They hadn’t seen each other much in the months following their return to India. Still shaken by her ordeal, Meera had begun to take meetings again, in no hurry to start a project but eager to get on with her life. The Sahil Malik incident that had shaken the Bombay industry was soon swept aside as there was work to be done and movies to be made. The composer was behind bars. Meera, determined not to let his actions define her identity, had moved on as well. She was evaluating pitches she received, and at times calling Abhimanyu for his opinion on whether or not he thought a particular project was worth her while. They spoke numerous times but never met in person. It was an unspoken rule, as they did not want the intense scrutiny of the press to ruin their relationship. Meera guarded her privacy to such an extent that it only incited the press to speculate about her personal life more, often coming up with the strangest of suggestions. But for both Abhimanyu and Meera, just knowing that they were there for each other was enough.

However, when the prospect of a UK trip came in, he couldn’t resist, and neither could she. For months, while his team of rebels trained for a showdown, Abhimanyu had worked the back channels to find the perfect stage for them to perform. He reconnected with Vihaan, who had given up his impossible mission to salvage the monarchy and had transformed into a London banker. He didn’t harbour any animosity towards his brother, so when the call from Abhimanyu did come, Vihaan was happy to do his bit and work his contacts to put him in touch with a bunch of county cricket clubs across England. Every day, Abhimanyu made calls to the administrators of different counties to broker a tour for his team. He deliberately kept it low profile, saying that it was just a bunch of players wanting to tour England and play some cricket to gain experience. It was a field trip, he said charmingly over the phone, for a bunch of rookie players. Soon enough, through Vihaan’s connections and Abhimanyu’s assurance that the tour would turn a small profit for the English counties, seven of them agreed to host the team.

Ranjit Singh was taken aback when Abhimanyu asked him not to join them on the tour. The suspended national player still had a lot to lose by associating himself with a different league, according to Abhimanyu, so it was not worth the risk.

‘Is the prince having cold feet? I signed up for this knowing full well the consequences,’ Ranjit Singh said teasingly.

‘You’ve done enough. I don’t see much upside in you joining us, Ranjit,’ Abhhimanyu assured him.

‘I don’t consider the downside all that great.’

‘Trust me, when the time comes, I’ll be calling for you.’