Page 4 of A King's Oath

Samarth peeped into her book and it was done. He sat up, impressed.

“Avantika Kumari Raje,” she pointed to her chest. "I calculate here,” she tapped the side of her head. His mouth dropped open. Ms. Nandini was still explaining how to apply the identities to the sum. He knew them of course. But this…backbencher?

Samarth narrowed his eyes, she narrowed hers back.

He plucked his horse charm from her fingers, set it between them and leaned into her notebook to add another variation. Then raised one brow at her.

She read it, her eyebrows rose. And then she met his eyes with a smirk as big and as smug as her eyes and solved it before he had capped his pen.

Then she reached out and grabbed his horse charm back, running it over her solved answer. Samarth snorted. Couldn’t help but be impressed.

“Why do you sit with the backbenchers then?” He asked.

“They are fun to talk to.”

“But they are not your friends, you said.”

“Do you only talk to your friends or what?”

“Usually.”

She made a face. “Wait, you are talking to me in-between class.”

He blinked, realising he was.

“You didn’t tell me why you like horses.”

“No reason…” Samarth glanced back out of the window and the sun was streaming brilliantly on the mountains. All the horses had been let out, running freely around the round pen. “Look at them, how can you not like them!”

“Do you ride them in… Gujarat, right?”

“Yes, Nawanagar in Gujarat. I ride.”

“I am terrified of horses.”

“Why?!” He turned fully towards her. “They don’t do anything. You feed them before you start and they become your best friends… unless they have a temper. Then you don’t start on day 1 but slowly break them in.”

“See, that’s why I don’t like them. With humans you can make out who is normal and who is not. With horses… or any animal… how do you make out?”

“Next sum,” Ms. Nandini intoned, and began writing the question in red. They both copied it and solved it down in the next minute, individually.

“See,” Samarth explained to her. “With humans you use words, eyes, and some instinct, no? With horses also you use those three. My Rawal — my king and father, he doesn’t ride as much but he taught me this. And then Maan bhai… Kunwar of Devgadh?”

She nodded.

“You know him?”

“I have seen his photos in polo magazines. My cousin plays.”

“Exactly, so Maan bhai says this — “If you listen closely, a horse will tell you everything you need to know.”

“Too deep.”

“You’ll know it when you listen to a horse,” he smirked.

“Good thing I will never go near one!” She showed him her all-white teeth.

“Third one,” Ms. Nandini erased the whiteboard and started on a new sum, this one in blue. They started to copy the question.

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