Page 235 of A King's Oath

“How was your delivery?”

“Smooth,” she smiled. “She wouldn’t come out for days after my due date and then finally just popped out in an hour of labour. Mummy was with me, Kresha too. Papa and Gopi were outside. I had prepped myself for the horrors of hours of labour. But she just appeared. Like a flood of miracle.”

“What was she like when she was born?”

“Noisy. For the first two years of her life, her sobs were like sirens. The day she was born was a rare hot October day in Paris. I remember Gopi commenting that anybody would be crying coming to a world as hot as this one.”

Samarth laughed, feeling his eyes prick. It was as if he was right there with her that day, asking Gopi to shut up because his daughter was supposed to be born on the hottest day so that she could bring the balm to the world.

“You named her Brahmi.”

“The power of creation.”

“Vishnu sustains the world and needs wealth and resources to run it. Laxmi. Shiv recycles the world and needs the energy to destroy it. Kali. Brahma generates the world and needs knowledge, the power to create.Saraswati,”he recited the lesson they had heard with rapt attention in Saraswati Crest.

“And she looked like a Brahmi to me.”

Samarth smiled, glancing at her — “She still does. And I have a feeling she will look more and more like one as she grows up.”

Ava went quiet then. They sat silently, seeing the sun soften and the sky turn from blue to a burnished orange.

“You never thought of… another man? Finding somebody?”

“I don’t think you have practise in single-parenthood.”

He chuckled — “It looks like I don’t.”

“As I guessed.”

“So there is no one?”

“I have known a few to have interest.”

“Delacour.”

“Who?”

“Vince.”

“I have a business to run, a child to raise and a house to maintain. My mental energy is on an all-time low on an hourly basis, recharged only with Brahmi. So your answer is — no.”

“Are you ok? Financially, I mean?”

“Yes. We are ok. But I have to think about building something for her. Papa’s assets will be eventually passed down to Kresha and me, but right now, today,Iam raising my daughter. I do not want help. I chose this life long back.”

“Your business is in design?”

“Digital luxe brand design. I help luxury businesses take off, design-wise. Clothing, fashion, homeware, jewellery, wedding couture… the lot. It’s niche and highly tailored.”

“And you work from home?”

“Mostly. If I have to travel, very rarely, Mummy or Kresha fly over and stay with Brahmi. It hasn’t been too much travelling lately so I’m good.”

“Thank you.”

Her eyes came to his — “For what?”

“For telling me this.”

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