Page 294 of A King's Oath

“Later.”

“You too!” Her hands reached for him and left her body into the support of his arm. He bucked in her hold. She squeezed. If he remembered every pressure point in her body, so did she. And within seconds they escalated to a place where they were justmovement and waves and grunts until he exploded, making her go off.

The water rippled in waves around them, their bodies imitating that movement until they were spent and still. A jumble of limbs.

Silence fell between them, broken by slow pants. Her body collapsed into his chest and he wrapped his arms around her.

“I’ll have to take a shower now,” she breathed.

“Huh?”

She pulled her head back to look at him — “Eww! I don’t kiss sweaty guys, now I am floating in fluids.”

Samarth threw his head back and laughed, grabbing her jaw in his hand and pulling her to him. Her own laughter reverberated until it was cut off by his mouth.

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He didn’t dress again. Instead, he wrapped a towel around his hips and dried himself with another as he helped her out, dried her and drained the tub. She would think he was used to staff and servants. But even Samarth-the-Rawal was as independent as they came.

“Aren’t you getting dressed?” She asked, pulling on her silk night spaghetti and shorts. Her choice of nightdress hadn’t changed in all these years, neither had his appreciation. These were lavender, selected by their daughter, with a bow on the waistband of her shorts. Samarth fingered it, his face softening.

“I don’t want to sleep in last night’s pants.”

He moved to her bed and sat down on the edge.

“Wait, are you staying?”

“Of course,” he pushed back and half lay on her pillows, hands behind his head.

“What if Brahmi comes back?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… what if she cries there or can’t sleep or annoys your Rajmata and she packs her up to me?”

He chuckled — “Rajmata has the patience of Chaatak.”

“You seem to suddenly be her advocate.”

Samarth held out his hand — “Come here.”

She sighed, but took it, crawling into bed until her body wound up under his arm and her head landed on his chest. He stroked her bare arm with one hand, his other hand opening to hold her fingers in his.

“You only know her from hearsay of her actions. You never saw the person behind them, the reason behind them.”

“There is no reason legitimate enough to extract a 15-year-old’s oath to destroy his life with his own hands. Or make him king the moment your own son is threatened.”

“Both are half-truths.”

She was angry. She understood a woman’s insecurity, more so now. But she couldn’t look at her and Samarth in the same room and not get worked up.

“Remember I told you… some unfinished parts of my childhood feel like they are settling in place?” His fingers stroked the ball of her shoulder.

“Hmm.”

“It was her.”

“How?”

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