Page 216 of A King's Oath

Samarth opened his mouth to say yes, then stalled. He had been kind to the whole world except one girl.Twogirls.

“I try to be,” he answered honestly. “Are you kind?”

“Always. Except when somebody is mean to me.”

“Who is mean to you?”

“So many people!” She side-walked her way from between his chair and the table and came and stood in front of him, her hand automatically finding its way to his shoulder as she babbled, counting names, mostly her ‘friends-but-not-friends’from either school or the polo club. He found his body leaning in to let her hand rest more comfortably on his shoulder.

“…but not Aniket. He is my cousin. He is a hogger if we have to share a drawing book and my crayons but he is a baby so we let go.”

“We?” Samarth cocked an eyebrow, amused at that magnanimous declaration.

“Yes, Gopi Masaji and me. He is in my team. Always.”

Samarth’s eyes squinted, feeling weighted — “Is he?”

“Is anybody ever mean to you?” She asked, stepping back and pushing her hands behind her back. Samarth’s breath stalled. It was exactly like Papa. And him sometimes…

“Brahmi!”

His mouth opened and breaths entered in gulps. With his recent recovery and today’s breathless moments coming on the heels of each other, he would be lucky if he survived until sunset.

“Brahmi?” Ava hollered, her head popping at the window and stalling. Her eyes met his and the easygoing light faded. If there was a question, an accusation or rage there she hid it under her holler — “For the last time, Brahmi. come inside and talk to Naniji.”

“Ooh! It’s my Naniji-talking time! Do you know what? My Naniji calls me in the evening and Nanaji calls at night after he comes home from office and they come here for weekends…”

“Brahmi, the video call is on!”

“I’ll be back bye!”

She dashed. Samarth didn’t even get a chance to say bye as she disappeared inside her house. He kept sitting there, notexpecting anything except her coming back. Her mother came out instead, closing the door behind her. He pushed to his feet. She was now dressed down in a pair of cream lounge pants and a sweater, her hair piled up in a high ponytail. Samarth got his first good look at her full face. Age hadn’t touched her. Or if it had, he couldn’t tell. Maybe because he had seen her every morning behind his closed eyelids… and maybe seen her grow with him.

“You cancelled the ride?” She held her mobile up.

“Yes.”

“Is a car coming to pick you up?”

“No.”

“I cannot lend you my car, I need it…”

“Tell me it’s true.”

She stilled. Her words trailed to silence. It was a flicker of shock before she went back to the courteous stranger she had never been toanybodyin her life, forget him.

“It’s true.”

She said those two words so easily, like they did not break the hinge his life had been rocking on for a decade.

“You did not tell me.”

“I came to tell you.”

Hatred. For himself. He had never hated himself. Pity. Self-pity. He had never pitied himself.

“To Nawanagar,” he calculated. “To my palace. To tell me.”

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