" You have made your request, what about mine?”
“I am not the one withholding secrets.”
He smiled and I stared at him for a moment. When he smiled, his severe face softened into something beautiful. I wanted to see it again.
“On the contrary, I am the one who has no choice. You, on the other hand, do.”
“What do you want from me?”
He reached out, fingers sliding across the length of my hair.
“Some strands of your hair.”
Some of the courtiers in Bharata used to tie their wives’ hair around their wrists when they traveled. It was a sign of love and faith. To remain connected to the person you love, even if it was just by a circlet of hair.
“May I?” asked Amar.
I nodded. With a small knife, Amar deftly clipped a number of strands. Quickly, he twirled them into a bracelet and slipped it onto his wrist. There was another bracelet on his hand that I had not noticed until now. A simple strap of black leather tied into an elegant knot.
“Thank you for this,” he said, pulling his sleeve over the other strap.
“It’s nothing,” I said, trying for lightness.
“And yet I would trade everything for it,” he said. There was no tease in his voice. Nothing but a strange straightforwardness, like he’d never said anything more honest in his entire life. "

― Roshani Chokshi , The Star-Touched Queen (The Star-Touched Queen, #1)