Page 330 of A King's Oath

“You always start with this.”

“Nothing more until you say so. Alright? Come here, set your right foot on top of mine in this stirrup. Nothing will happen.”

Ava caressed the horse’s neck — “It’s going to be heavy but I’ll get down in a minute, ok?”

His horse neighed.

“He says — ok. Now come.” Samarth took her hand in his, making his palm her handle as she stepped on the stirrup and awkwardly swung her other leg to straddle the horse in front of him. He accepted the helmet that the groom passed and set it atop Ava’s head, reaching around her shoulder to fasten the buckle. Her body was tight, the weight heavier because of her nervousness. He splayed a hand over her stomach and pulled her flush back to him. She gasped, coming in contact with his groin.

“You can’t be serious!” Her eyes widened. “Right now?”

“It’s been a dream to do this for decades,” he chuckled, inconspicuously kissing the crook of her neck. “Ready?”

“No.”

“Just a ride to the edge of the paddock and back,” he nudged his chin out to the rolling hills stretching in front of them. She mock-cried. Which was a ‘Yes — but I’ll kill you if you kill me.’

“Let’s go, Papa!” Brahmi called. “On your mark, get set, go!”

Brahmi shot off, but not at a speed he would find alarming. And he was right behind her, Ava’s hair flying in the wind and whipping his face.

“Like it?” He asked, manoeuvring their horse until he was shadowing Brahmi’s. Anything went wrong and he was right there. But his daughter was a natural, as he had observed from that first day. She did not need him, or anyone else as she became one with her pony, her body automatically bowing low to cut through the wind.

“Now show me your neck shot,” he hollered.

Without breaking speed or concentration her right hand swung over the pony’s neck and her wrist flicked on the left side.

“Good job!”

“Hold the reins, Brahmi!” Ava ordered and their daughter obeyed. As the setting sun came closer to their horses, Ava’s body relaxed in his.

“So?” He asked.

“So?”

“Do you like it?”

“Fiiine,” she must have rolled her eyes. “It’s kinda good.”

“Can I give you riding lessons in Nawanagar?”

“Don’t push it.”

————————————————————

“Nawanagar Parishad nu nirnay,[108]” Vishwajeet asserted, standing up in the court with all the members of the council seated. Samarth sat on his throne, Ava beside him — his rightful Maarani. The seat of Bade Rawal was empty. Rajmata was absent too. He did not like that they were not a part of this historical resolution of their kingdom, one that they had initiated, pushed, and even facilitated. But Papa’s mind hadbeen made — “A decision, its echo and its history must only be credited to one ruler.”

And like the self-sacrificing man his father had been from the day he had known him, Bade Rawal had excused himself from this late-night court session that would mark the historic passage of the ‘Solanki Dynasty Inheritance Bill’ which would award the right of inheritance of the throne to the firstborn of a king and not his firstborn son. With exceptions that listed disabilities, illnesses and mental inabilities, the law would take prospective effect immediately.

“Nawanagar e raniyo nu rakshan joyu chhe,” Samarth announced. “Aaj pachhi Nawanagar rani nu raaj jose.”

[109]

“Maate —[110]” Vishwajeet called out. Seven out of the eleven members raised their hands. Samarth was proud of his people, his courtiers, his ministers. These were people of higher intellect, a higher calling, a higher understanding of their histories as well as their future. They were men who did not cower at the thought of a woman being above them. Never had. This quorum over and above the simple majority was evidence of that. The small group opposing the bill would stay, show their displeasure, even create hurdles. He knew it, could see it clearly — for his own rein as well as for Brahmi’s.

But that was politics. There was no happy ending. His daughter would have to learn it the hard way and he would make sure she did. The way she interacted with the grooms, ran her horses and made team strategies already, he had an inkling that it wouldn’t be that hard for her to learn.

“Saame —[111]” The remaining four ministers raised their hands, knowing they had lost and still making their opposition known. He could respect that.

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