Manthara

Manthara was the name of the personal attendant of Kaikeyi. She had accompanied Kaikeyi all the way from Kaikeyi's remote birthplace to Ayodhya after Kaikeyi's marriage. Little was known about Manthara's past to the family of Dasharatha. Manthara followed Kaikeyi like a shadow., and secretly tried to keep record of her activities, but certainly not on behalf of Dasharatha or any of the royal family.  No one knew who her parents were or where she was born and brought up. 

She was Manthara. Perhaps that was the pseudonym she had earned in the royal palace because of her slow and steady  way of moving around and gathering every bit of information she could find. She spoke in the language of the region where Kaikeyi came from. A day before the coronation she reached the terrace of Kaikeyi's mansion. She did it of her own accord.