Page 77 of A King's Oath

He chuckled — “It’s tomorrow.”

“I know, but we are in Khargone and are going to Yawal tomorrow. I might not get network.”

“What’s there in Yawal?”

“Yawal Wildlife Sanctuary. Ghats, forts, a waterfall… that’s what Nanaji has described, so let’s see.”

“Didn’t you Google it already?” He asked, knowing her penchant for stalking anything and everything.

Her sputter sounded. “Yeah, fine, I did. The first photo looked doped! Glow-in-the-dark kinda waterfall.”

“Are you taking picnic food or plan to eat there?”

“You think? Naniji has set up a whole basket of bread, kurmura, Tang, and… what else, wait…” she rustled around, naming items — “cheese slices, PickWick, wow!” The sound of a plastic wrapper being torn open and a loud crunch. “Strawberry and pineapple both…”

“Did you just steal from your Naniji’s picnic stash?”

“I stole strawberry PickWick.”

“That’s Kresha’s favourite.”

“Exactly. Who’s the culprit? Not Ava for sure,” she laughed, crunching the wafer biscuit. “Enough about me, how are you?”

“I am good…” he began to lie. Then stopped. She deserved honesty about this.

“Actually,” Samarth sighed. “Papa found out.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah… it’s been tensed around here.”

Silence.

Had he touched a nerve?

“He will understand eventually,” she said.

“Hmm…” he swallowed. Hehadmade it awkward.

“Samarth?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you happy?”

His eyes blinked rapidly, head turning from side to side. The grooms were putting away grooming kits and cleaning the stalls, the horses were grazing in the distance, the birds were chirping on mildly green trees of Nawanagar as the summer sun beat down on him. His Papa was angry but he and Maarani had been living a happy life.

“Yes,” Samarth answered.

“I am happy then,” her voice smiled.

“Are you angry?” He asked.

They hadn’t spoken again after that last time. They had just shared looks… or rather, he had taken her angry glares all through their last months.

“Not anymore.”

“Why?”

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