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“I used to do this to your Papa,” he playfully rubbed his chin in the crook of her neck, making her laugh. “And to Sharan Kaka.”

“How many ponies did Papa have?”

“Hmm,” he sat her down on his lap. “Let’s do this. Tonight you come and sleep in our chambers and I’ll tell you all about Papa and his ponies.”

“Yes!”

“No,” Avantika muttered softly, looking at Rajmata. “She will inconvenience you…”

“No way. There is no inconvenience.”

“Rajmata, she sleeps like a starfish,” Samarth warned.

“So did Sharan. We are used to it.”

“Yay! Sleepover!”

“Fine, but come and brush your teeth and change into your pyjamas.”

Brahmi didn’t even wait for them to get up from the table. She all but jumped down and ran. For a strange palace and strange people, she was incredibly well-adapted. Avantika wasn’t, as she got to her feet.

“Bade Rawal, this pony is too much… I have raised her as normally as possible. With all this so suddenly and all at once… how will I keep her from getting spoiled?”

“Samarth got every luxury in the book. Do you think he is spoiled?” Bade Rawal asked.

She swallowed, glancing at him. He was the most non-spoilt boy, man, king she had seen.

“Bade Rawal… I mean, Sid’s father, did this,” Rajmata told her.

“He would spoil Sharan, bribe him, give him what he wanted even when we had put our foot down. Sometimes he did it out of fun, sometimes because he couldn’t see Sharan crying.

Like he did with Samarth. Once I couldn’t control my frustration and asked him exactly what you are asking now.

And he just smiled and said — ‘It is grandparents’ right to spoil them, parents’ onus to keep them straight.

You’ll know when you cross over to this side. ’”

Bade Rawal pushed his hands behind his back in a move exactly like Brahmi’s — “She will not be spoiled. You and Samarth will make sure of that. As for Tara and I… we’ll try not to give her a new pony for every day of the week.”

————————————————————

Brahmi skipped ahead of them down the lamp-lit path from the palace’s back gate to their bungalow. It was a good ten-minute walk. Hira ben was walking with her so Avantika didn’t worry. The croaking of crickets and a mild chill in the air made her pinch her saree pallu and cover her shoulder.

“Cold?” Samarth asked.

“It’s just the after-effects of the day.”

He leaned close to her ear, keeping a respectful distance because even if chaperones had been cut down, the security and guards still abounded.

“Need me to kiss it better?” He whispered.

“I’ll need more than a kiss to warm up.”

“Who said I was against more?”

“You said…”

“More doesn’t mean all the way. Or did you forget?”

“Oh, I think you have forgotten the drill. You might need a refresher. Should I send you some sites?”

“I’ll look at you and jog my memory.”

Her face felt heated. He chuckled.

“Mama, look at the moon! So red!”

Avantika didn’t even glance up, knowing her own redness was showing all over — “Yes, baby.”

“Mama, look at you. So red,” Samarth joked quietly.

“Stop it, Samarth. Hira ben is with us.”

He glanced up ahead and pushed his hands behind his back.

Like his father. Like Brahmi. Even in the simple shirt and tailored pants he often wore in France, he looked like a king here.

His stance, his glance, his voice, his command — they had all changed in Nawanagar.

And she wondered if his kingdom would lose an opportunity of a lifetime when they would lose him.

“Did you talk to your father about our plans?” Avantika asked. He shook his head.

“That’s why he is hellbent on this DNA test…?”

“Listen, Ava, forget he said that, alright? We have had arguments over this for the last three days.”

“He is not wrong.”

“He is thinking like a king.”

“He is thinking like a father.”

Samarth slowed, his hard profile suddenly softening.

“Didn’t you hear his reasoning? It is for Brahmi’s security in the future.”

“We are not going to stay here, or return in that way. It doesn’t matter one way or another.”

“Then tell him that.”

“Not yet. He is a dangerous and a very shrewd player. I’ll inform him after our wedding, and we will leave immediately. It might cause fights and resentment for a while but he won’t have time to fix it.”

“Samarth?”

“Hmm?”

“Are we making a mistake? Am I being selfish in taking you from your kingdom? Your family?”

“I told you once before also, if you were called selfish then the world would have to change the definition of selfish. And you are my first family — you and Brahmi. You are the family I made and my first responsibility is to you both.”

She stared at him.

“Mama, did you bring my Snow White pyjamas?” Brahmi’s loud holler startled her. She turned and they were at the bungalow, Hira ben standing on the verandah steps while Brahmi was already half inside the threshold.

“Yes, I am coming.”

She quickened her pace and Samarth followed.

“Let’s go back, Rawal,” Hira ben smirked, stopping him mid-path.

He frowned.

“Rajmata’s orders. Let’s stick to some rules, at least.”

Samarth hung back on the last step in a staring match with Hira ben. She stood on the verandah, even more determined to have her way. Why did it feel like him walking her to the girls’ dorm all over again?

“Alright,” Samarth finally agreed. “I’ll make sure Ava has locked up and take Brahmi to Papa’s chambers.”

“Not necessary. I’ll take Brahmi. Do you want me to take you also?”

He huffed. Then chuckled.

“Give us a minute?”

Hira Ben’s face split into a smile — “I’ll help Brahmi change.”

As soon as Hira ben was inside the house and had shut the screen door, Samarth grabbed her wrist and tugged her close.

“There’s security around…”

“And they know the truth. Tomorrow all of Nawanagar will know it.”

“You are taking big risks, Rawal.”

“Bigger the risk, greater the reward,” he circled her bare waist as she stood on the third step, eye-to-eye with him for a change. “Saree suits you, Raje.”

She shrugged one shoulder and preened — “I know.”

He laughed.

“What?”

“That was Brahmi right there. How am I going to manage two know-it-alls?”

“I can’t wait to see how you do it.”

“I can’t wait to do it.”

Avantika sighed, looking at him with all the peace that had come and settled inside her breath. “I never imagined my life… our life would turn this way.”

“Neither did I. Routine in unhappiness has a way of lasting forever, and convincing you that this is forever. My forever broke with you.”

“And Brahmi.”

His eyes shone, his eyebrow going up along with the side of his mouth — that killer smirk of her school Samarth.

She wanted to touch it, to taste it, to rub her thumb across that raised edge of his lips.

Avantika held her fingers back with immense control and shot him a smile — the one that he claimed she only ever smiled for him.

“Mama, where is my snugly?” Brahmi’s yell echoed from inside the door.

“In the cabin luggage you packed,” she hollered, not breaking eye contact with him. And his smirk softened into a smile.

“Will you be ok here alone, by yourself?”

“Oh, I’ll be in bliss. I am getting a night to myself after ages. It’s a bathtub, music, wine if I can find some, and sleep like a bachelor night.”

His eyes darkened. He opened his mouth to say something when Brahmi came scuttling out. She pulled out of his arms as he stood back, bracing for Brahmi as she jumped from the top step and right into his chest.

“Ready?”

“Yes!”

Samarth righted the wisps of hair around her face, tucked them behind her ears and grinned at her.

“Goodnight, Mama,” he told her.

“Goodnight,” Avantika leaned down and pressed a kiss to Brahmi’s cheek. “Don’t trouble Dada Sarkar and Dadi Sarkar. Behave yourself.”

She bobbed her head.

“Samarth, bring her back if she is unable to sleep there or troubling your parents.”

Samarth nodded, then glanced behind her — “I am going, Hira ben.”

“I am right behind you, Rawal.”

His laughter reverberated. He turned, hitched Brahmi higher on his hip and set off for his palace.