People in here usually prayed with their faces to the east, in the direction of the rising sun, but-

- there had been one exception to this convention.

 This man faced the west, the direction of his homeland to offer his prayers, his homeland, which had been rendered to a vassal kingdom, despite once being acknowledged as a land which could repel its invaders by virtue of the lessons it meted out to them during a war. And now-

-Stripped of power, culture, and prosperity, it had now been reduced to only being a mere landmass of sand and rocks, bereft of the sheen it once adorned them, left at the discretions of its conquerors. The male members of King Subal's family had been taken captive by the Grand Regent, of the Kurus,  Gangadatta Devavrata, more commonly addressed as Mahamahima Bhishma, and had been starved to death. The dead king's eleven defeated sons had been held in a single, small, cell, and had been served with meals so frugal, that they couldn't satiate the starvation of one soul to a satisfactory extent. And the Princess of Gandhara, had been sought to be wedded to the Regent's blind nephew.

 Those vanquished princes sought revenge, and had thus, allowed their youngest brother to consume all of those frugal meals as a permanent souvenir of their fall. After all, they had to leave a relic to keep their flame of vengeance alive. It was one of those brothers who had smuggled the ashes of their dead father and had cast a pair of dice with them, which had been his sole inheritance.

"These-" he had said, his gaze never wavering from their father's remains.-" shall serve to be instrumental in their fall, brother. Use these well, when time comes." 

***

Today, shall be the day when they would serve the sole purpose for which they had been carved,  he mused, as he saw the pair of Dice, resting proudly on his palm, akin to soldiers prepared to serve the land that begat them.

"That fragrant incense in the hall, shall possess the stench of a multitude of reeking flesh." he proclaimed proudly. 

"Their fortunes shall be predicted by no voice of a clairvoyant, but by the tinkle of these rolling on the board of Chaupaar." he spoke to the skies, as if summoning the Gods of War.

 "Their recreation shall be the pleasure of one, and shall doom another today. And, that doom, shall engorge to be the doom of the land that stands to be their honour. Their forefathers shall watch their accomplishments being covered in the deepest sanguine of blood."- he stopped, briefly, as his lips curled upward to display the smile of a devil.

"-That shall be their own!" he concluded, pulling a small knife from the folds of his robe.

 "Today, I bestow my first offering to you , and the last shall be the greatest sacrifice made on the altar of mankind. Sacrifices, that shall stay vividly etched in their existences, for generations.  They might renounce their memories, but this land, the torchbearers of which had once ravaged those that were meek shall retain the lore of this carnage forever, till nature terminates its existence. No act of affection, however colossal shall bury the discord that cements itself today. Behold, Gandhara, my ravished motherland!". he pronounced as he made a small incision on his thumb.

The Prince of Gandhara swore on his blood, which trickled from his thumb to rest on the pair of dice, which were always obedient to his hand. The game would begin and soon Aryavarta would witness the unfathomable.

That incision would be multiplied astronomically and the blood that would flow from therein would scorch the ruins that the carnage would leave behind.

He would ensure that the conclusion would be the one he'd envisaged.

Notes:

1. There have been a lot of theories, as to why Shakuni sought vengeance. Some say that it was due to war that destroyed everything that he ever loved, and some say that it was solely because of the fact that his sister, Gandhari had married Dhritarashtra, Bhishma's blind nephew, and had chosen to renounce her sight to partake of his disability. However, for the purpose of this story, the former has been considered.

2. There might be errors in this part, factual and otherwise. Rectifications are always welcome.

3. This is purely a work of fiction, based solely on mythological references, and the author's interpretation. Comments, criticism, and evaluations are always welcome, with- like I always say- WIDE OPEN ARMS! 

4. The cover image shown above has been created by the ethereal Anushree on Tumblr. It is the exact same one as had been used in the two previous parts, mainly because of the context. Send Anushree all the glitter and stars on:

i. vajratak.tumblr.com

and

ii. chingariya.tumblr.com

5. Glossary:

Gangadatta: One begotten by The Ganges. 

Mahamahima: One of the highest degree of respect.

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