Page 104 of A King's Oath

Avantika wanted to groan and sputter and disappear at the same time. But the next chukker was announced, and the horses began to whoosh across them again. The men on either side of her concentrated ahead.

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Gir Zephyrs won — 4-1. Avantika’s palms were red with clapping, her throat hoarse after the amount of screaming she had done. Thank god nobody here knew she was a princess. Nobody except Hukum. And he was thoroughly enjoying her shenanigans.

The moment the match and the prize distribution ended and they all got to their feet, a groom from Gir Zephyrs materialised in front of her.

“Madam, Kunwar has invited you to his tent,” he relayed in a low, respectful voice, eyes downcast. Avantika expected something of this sort. But not so openly. She glanced at Hukum. He was busy shaking hands and chatting with the dignitaries he had ignored earlier. Right now, with his laughs and hand gestures, it looked like he wanted to be nowhere but with them. How did he manage to look and sound like that? They were all, after 90 minutes of being ignored, hanging onto his every word.

“Madam?” “Ave?”

“Huh?” She turned to the groom and Ivor calling out to her.

“Uhh…” she looked at Ivor, then back at the groom. “Sure. Lead the way, please.”

“Why is the prince summoning you? Am I going to see some hot after-match makeout?”

“Shut up, Ivor.”

“Or can I be a part of it? I don’t bat for the other team but for that prince, I could…”

“Shut. Up. Let me handle this.”

“What do I get for shutting up?”

“What do you want?”

“A kiss.”

She glared at him. She was a princess and all. But she had spent a lot of time studying and being on her own. Kirti didi had taught her her fair share.

“Ok, ok,” Ivor held his hands up. “I thought since you invited me along… this was…”

“Samm! Wow!”

Avantika whirled her head at that familiar female voice and saw in slow motion how the woman from yesterday came barreling down to Samarth’s tent, a Gimble and a phone in hand. And tackled him. He caught her in time, the momentum making him spin a little.

His laughter was loud. His face all sweaty and grimy. When had he started hugging people like that? He liked to take a shower first thing… or kiss her.

Avantika exhaled, then quickly threaded her arm through Ivor’s — “Help me navigate, the ground is very soft.”

“With pleasure, babe,” he grinned. He was so tall, taller than Samarth. And when she glanced up at his harmless flirtatious face, she realised that any man except Samarth was too tall or too short for her. Even when she was a meagre 5’2”.

“Only navigating,” she warned.

“I get it, Ave. Relax.”

She relaxed her body and crossed the rest of the distance to the tent, just in time for the woman to climb down Samarth’s body. He was smiling at her and then his eyes met hers. The smile did not disappear, but melted into something softer. Something just theirs.Good.

“Ava…” he began to step towards her but she tightened her arm around Ivor’s, making a meal out of it.

“Namaste, Kunwar,” she borrowed a leaf from Hukum’s book. “Bohot achhi paari kheli aapne.[58]”

Samarth’s eyes followed her hand over Ivor’s arm, then to Ivor. Avantika could not look at Ivor to see what he was projecting. But she hoped he looked a little serious.

“Dhanyawad,” Samarth’s mouth automatically opened to answer her in Hindi. “Padharne ka bhi dhanyawad.[59]”

Avantika wanted to laugh. He was good at English, but his Hindi was often spoken in Gujarati, that accent a little heavy in his pronunciations and his tone.

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