Page 153 of A King's Oath

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The palace was teeming with Nawabi-chic-meets-Boho-royalty for the pool party in their Bougainvillea garden. Fairy lights, bonfires under the evening sun, a live Hindustani-Classical-meets-Grunge fusion band, lots of mini kachoris, kebabs, and sheermal sliders going around with endless pouring of spirits. It was heaven!

They had all dressed down after their erstwhile formal attires to greet the King of Gwalior. From sarees and button-ups, they were now each in pool-side glam. Swim-wear and resort-wear. 10-degree December evenings in Gwalior? What was that? Kaka Maharaj had gotten the entire poolside insulated and heated with bonfires to feel like they were all in a live barbecue. And the pool? It looked freezing but was a balmy 25 degrees. She knew it. She had tested it last evening. And, suggested they get it lit underwater for their shenanigans!

The sun was spreading its orange glory all over the garden as Avantika walked down the arches of Bougainvillea vines with her girl gang and chaperones. The pinks and whites of the flowers had already covered the rolled white carpet, creating the best welcome for their guests. She beamed.

Dressed down,down below the downin a red and white checkered bikini and a matching skirt, her hair up in a high ponytail with a matching scarf and cat-eye sunglasses on, she played up her athletic body to enhance those mild curves.

“Hey! Ava!” Vishnu called from the bar. Avantika focused her gaze on him but the man beside him sucked all the breath out of her. She controlled her reaction with superroyal effort or her eyes would have bugged out. In a pair of linen pants and nothing else, he was leaning on the bar! He had a shawl around his neck. It covered a little of that hair-roughened chest but left the imagination running even wilder for whatever little that the shawl hid. Avantika left her girl gang and walked up to them, keeping her eyes off Samarth Sinh Solanki as if he didn’t exist.

“You look… wow!” Vishnu held his hand out for her. She took it and he pulled her into a side hug. “Man! How long has it been? A decade?”

“And a year,” she smirked, pulling herself out of his arms but not before seeing the hair-roughened arm that wasn’t holding a glass tumbler push behind his back. She knew the hand attached to it would curl into a fist. Avantika played it up and grabbed Vishnu by his bicep.

“You still play polo?”

“Unfortunately no. Samarth does though,” he nudged his chin to the man she had sworn to not grace with her eyes. Avantika waved him off — “Pffft! Was never too crazed about it anyway…”

“Why so?” Samarth’s deep voice drawled. Avantika kept her eyes on Vishnu — “Horses do all the work. What do you do?”

“Ooooh!” Vishnu’s eyebrows went up. “You two never kissed and made up after that breakup?”

“Kiss? Him?” She threw her thumb towards him. “Puleese. Frogs are better.”

“Trash talk with your ex — so mature, Ava,” Samarth laughed.

“Oh you want me to be your bestie and tell you about all the others that came after you?” This time she turned to him and her lips curved even wider seeing his playful side. He was in full swing now, no going back.

“Others? There was a team?”

“A cricket team to be precise,” she pushed her hands behind her back, knowing it would push her breasts out to his eyes. They did stray there for a second before stuttering away.

Samarth took a sip from his tumbler, slow and cool.“A cricket team, is it? And you were the mascot?”

“Cute. I was the Captain. Opened every match.”

He leaned in just enough for her to catch that grin.“Did you also finish? Or did you get out after your first Instagram reel moment?”

She tilted her head.“Says the man who rides ponies and calls it a sport for said reels.”

“They’re thoroughbreds,” he corrected with mock-offence.“Trained athletes.”

“Exactly.Theyare. You just sit pretty in a helmet and take credit.”

“I swing a mallet at 30 miles per hour.”

“Yeah? I swung a bat with one hand while adjusting my sunglasses with the other. So?”

“I bowled pace with my non-dominant arm and hit the stumps. Every. Single. Time.”

“Oh-ho!” Vishnu clapped, loving the show.“Is this foreplay”

Avantika smirked.“It’s a prelude to humiliation. Samarth? You up for a bowl-over?”

He raised a brow.“You mean actual cricket?”

“Why not? With…” she glanced around. “This —” She snatched a pool noodle off a lounger and pointed at the bar, “—and these lemons.”

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