Esther : Royal Beauty (9781441269294) (28 page)

M
Y
HEART
SANG
WITH
RELIEF
to see our good queen justified and Haman dispatched. I was also glad to see the king use his forceful personality for good. Before the day ended, my master had presented the queen with Haman's estate and sent for Mordecai.

The accountant arrived at the palace before moonrise. The man looked older than when I had last seen him; clearly, the extermination order had grieved him. But he greeted his cousin warmly and then prostrated himself before the king in the royal audience hall.

“A man the king delights to honor,” my master said, looking upon Mordecai with appreciation.

Esther spoke up, finally explaining how she and Mordecai were related. Upon learning that the man who had once saved his life was Esther's adoptive father, the king removed his signet ring and gave it to Mordecai. “You shall be my second-in-command, my
vizier and chief counselor. For you have wisdom in abundance, and a heart more righteous than Haman's.”

Mordecai bowed again, obviously moved, yet shadows lingered in his eyes. “I shall serve you, my king, throughout my remaining days.”

Esther then placed the management of Haman's vast estate into Mordecai's capable hands.

I stood to the side and watched these developments with an approving and wistful heart. Hadassah was no longer a young and inexperienced girl. In the space of a few days she had become a courageous, powerful, and wealthy woman, though she had not yet completed her task. She had toppled her formidable enemy, but his evil machinations would still result in the murder of untold thousands.

I looked at her, tilting my head to study her lovely face. Though she kept her eyes downcast as the king talked with Mordecai, a line had crept between her brows. The woman was thinking, and thinking hard. Her most difficult challenge still lay ahead, for my master clearly considered the matter settled. He had defended his queen, executed her enemy, and elevated her cousin. What else could she possibly expect him to do?

I looked at Mordecai, whose face remained smooth and passionless; he was not trying to solve this conundrum. He was no longer Hadassah's counselor, but her co-worker, and he was trusting her to handle the situation.

Queen Esther lifted her chin, squared her shoulders, and again stepped toward the king's throne. His brow rose, probably curious as to why she was formally approaching yet again, but then she surprised all of us by falling at his feet, tears streaming down her face. “Please,” she said, her voice breaking, “save my people.”

My master extended his golden scepter, awarding her mercy, and the queen struggled to her feet. “If it please the king,” she said,
strengthening her voice, “and if I have found favor with him, and if he thinks it is right, and if I am pleasing to him, let there be a decree that reverses the orders of Haman, son of Hammedatha the Agagite, who ordered that Jews throughout all the king's provinces should be destroyed. For how can I endure to see my people and my family slaughtered?”

I covered my mouth, amazed at the queen's persistence. She used a Persian word meaning
to make pass away
in regard to Haman's edict, but Persian law most emphatically did
not
pass away. She knew she was asking the impossible, so she had appealed to my master's nobility, his affection for her, his legal authority, and his commitment as her husband. She knew her request could not be granted under a royally authorized decree, but instead of blaming the king for his role in the edict, she was petitioning everything that was good and reasonable within him.

I frowned. I admired the queen, but she was putting the king in an impossible position. He could do nothing, yet she still begged him to undo what Haman had done. How could she expect him to do the impossible?

I drew a deep breath and struggled to think.

Though the king had foolishly handed his authority over to Haman, Esther had not uttered a single accusation against her husband. She blamed Haman alone, probably hoping to give the king a legal reason to nullify a decree that had been the work of one evil man.

Then she had reminded him that even though he might protect her, she would feel unimaginable pain if she had to witness the slaughter of her people.

My master considered her request, a vein in his forehead swelling like a snake. I had seen that vein bulge before and knew it indicated his rising irritation. The king was feeling trapped between his queen on one side and an irreversible law on the other.

“I have given you the property of Haman, and he has been impaled on a pike because he tried to destroy the Jews,” he said, his voice sharper than it had been a moment before. But his eyes softened as his gaze fell upon the anguished woman before him, and when I saw that softening, I knew he would surrender.

“You go ahead,” he said, “and send a message to the Jews in the king's name, telling them whatever you want, and seal it with the king's signet ring. But remember—whatever has already been written in the king's name and sealed with his ring can never be revoked.”

Unable to rescind his own edict, the king had just given two Jews permission and the authority to issue their own royal decrees, commands that would effectively constrain the king himself.

Then, in an obvious attempt to escape a situation he found uncomfortable, my master rose and left the room, his guards following him. I should have gone too, but I decided to linger a moment more.

Esther turned, looked at her cousin with relief and gratitude in her eyes, and stepped forward to clasp his hands.

