Page 118 of A King's Oath

“Ava? Are you there?”

“Yes, was getting comfortable. It’s getting cooler here.”

“How cooler?”

“No fan, windows bolted and a-thick-duvet-kinda cool. But not so cool that I have to swap my shorts and spaghetti for anything more covering.”

Silence.

“Samarth? Did you sleep?”

He coughed. “No… no. I was drinking water.”

“Are you coming this side anytime soon?”

“Not to Paris. But we have a tournament in Tuscany in October.”

“Oh.”

“I can take a connecting flight from Paris.”

“You will be flying longer and then taking a U-turn, my friend.”

“So?”

“Take it then, if you want to.”

Please take it and come.

“Let me see the dates and get back to you.”

“Hmm…”

“How are you there? What’s your daily update?”

“Oh on a daily basis, I am good. Mummy-Papa visited last week and stayed through the first half. Fancy stuff they did.”

“They?”

“I had work all day. They had Vishwa-Ajay time. In the evening we would go out for dinner, opera, stuff like that. Fancy. Princess stuff.”

“What else?”

“My weekdays are spent working, walking around, going out to lunches with the team at least twice a week. I cook at night — thefull Indian meal,FYI. I found an Indian store and Mummy insisted I have them deliver to my apartment. If I don’t, she calls them every weekend to deliver fresh produce,” Avantika rattled. “I am learning to make stuff on my own too. Again, Mummy offered to have a chef hired or send one from our palace…”

Silence.

“Samarth?”

“I am listening.”

“I thought you fell asleep.”

“I am listening, Ava.” There was a smile in his voice. “Why did you reject the chef?”

“Because it defeats the whole purpose.”

“What purpose?”

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