Page 236 of A King's Oath

“You asked.”

“You weren’t obligated to answer.”

She nodded.

“Now when am I wearing this waist chain and giving you a show?”

Ava chuckled again, plucking a grape from the bunch and popping it into her mouth. “Rawal dancing on a Parisian bank. Nawanagar would be flooded with reels in the next hour.”

“You’ve made me dance to Punjabi tappe. You can make me do anything.”

“Apparently notanything.”

He sighed.

“This will always remain between us, isn’t it?”

“I am not sure if there is any us, Samarth.”

“What do you mean?”

“As I said. I am exhausted on an hourly basis. I don’t have the time to think. Anything. Not about myself, not about us. And frankly, I am at that place in my life when I am done with romance and these dreamy little things. Let’s grow up. You don’t have to be with me to be Brahmi’s father. You can rule your Nawanagar and visit her like you used to visit me. That way you won’t have to leave your family…”

“Stop right there.”

Her mouth snapped shut.

“Here is my family,” he pointed behind his shoulder and then to her. “My first family. And I do not want to be with you to be Brahmi’s Papa. I want to be with you because that’s my first desire in life. Always was. I never acted on it but it was my first waking thought. My only solace. I have beenwithyou since I was in Standard 7th.”

He grabbed his phone, pulled open his morning playlist, plucked his AirPods and offered her one. She took it warily, pushing it into her ear. He showed her his playlist.

MORNING

He pointed to the first song on the list. She frowned, tapping it with her index finger.

Nayan ne bandh raakhi ne mein jyare tamne joya chhe, tame chho ena karta pan vadhare tamne joya chhe…

Rutue ekaj hati pan hun rang noto aapno ekaj, mane sehra e joyo chhe bahar e tamne joya chhe, tame chho ena karta pan vadhare tamne joya chhe.

“When I see you with my eyes closed, I see a you that is a whole lot more than you…” he translated. “Seasons were the same and yet they didn’t change for me. An autumn touched me and never left, while the eternity of spring has stayed with you.” Samarth’s eyes strayed to their daughter squealing, hanging from monkey bar to monkey bar.

The song trailed to an end and his usual Krishna bhajan picked up — the second song on his daily list.

“Shri Krishna Govind Hare Murari…”

Samarth began to lower the volume but her hand stalled him. He let go. She crossed her legs and the old song thumped betweentheir ears. He kept one eye and one ear out for Brahmi while living out his best youth with Ava again.

40. Rawal Samarth Sinh Solanki Requests The Pleasure Of Your Company

Samarth strode up the winding way through Ava’s garden. The sun was mild and the morning was chirping happily around her bougainvillea and Brahmi’s lavenders. He reached the closed door, the noises from inside the house already rivalling the happy chirps outside.

Samarth bent down, placed the two big packages on the doorstep, slipped the two luxe envelopes under the door, rang the bell, then turned and began to stride away. The security guard gave him a look but refrained from asking or stopping him. He must have received new orders from Ava or maybe he had made the connection.

“Samarth?” Ava called out. He turned, his mouth splitting into an automatic grin at the sight of her in her shorts and spaghetti with a woollen robe over it. It was always shorts and spaghettiwith her. Her hair was messily tied up in a half-ponytail, eyes small as they always were early in the morning.

“What is this?” She opened one envelope and pulled out the handwritten card. He had channeled all his two-and-a-half sessions of calligraphy from school and worked it out. Her eyes narrowed, reading down the bigger card. The one he had written for her. He had the words rote-learned after practising and writing and re-writing to get the curves right.

Avantika Kumari Raje of Gwalior & Brahmi Kumari Solanki of Nawanagar,

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