On the twenty-third day of the Jewish month of Sivan, two months and ten days after the publication of Haman's decree, the palace issued another edict, this one penned by Mordecai. The first royal decree had come from the king's vizier, so the second decree was issued by the
new
vizier, a very different man. Mordecai wrote the edict in my master's own name, so that no one would doubt or deny it, and unlike Haman's proclamation, this decree mentioned that the law had the full backing of the king.

Haman's decree had gone out urgently, but Mordecai's counter-decree went out with urgency and great haste, for the Jews would need time to prepare to defend themselves.

“The king has permitted the Jews in each and every city to gather and to make a stand for their lives: to slaughter, slay, and destroy the forces of every people and province who afflict them, together with children and women, with their property as spoil, on a single day, in all the provinces of King Xerxes, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar.”

A copy of the edict was issued as law in each province and made public to all the people, so the Jews could be ready to take vengeance on those who afflicted them on the assigned day.

I had been a party to the writing of the document, placing myself at Mordecai's service whenever the king had no need of me. I watched and listened as the new vizier and the queen debated how to best answer Haman's edict, and I agreed when they finally decided that the best approach was to take Haman's words and turn them around. “Unlike Haman, we do not want to kill peaceful people,” Esther told me, “but we will not surrender to those who would take our lives and destroy our children.”

Copies of the letter were quickly dispatched throughout the empire, so that the Jews would have months to prepare to defend themselves against their enemies.

That night Mordecai set aside his somber garments and left the king's presence wearing violet and white, a heavy gold crown, and a linen robe of fine purple. At the sight of his success, the city of Susa shouted for joy.

For the Jews, Esther's people, all was light, gladness, joy and honor, for Mordecai and Queen Esther had reacted to Haman's evil with courage and justice. The Jews feasted and celebrated this good news, and many people of Susa observed the rising tide of Jewish prosperity and began to worship the God of Abraham.

But though the Jews had received the power and the right to defend themselves, the battle had not yet begun.

N
INE
MONTHS
PASSED
, the remainder of a year that had begun in horror and might end on the same note. As time pushed us into the month of Adar, Mordecai assured me that the Jews in all the provinces were well prepared for any attacks that might come against them, but I couldn't help being concerned. I had risked my life for my people, and I could not forget about them as the day of reckoning approached.

During the two months we debated how to answer the problem of Haman's edict, I wondered if an answer would even be necessary. Our family had lived in Susa for years without facing any significant oppression, so perhaps people would simply forget about Haman's decree and ignore the appointed day.

I voiced this thought to Mordecai, but he laughed and told me I was being too optimistic. “Reports have already begun to reach me,” he said, turning to accept a scroll from one of the servants.
“Throughout the provinces, Jews have begun to feel the sting of persecution. People who were once kind and tolerant have become vicious and greedy, coveting the property and possessions of their Jewish neighbors and scheming how best to get them. Evil is like a potent dye, Hadassah—once it is spilt on linen, the stain must be cut out of the fabric. And if the garment must be sacrificed—” he shook his head—“so be it.”

Fortunately, Mordecai's edict seemed to stop the most brazen episodes of intimidation, though I doubted it quelled the hate-filled hearts of the most greedy. Haman had taught me that some men were inspired by the evil of pride and would not hesitate to do anything necessary to further their selfish intentions.

Harbonah, ever a friend to me and my cousin, reported that members of the imperial army had also expressed their gratitude for our intervention. If Mordecai had not countermanded Haman's edict, the king's army would have been required to enforce the law. On the thirteenth day of Adar, they would have been dispersed through the empire, charged with entering every city, village, and synagogue to murder every Jew they could find, even the very young and very old.

After the appointed day passed, I hoped my king and his empire would settle down to peace and safety. I did not think my husband would mount any other military campaigns, for he had lost the zeal for battle. He was still a strong man, but he had aged over the past year.

Some nights when we dined together in his chamber, I looked across the space between us and saw that his eyes were as wide and blank as windows, as though the soul they harbored had long since flown away.

Did he realize how badly he had erred? Did he wake in the night burdened with the realization that he had nearly caused the deaths of millions of innocents?

Perhaps he had, but I would never accuse him, for I had never forgotten Humusi's advice:
“Listen, little Esther, and hear what
is on his heart. Hold it securely and do not
share it with anyone. And then, if you can find
it in your heart to do so, love him for
the man he is and the man he could be
. Expect greatness of him. And then, perhaps, he will find
it in himself.”

Xerxes, son of Darius and king of Persia, was my husband, and 'twas not my duty to rebuke him. I was to respect him, honor him, and obey him. And through it all, to love him.

