Week 7 Story: Blind Dice

"What a fool! I guess a blind man's son is fated to blind, am I right?"

The mocking laughter echoed again and again in my head. Every night it was like this. How could someone so beautiful and serene be so ugly and twisted within? It was useless to dwell on such matters. I would obtain my revenge, by any means necessary - an ugly woman deserves an ugly fate, and he would make sure she fulfilled it.

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"What an idiot! A truly honorable idiot," I gleefully thought, as Reuben reluctantly took the challenge. Not like he had a choice. This is what you get for being a royal warrior. I could see the conflicting emotions on his face. Duty-bound to never back down from a challenge? What a joke! That just means your enemies can always ambush you.

"Your uprightness will get you nowhere in a game of pure chance," I cackled as my uncle brought out a pair of ivory dice. They gleamed in the light of the immaculate chandelier that hung from the ceiling. The furniture was all inlaid with precious jewels. The carpet was plush and thick, so that footsteps were not heard at all. Even the tapestry was embroidered with gold. It really was a nice palace, but not anywhere near as nice as Reuben's. It wouldn't matter though, because they would both be mine soon.

My uncle was renowned as the second-best gambler of the country - no small feat. But one doesn't get to the top based on luck alone. He had a pair of rigged dice, that only he knew how to use. He would hold it in a particular way, and throw it in a particular way that would always ensure he got the number he wanted. If his opponent bet on a lower number, he would throw a higher number. If his opponent bet on a higher number, he would throw a lower number. His ability to throw sevens consistently was always impressive, but I never questioned it, always thinking he had the luck of the gods because he would say a prayer over the dice before he threw. It's not like he made it obvious he was cheating, of course. He would throw enough "bad throws" to sow just a little seed of doubt in his opponent's head. And that was enough for them to refrain from accusing him. A brilliant man. It was good to have him on my side.

"Okay, Reuben. Ready to start? This is just a friendly little gambling match, but it is a gambling match. I'll supply any of the stakes - jewelry, gold, whatever - but my wonderful uncle will be the one tossing the dice because I have...a wrist injury."

"That's fine. I hope your wrist gets better," he said. What a despicable man. I can see flash of worry cross his face when I said I wouldn't personally be throwing the dice, but he puts on a mask of care to uphold his appearance. I think he knows he's going to lose.

"Hey! Thanks. Let's get some drinks! This is a match of goodwill between us here!" I shouted to the servants.

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TOO EASY. Reuben was cautious in what he was betting at first, but a little bit of liquor loosened him right up. I chuckled to myself and again admired my uncle's skill with dice. He would entice Reuben with a couple of bad throws, getting his hopes up to the very peak, then absolutely crush them and win the round. But because Reuben saw he was so close to winning the previous round, he continued to play. Ah, the ruin of a gambler. How beautiful it plays out. He continued to bet more and more precious things - first it was his wealth, then his animals, then his slaves. Those were the small things. But as time went on, and he got more desperate (and drunk!) his bets starting becoming unreasonable for a ruler. His kingdom, mine. His brothers, mine! And finally, even himself. I laughed to myself. What a fool. Who is the blind one now? But there was still one person that hadn't tasted my revenge yet.

"Looks like you have nothing, or no one else to bet, Reuben," said my uncle. "Except for Reycha, that is. I'll tell you what. If you bet her and win, everything you lost will be returned to you."

Surprisingly, there was no hesitation in Reuben's agreement. How drunk was this guy? Of course, Uncle spared him no mercy, and Reycha was mine.

"Bring Reycha to me, for I will make her a slave!" I cried. An ugly woman deserves an ugly fate.


Author's Note: I based this off the gambling match in the Mahabharata, where Yudhishthira bets everything away, including his kingdom, his brothers, and even his wife. I wanted to give a little more backstory and really hash out Duryodhana's scheming and motive behind the gambling match. I made it so that the scene where the Pandavas laughed at Duryodhana falling into the pond made him hold a grudge, especially against Draupadi. In this case, I made it so that Duryodhana had a crush on her, but then that crush was instantly destroyed when he saw her laughing at him, driving him to revenge. The feeling of betrayal when someone you've been admiring turns out to be not the person you idealized them to be - that's rough. 

The gambling match was a really important point in the Mahabharata because it eventually led to the Kurukshetra War, where everyone dies (pretty much). 

At the end of the gambling match in the Mahabhrata, Draupadi refuses to acknowledge the gambling match as legitimate, but is forcibly dragged to Duryodhana. I left that up to the reader to imagine. 

I renamed Yudhishthira to Reuben, after Reuben in the Old Testament (of the Bible). Reuben lost his birthright and inheritance because of his sin, similar to how Yudhishthira lost everything he had due to his gambling. Reuben's wife, Reycha, is Romanized Hebrew for "fragrance", which is what one of Draupadi's names means.


Image: pair of dice, taken from Wikimedia