A String Of Pearls

Chausar

Bhanumati had settled in Hastinapur fairly well over the past one and half years. She got along with all her sisters in law, had become fast friends with Chandramukhi and Mridula, Vrushali di had got the news that she was pregnant again, there was peace prevailing in general for once and surprisingly enough, there was no trouble in paradise.

Why, she had even visited Indraprastha once(much to her husband's displeasure)! It was rather beautiful.

To prevent her from gushing about it's beauty, her husband had taken to spoiling her somewhat. She felt that it was childish. Not to say that she didn't enjoy being spoiled, of course.

He would bring her all sort of jewels and silks from all over Aryavarta, he arranged all sorts of musical programs for her once he learned of her love for it and he even taught her the basics of wrestling when she asked for it.

(He had been surprised, and then he had smirked. Suffice it to say, those lessons had not just been a learning experience but also rather... ahem... fun.)

And when he heard Mama Shakuni complimenting her skills in Chausar, he bought her a beautiful set in ivory.

Speaking of which, oh yes, she was rather good at the game. Of course, it wasn't seen as proper for women to play Chausar, but this was one of those few rules that nobody actually cared about. After all what women did in their free time with their family in private was nobody else's business.

She remembered giggling with her cousins and friends when they were young girls as they had hidden away behind locked doors as they shuffled the dice over a big board. Of course they had known even then that while it was not proper, this was one of those things their parents wouldn't care about, but the clandestineness of the games had been half the fun.

She showed off the set to everyone she could. It deserved to be shown off. The pieces carved from ivory were a work of art. Sheer perfection.

She had challenged Duryodhan to several games but he always lost all of them before stomping off frustrated. She had played against her sisters in law and Vrushali di and won every time. But after a few games with Mama Shakuni, she had refused to play with him again. Not because he always defeated her, no(she was not as sore a loser as her husband) but because she was certain that there was something up with his dices.

He always refused to play with any other dices claiming they held a sentimental value for him since they were made from his father's bones(not creepy at all) but as silly as it sounded she was sure they were... magical. There was simply no other way that they always landed on the exact number he wanted them to.

She even played with all her brothers in law and still won. Now none of them wanted to play with her.

As she complained to Duryodhan one night that winning all the time took the fun out of it, he rolled his eyes.

"Seriously? You're upset that you win all the time?" He asked incredulously. "That's good!"

"No, but this way no one wants to play with me anymore!" She huffed.

Annoyed, Duryodhan glared at her. "You have refused to play with Mamashree!"

"I'm telling you, there's something up with his dice."

"You're saying that just because you don't win against him."

"But I'm right!" She smirked triumphantly when Duryodhan nodded in agreement.

"Fine." he sighed tiredly. "Karna is coming over tomorrow, challenge him to a game."

Bhanumati raised her eyebrows. "He seems so... proper. I didn't think he would be the type to play Chausar."