Page 117 of A King's Oath
“To my room.”
“Where were you?”
“In Sharan’s room. Our Late Night Boys Club went on too late. I don’t even know when I fell asleep…”
“You and your clubs,” Avantika chuckled.
“Dada Sarkar’s legacy,” he said. She could hear the smile in his voice. “I am just taking it forward.”
Another door shutting and she could picture him laying down on his bed. Stretching his legs. Pushing his hair off his face. Or not. Lately, it didn’t fall down on his forehead.
“You miss your Dada Sarkar.”
“Very. In the final years, he really went off most of the time. I don’t even remember the last time I had spoken to him as Dada Sarkar and had him recognise me. But it’s… it will always remain. What if he had lived a little more? A few more good years?”
“He was confined for decades, Samarth.”
“I know. And I also know how selfish it is of me to ask that he would have stayed, even like that… anyway. What’s keeping you awake?”
“Nothing in particular. Just one of those nights, you know? When there’s no reason you can’t sleep. Nothing good to think about, nothing bad either. The kind of night that drives you insane,” she groaned. “You know?”
“No,” he laughed softly. “Because either I pass out after practise or can’t keep my eyes open after work.”
“Work?”
“Papa hasn’t been going easy on me lately. I just returned from a tour of Jam Jodhpur and Kalavad yesterday. Papa himself hasn’t taken these district tours for years but insists that we start again.”
“Maybe that is why. Because he hasn’t taken it in years, he wants you to go.”
“Maybe. And also… after Dada Sarkar, Papa is a little… alone. He misses somebody to shoulder it with him. He reigned alone for all these years but he always had Dada Sarkar to fall back on, bounce ideas off, go to for advice or opinion. I think now he is looking at me.”
“Even though you are not inheriting?”
“Even if I am not inheriting, I am still serving Nawanagar. Papa proposed that Sharan’s Prime Minister position be reserved for me. I asked him to keep that thought tabled for now.”
“Why?”
“That would be Sharan’s decision, if and when it happened.”
“If and when? What do you mean ‘if and when?’”
“If I would be around when Sharan took over.”
“Of course you will be around.”
“I am just saying.”
She sat up in bed — “Look, Samarth, you are around for a very long time. You promised me a long time, remember? Now don’t talk rubbish stuff like that at night.”
He laughed. “See, I gave you something bad to think about tonight.”
“Well, let me return the favour — what if I am not around to see you become Sharan’s Prime Minister?”
“That’s the thing — I am not as gullible as you. Saying and happening are two different things. Say whatever you want, you won’t be able to change what happens.”
“Right back at you, God-complex.”
His husky laugh vibrated in her ear. Avantika splayed down again, pulling her duvet over herself. The warmth of September was slowly trailing into the beginnings of autumn in Paris. She couldn’t sleep without a thick duvet anymore.
