did she think things would go back to normal once Crown Prince Useless becomes monarch?

I am proud of the character development of Haruetai. Tragedy brings out the best or the worst in people. In this case, she has finally pulled herself up and become stronger than her mother. Stronger than the queen, and certainly stronger than her soon-to-be-husband. She will make sure the country is run correctly, parental gratitude be damned. I’m hoping she can get her father strung up on that arrow death gantry, but that may be too much to expect.

Despite all the combat practice and encouragement of Mattana/Lychee, Kamin still views himself as broken and somehow less of a man. He needs to snap out of it if he wants to save his king and his country. He needs to start by saving his girl from these two laughable mercenaries. I mean, he’s already taken out two, so the other pair should be a piece of cake.

There’s still a lot of story left. And someone needs to take out Crazy Mintra. And I want my happy ending with happy fat babies, and lots of smiles. And if they can toss in a few extra Weir shirtless scenes, that would be good too.

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