Page 229 of A King's Oath

“And if something untoward happens between now and then?”

He knew that question. Had thought and prepared for it.

“Whatever happens, you and our daughter will not suffer again.What-everhappens, I will not leave you again.”

“We do not need you.”

“I need you.”

She remained silent, her throat working on a swallow. He stepped up to the threshold of her house and she instinctively stepped back. Samarth towered over her and even though she still looked so small in front of him he knew she had wrapped and held and kept safe his whole world inside her singlehandedly for twenty years.

“Did you have a good life, the two of you?”

Ava nodded.

“Then I promise I can make it better. Give me this one chance.”

She remained motionless. Emotionless.Maybe he had a longer war to wage.

“I am taking Brahmi to Paris tomorrow. To shop.”

His mouth dropped open, curling, feeling like it was lit up from inside his throat.

“You realise that you are dropping two big clues?”

“I am driving. You can park your car outside.”

Giddy, he went to touch her hand but she pulled it back.

“I will ask her when she wakes up. Only if she says yes…”

“Only then,” he agreed quickly. “Only then.”

“Bye, Samarth.”

He didn’t let that distance get to him.

“Bye. Tell her I said goodnight.”

39. A Bunch Of Grapes And A Waist Chain

He got to ride with his girls. That could in itself be the ultimate gift of his day. The music — a mix of Ava’s newest Punjabi pops (child-friendly ones) and his daughter’s demands that he didn’t understand at first but then realised belonged to some children’s YouTuber vlog album. The dancing — Brahmi’s in the backseat. The views — the gorgeous ravines and rolling vineyards in bloom, windmills and houses that Brahmi pointed and kept making stories about, asking him random ‘what ifs.’ The quiet trust as she had held his hand the moment he had parked his car and entered their gate, ready to pull him into her car for their ‘Paris trip.’

Those two hours were the most cherished and he thought the day couldn’t get any better than that. But then Ava parked in Marais and as if it was their monthly drill, Brahmi hopped to a cute cafe done up in all pinks. She had her order ready — a pink white-chocolate eclair and pommes frites.

“You’ll eat sweet and salty together?” He quirked an eyebrow.

“It’s the bestest combination. Try,” she held out a french fry to him and he bit into it, then eyed the eclair she held up.

“Small bite,” she warned.

Ava’s amused huff made him chuckle too as he opened his mouth wide, making his daughter’s eyes go wide, then soft and happy the moment he nibbled a tiny bite from the far corner.

“Mmm,” he nodded. “Itisa good combination.”

“Mama says it’s weird.”

“Mama said that to me when I said jalebi tastes the best with fafda,” he blurted.

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