Page 61 of A King's Oath

Harsh twisted one side of his mouth, but brought his phone closer to his face, typing slowly. He deleted, typed, deleted, typed. The sun went so below the horizon that the stars began to twinkle in the sky. Samarth glanced back over his shoulder and the moon was rising.

“Enough now!” He pushed his head into Harsh’s phone. “You are writing an essay or what…?”

Her parents rejected Rawal because they want to secure her and her children’s future

“That’s it? You wrote only this?!” Samarth fought. Harsh locked his phone and began to push it into his pocket.

“Ok, ok, sorry…” Samarth held his forearm. “Her children’s future? But they will be born in the palace of Nawanagar. Look at me, I got everything I ever asked for in this palace. What are they scared of?”

Harsh pointed to the palace and made gestures for ‘king.’

“To become king?”

He shrugged.Maybe.

“Are you serious?! That’s why they don’t want their daughter to marry my Papa? Because they can’t have her children rule here?”

Harsh shrugged.

“I can’t believe this! My Papa is the best man out there. He has the most secure kingdom in all of Gujarat! He clearly went there that night to ask this… he was about to talk to me about this…. how can they?!”

Harsh shrugged.

Samarth banged his hands on the pen fencing, frustrated and angry and bewildered. The horses trotting past him to their stables after a happy run did not make him look at them. The stable master — Venu Kaka handing him a brush to go brush the horses did not make him move. Harsh patting his back did not make him breathe any better.

And then a thought struck.

Was he the roadblock? The future Rawal. Was that why Papa was obsessed with the transition of power and him becoming Rawal suddenly?

“Harsh?”

“Huuu?”

“Let’s go to Tara Devi’s house.”

Harsh’s eyes rounded.

“Find out more about her family. And then let’s go.”

Quick, fast hand gestures.

Your Papa will throwyouout of the palace

“Or bring Tara Devi home,” Samarth pointed, sure of the outcome now that he had set his mind to it. His Papa deserved to sleep happy and wake up happy. His Rawal deserved what he and Ava had. And if he had gone so far on this path, then it was serious enough — what had been between his Papa and Tara Devi.

Samarth’s back pocket vibrated with a call. He pulled it out and saw who it was.

Ava Calling…

Samarth smiled. Ava, the girl who had brought the best changes in his life. And now, maybe the girl who would indirectly bring the best changes in his Papa’s life too. He swiped the accept button and plastered his phone to his ear.

“Hey, Ava. How was first day in Copenhagen? You are in Copenhagen, right?”

12. Nawanagar’s Kunwar

Samarth ran a hand down the buttoned collar of his polo shirt and glanced at the closed wooden door in front of him. Then behind him. The street was bustling with its mid-morning affairs, Devgadh’s people going about their business. Cows were walking down the tight street, women were running out to pat their backs and feed them rotli with godd, bikes tilting off to let them pass happily.

Their car had been parked in the next lane and they had walked their way here. He might look out of place but not too much with Harsh’s kurta and jeans.

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