W
HEN
THE
SUN
ROSE
ON
THE
THIRTEENTH
DAY
of the twelfth month, Jews throughout the provinces assembled outside their homes and synagogues to defend themselves against anyone who tried to do them harm. I wish I could write that no one attempted such a rash act, but the world has never experienced a shortage of fools. Coveting the property and businesses of their Jewish neighbors, some citizens of the empire attempted to cut the Jews down, but the children of Israel fought back with vigor and skill.

In the royal fortress of Susa, where Haman's hostility had spread like a fungus, the Jews killed five hundred soldiers and noblemen who were bent on slaughtering them. And—most significantly—when the ten sons of Haman attempted to lead an attack on a Jewish business at the bazaar, they were captured and killed. But no one touched any property that had belonged to them.

I wondered why Mordecai's edict had expressly stated that the
Jews could take the property of any aggressor and yet no one did. When I asked the vizier about it later, Mordecai smiled and said that he'd written that the Jews
could
take property in order to emphasize that they
wouldn
't
.

“And there is yet another, more important reason,” he added. “The Jews who defeated the Amalekites under King Saul disobeyed the word of Adonai by taking spoil from the defeated. By sacrificing our lawful right to take goods and property now, we are demonstrating our repentance before HaShem.”

I didn't understand why Mordecai thought it so important to settle an issue from an ancient battle, but Haman had been right about one thing—the Jews were a peculiar people. I lived for each day, with little thought to what lay ahead or behind, but the Jews spoke of their distant forefathers and their future descendants as if they were bound together by a single cord.

“I am confident,” Mordecai told me, a light glowing in the depths of his eyes, “that no matter how dark our present despair, Israel is the hope of the world. Adonai has promised that all nations will be blessed through the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Of the coming one, the prophet Isaiah wrote:

‘I, the L
ORD
, have called you to demonstrate my righteousness.

I will take you by the hand and guard you,

and I will give you to my people, Israel,

as a symbol of my covenant with them.

And you will be a light to guide the nations.

You will open the eyes of the blind.

You will free the captives from prison,

releasing those who sit in dark dungeons. . . .

You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me.

I will make you a light to the Gentiles,

and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.'”

“Who?” I asked, intrigued by the words Mordecai had quoted. “Who was the prophet talking about?”

Mordecai's squint tightened. “Adonai's servant. The one who will restore justice to all who have been wronged. The chosen one.”

“And who is that?” I insisted.

Mordecai looked at me with a smile hidden in his eyes. “The Messiah, and may He come quickly.”

I had other questions, but just then one of the eunuchs ran toward me with a summons from my master, so I had to take my leave.

As the thirteenth of Adar drew to a close, the king sent for the queen and told her of the battle's results in his royal fortress. “Now,” he added, his voice low and conciliatory, “whatever your request, you will be granted it; whatever more you want, it will be done.”

The offer came out of nowhere; the queen had done nothing to elicit it. But Esther did not hesitate to answer. “If it please the king,” she said, her voice calm and clear, “let the Jews in all of Susa act again tomorrow in accordance with today's decree—and have Haman's ten dead sons impaled for all to see.”

All
of Susa—not the fortress only.

I saw determination in her eyes and heard steel in her voice. No longer a sheltered, pretty pet, she had met evil and learned that it could not be vanquished in a single day. Families who had lost loved ones at the fortress would be bent on vengeance, and the Jews in the city might need to defend themselves against another attack.

Recognizing the wisdom in his queen's request, the king agreed. Warriors hoisted the bodies of Haman's dead sons on poles as a grim reminder that the tide had turned; the God of the Jews had protected His people. Yet the next day, another three hundred died in attacks upon Jewish families and neighborhoods. Word arrived from the other provinces, informing us that over seventy-five thousand had died because they attempted to destroy their Jewish neighbors.

In the end, Haman's edict resulted in the opposite of what the
Agagite had intended. Instead of eradicating the Jews, Esther's courage and Mordecai's wisdom worked to purge the empire of those who hated the children of Israel.

When the bloody work was finished, Mordecai recorded the events. Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, wrote another letter, putting her full authority behind Mordecai's missive to establish the annual Festival of Purim—an annual celebration to commemorate the days on which the Jews obtained rest from their enemies. So the command of Esther confirmed the practices of Purim, and it was all written down in the records.

Mordecai became very great among the Jews, who held him in high esteem because he continued to work for the good of his people and to speak up for the welfare of all their descendants.

Best of all, he continued to call me
friend
.