Page 53 of A King's Oath

Samarth’s eyes were heavy, closing and then snapping open. He had promised to FaceTime Ava every night. And here, with his head lying beside Hira ben’s lap, her songs lulling him into the deepest, sweetest sleep, he couldn’t help but tear himself between two awesome things.

“Aren’t you sleepy, Kunwar?” She ran her fingers through his hair. Samarth pretended to close his eyes, lulling his body into relaxation, trying to even out his breathing. A pinch on his nose and he snapped his eyes open to Hira ben’s amused face.

“Don’t try to fool me.”

Samarth smiled — “Nobody can fool you…”

She lay her warm hand on his forehead and patted rhythmically to the words of her next song. His favourite lullaby.

“Kunta Abhimanyu ne baandhe amar raakhdi re… ke dikra dushman darse dekhe taari aakhdi re…”

Again his eyes began to go heavy. He let them fall shut, aiming to convince Hira ben that he was asleep. On one hand, he wanted to call Ava, on the other — he did not want this song to end. And thinking about Ava and Hira ben’s song, Samarth didn’t realise when he succumbed to sleep.

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“You didn’t call!” Ava accused, her angry voice blaring in his ear. Samarth squinted, wiping the sweat off his brow — “I did call, but Kumari was asleep.”

“At 6 in the morning? Of course I was asleep! Which sociopath wakes up at 6 on vacation?”

“This one,” Samarth ran the napkin across the back of his neck, eyeing the horses run around the pen. He had jumped down from over Sumeru’s back the moment his mobile had started ringing. All morning and post-lunch he had waited for this call. For a second he had even thought that Ava was so angry she wouldn’t return his call and block him. That had been a moment of panic and it had passed.

“Why didn’t you call last night? I waited till 3 with my iPad…”

“Liar. You were scrolling reels.”

“How do you know…”

He chuckled.

“Oh shut up!” She spat. “You have become so typical with this long distance thingy.”

“Not at all. In fact, I think about you more than I ever thought when I was with you,” Samarth lowered his voice, stepping away from the stables staff, walking down the fence of the pen, rubbing his muddied hand down the side of his pants. The whites were already dirty, no point in trying to save them now.

“All lies now because you have to manaofy me.”

“Manaofy? Is that even a word?”

“Yes it is. And your work is getting harder the more you talk!”

“Alright,” he smiled behind tight lips, enjoying this way more than he should. “So I must keep quiet to make it easier?”

“Samarthhhh! Oh my gawwwd! Bye…”

“Ok, sorry, sorry, sorry…” he leaned across the fence. “Sorry. Don’t hang up, please. I am sorry. Hira ben and I sat talking, then I lay my head down and she started singing our old lullabies. I tried to keep my eyes open, I swear I did. I knew I had to call you but she wouldn’t leave until she knew I was asleep and even after I pretended she wasn’t fooled…”

A giggle.

“You are laughing at me?”

“You are cute.”

“Cute? That’s a first…” Samarth looked down at himself. He was a walking-talking stick of adolescence. His face was a weird version of his father’s, the patchy outgrowth of facial hair making his upper lip appear funny. His voice was weirder than ever and he was sweating like a pig. Nothing cute.

“How is Hira ben?” Ava asked. And Samarth’s thoughts of assessing his cuteness all but vanished.

“She is good.”

“And your Dada Sarkar?”

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