Page 8 of A King's Oath

He whirled her close just at the stall of his riding horse and closed her in his arms, her back to his chest. Cherry nudged his face out of his stall and she shrunk back. He looked happy though, excited after his nap, ready to run.

“No, no, no, no please, no,” Avantika turned her face into his chest, her cheek pressed so tight against his sternum he was worried it would dent the bone. Samarth took two steps back to get her comfortable first.

“It’s alright, I am right behind you here,” he whispered in her ear.

“He will bite my head off!” Her muffled voice sounded from his shirt.

“He will not,” Samarth smiled. “He looks so happy. See?”

He waited. One long breath, two, three. Both — Ava’s and Cherry’s. Then slowly her face turned, just a tiny inch. Samarth dipped his chin to see her reaction. Her eyes flitted sideways at Cherry, then she turned and buried her face in his chest again.

“He’s not happy, you liar!”

Samarth reached out and gave Cherry a caress between his eyes. His horse sighed, or as close as he could with his loud neigh. Ava’s body jumped in his arms, her scream rivalling Cherry’s neigh.

“Alright, alright,” Samarth took a few more steps back with her and reached for the bag of apples on the floor. Her body seemed to relax as she moved with his body — unloading his mallet bag, bending to grab an apple, stretching to reach for a knife. She went where he went, not letting his chest go.

“Ava!” He smiled, “We are too far away, Ava. He won’t reach you. And he is very happy to see you, trust me.”

Her body loosened, and her face came out of his chest fully. She blinked incredulous eyes at Cherry who was patiently waiting for the treat he saw being sliced, then back at him.

“How can he be happy to see me? He doesn’t even know me.”

“But he knows me, and I know you,” Samarth sliced the apple into half, then into a quarter and gave a piece to her. She began to bite into it when he held her wrist — “No!” He laughed. “I mean, I can slice one for you too but this is for Cherry.”

“Oh…” she flung her arm back to throw it into the stall but he again held her hand.

“No, Ava, you feed him.”

“Nowyou have lost it. No way! Bye!” She began to walk around him but he cupped his hand below hers and pushed their arms forward.

“Like this, see?”

“No!” She again bodily resisted and he took a slice in his other hand and held it out to Cherry. Like a good boy he licked the slice clean, leaving his palm empty and Ava’s eyes wide.

“He didn’t bite you?”

“He is not fond of human hand for lunch.”

She turned mock-crying eyes to him. Samarth smiled — “Now come on, hold it out to him and relax your arm, smile at him. He understands expressions, emotions, even words. Say hi to him.”

Before she could tense her arm again in resistance he gently took it up to Cherry and held their palms out. In a millisecond the apple slice disappeared and Cherry was happily chomping on it, moving his head from side to side.

Astonished laughter vibrated against his chest — “He didn’t bite!”

“I told you he knows you.”

Her wide eyes turned up to his and Samarth saw for the first time that they weren’t the usual black that normal human eyes were. They had a brown ring. Her eyes were brown, and looked even lighter when the sun hit them, like right now, streaming in a single beam down the crack in the roof.

“One more?” He asked.

She looked hesitant. He didn’t push. Her head turned back to Cherry, who was dancing on all four legs now, his head grooving from side to side. Ava chuckled.

“Ok, only one more,” she agreed.

Samarth did not wait. He grabbed the remaining two quarters and reached for the industrial-sized jar of peanut butter. He dipped the apple in the jar and set it on Ava’s palm.

“Peanut butter?”

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