Page 326 of A King's Oath

“I know. But Brahmi feels a little out of sorts.”

“I sensed that last night. It’s all new. And insecurity is bound to crop up among people who feel foreign to you…” she trailed with a smile.

“You must have felt it too,” Avantika opened the forbidden topic. “When you came to Nawanagar for the first time.”

“A little,” she nodded. “It took time. I wasn’t ready for a life, a family, a responsibility this grand. I was scared. That fear carried into a lot of my decisions. Some echoes from my past added to it. But I learnt from Siddharth that you have to bear the storm quietly, not lash out. You have to let it pass.”

“Samarth used to say something similar in school.”

Rajmata shrugged — “He is a faster learner than I ever was.”

“He also adores you.”

Her face lit up. Not her mouth or her cheeks, but her eyes. She was a beautiful woman, with the grace of a dancer in her features. Now that Avantika saw her without the filter of years of anger, she could see how glorious Rajmata looked in those smiles that emanated right from her eyes.

“If he belongs to someone,” Rajmata said solemnly. “He never lets go.”

Avantika could not agree more. She had never seen a man as loyal as her husband. That loyalty was unwavering, sometimes to his detriment. But it always left him walking on the right path. And his firm belief in his Dwarkadhish had seen him through to the end. Not only to a kingdom that was his rightful legacy but also to a mother he had never dared wish for. A set of parents, a normal family — one that she knew he had always craved in the way he would listen to her talk about hers.

“It’s alright, Ava,” Rajmata’s warm hand covered hers on the table. “Don’t worry about what youcando for Nawanagar. Start getting to know it and everything will automatically fall into place. They will make a niche for you.”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

For making Samarth yours. For sending him to me. For loving Brahmi.

“For everything.”

“You’re most welcome.”

“Maarani?” Hira ben called out. “Maarani?”

“She is calling you,” Rajmata made her snap out of her haze.

“Huh? Oh. Yes, Hira ben?”

“Rawal requests your presence in his office.”

“Office? Sure.”

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She knocked on his door. It was thick wood. She had no idea how he would be able to hear her. Unlike the heavily guardedcorridors in all other parts of the palace, this wing was relatively empty. Its entrance itself was the tightest, with frisking and detailed checking for outsiders.

“Come in.”

Avantika pushed the door open and found Samarth sitting behind his desk. He looked like… nothing she had ever seen. She had seen a student, a polo player, a dorky lover-boy, a man on his knees asking for her forgiveness. Not a king like this — shirtsleeves rolled up, a desk full of work, on a chair that looked larger than life even with his large frame on it.

“Why are you standing there?” He got to his feet.

“Oh, nothing,” she walked in and closed the door behind her. “Hira ben said you needed me?”

“Hmm, come here.”

He was solemn, all the playfulness of this morning gone. She frowned, making her way down his massive office and around his table. Samarth pulled open the drawer on the side of his desk and plucked a key. He held it up to her — “This is the key to Nawanagar’s safe,” he showed her.

“O… kay?”

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