A Reluctant Queen (38 page)
The still expression on his face never changed, but his eyes darkened. “You were right,” he said.
Cold despair washed through Esther. She couldn’t reach him. Her betrayal, on top of Haman’s, was too painful. Still, she continued to try.
“I had made up my mind never to tell you the truth, to separate myself forever from my religion. I told Uncle Mordecai that I would not do his work anymore, that now it was up to him to be the Jewish advocate at court, that all I wanted in this world was to be your wife.” Her voice quivered, but his expression didn’t change. “Then
this
happened, just as Uncle Mordecai had dreamed.”
He said nothing.
“God put me here for a reason, my lord, and I had to act. I never wanted such a thing to happen, but when it did, I could keep silent no longer.”
“I see.” He opened his hands, then slowly closed them into fists again, the only sign he gave that he was not as composed as he appeared to be. “The Royal Messengers will leave Susa within the hour. I am sending two riders on each stage of every road so that if something should happen to one, the other will be able to continue on. There is no reason for them not to make their destinations in time to stop this massacre.”
“Thank you, my lord,” she whispered.
“I have ordered Mordecai’s release.”
“Thank you, my lord.”
“You look tired. I suggest you get some rest.” And without another word, he turned his back, walked to the door, pushed it open himself, and went out.
Esther stood staring after him, her eyes dry and burning. The grief she felt was too terrible to find a release in tears.
E
arly in the afternoon, Filius, the Deputy Treasurer whose recommendation to Hegai had allowed Esther to be presented as a candidate, received a summons to attend the king in his business room off the Court of the Royal Kin. When Filius presented himself, Ahasuerus was sitting behind his desk. The Deputy Treasurer had never been this close to the king and he found himself trembling with a mixture of nervousness and awe.
Ahasuerus was not a big man and he was dressed in the same simple white robes that many aristocratic Persian men wore. The only sign of his kingship was the thin, golden fillet on his head. Even his hands were bare of rings. But Filius had felt his power the moment he walked into the room. There was something about him . . .
The king regarded his Deputy Treasurer. “Was Haman planning to call you as a witness at this trial for Mordecai?”
Filius couldn’t get his answer out fast enough. “No, my lord! He has never once spoken to me about the charges against Mordecai.”
“Do you think the charges are valid?” was the next question.
Filius had come determined to tell the truth, no matter the cost. He summoned his courage and replied, “I have worked with Mordecai for over ten years, my lord, and I would stake my life upon his integrity. I do not believe that these charges can be valid.”
A small silence fell as the king’s light eyes studied Filius’ face. Then Ahasuerus said, “The lord Haman tells me he has evidence that Mordecai was stealing from the Treasury.”
Filius started to clasp his hands behind his back, then quickly changed his mind. One did not hide one’s hands before the Great King. “As I have not been allowed to see this evidence, my lord, I cannot say how it came into being. Perhaps the lord Haman is mistaken; perhaps he has misread some of the accounting. I can only repeat that I would stake my life on Mordecai’s honesty.”
The king’s face was unreadable. “Did you request to see the evidence?”
“Yes, my lord, I did.”
“And the lord Haman refused to show it to you?”
“Yes, my lord.”
The king looked down at his hands, which were clasped together on the top of his desk. He said, without looking up, “The lord Haman produced evidence against the last Head Treasurer as well. Did you think that evidence was in error also?”
“No, my lord.” Filius had not expected this line of questioning and once more he had to restrain himself from putting his hands behind his back, a position he had always found comforting.
The king’s quiet inquisition continued: “Had you suspected that Otanes was stealing from the Treasury?”
Filius was in despair. There was no right way to answer this question. “I . . . I might have had some suspicions, my lord.”
“Yet you did not think this information would be of interest to me?”
Filius was caught and he knew it. He fell back on the truth as his only possible answer. “My lord, I am but a Dadian and a clerk. It was not for me to accuse an Achaemenid noble.”
Ahasuerus raised his eyes once more to Filius. “Do you know of any reason why the lord Haman would wish to harm Mordecai?”
Filius was silent.
“Answer me.” Ahasuerus’ even voice was infinitely more terrifying than shouting would have been.
Filius blurted, “I know that Mordecai would not bow before the Grand Vizier, and this lack of respect enraged Haman.”
Ahasuerus lifted his brows. “Why wouldn’t Mordecai bow?”
“Because Haman was an Edomite, my lord. Apparently there is longstanding enmity between the Jews and the Edomites.” Filius shivered. “Indeed, my lord, the air fairly crackled with hatred every time the two of them met.”
“I did not know that.” Ahasuerus sat for a moment in silence, his eyes once again on his hands. Filius waited anxiously for the next question. Then, without looking up, the king said, “That is all, Filius. You may go.”
“Thank you, my lord.” The Deputy Treasurer prostrated himself and backed out of the room, desperately hoping that he had not just lost his job.
The next person the king asked to see in his office was Coes, whom Ahasuerus had sent to Haman’s house to order the release of Mordecai.
“He is safe, my lord,” Coes reported with satisfaction. “Haman’s servants were guarding him and they were more than willing to let him go upon my command.” Coes started to add something about Haman, then decided it was unnecessary. The circumstances could not have made it clearer to Ahasuerus what a snake Haman was.
“Mordecai was not hurt?” Ahasuerus asked.
“He looked somewhat haggard, my lord, but he said that was because he would not eat Haman’s food.”
The king nodded. His face looked still, but the skin across his cheekbones was taut and the look in his eyes would freeze the rivers. Coes, who knew him well, could see that Ahasuerus was enraged.
Coes said, “I learned a few things from the guards who remained in the city, my lord, that explain why the queen felt it necessary to intrude upon the banquet. Had you waited even until tomorrow to return to Susa, you might have been too late. Haman had the Jew’s trial and execution arranged for this morning. The queen rightly thought that Mordecai was in imminent danger of death. Fortunately, Sisames refused to proceed unless he heard from you directly.”
Ahasuerus said, “I see.”
Coes took a step closer to the desk. “And there is one more thing, my lord. Haman had a scaffold built just outside the city walls. I spoke to some of the workmen who were still there, and they told me it was for the Jew who had embezzled money from the king.”
“A scaffold? He was going to
hang
my Head Treasurer?”
“Yes, my lord. And the scaffold is at least twice as high as those we use to execute common criminals.”
“His audacity surpasses all belief,” the king said, his soft voice sounding eerily dangerous.
“Yes, my lord.” Coes waited for his orders.
Ahasuerus said, “Coes, you will take this ungrateful Palestinian and hang him upon the very scaffold he built for an innocent man.”
Coes repressed a smile. “I will be happy to do so, my lord. When do you wish it done?”
For the first time there was the flicker of emotion in the king’s cold eyes. “Today,” he said.
“The city is still celebrating the festival, my lord. Are you certain you don’t want to wait until tomorrow?”
“Haman’s very existence is an insult to the Truth. To destroy him is to destroy the Lie. What could be a more fitting tribute to Ahuramazda?”
“Very true, my lord,” Coes said heartily. “All who love the Truth will rejoice at the destruction of such a traitor.”
There came a tap at the door and a page came in. “My lord, the decrees are ready for you to affix your seal.”
“Bring them here,” Ahasuerus said.
Coes left and the scribes came in with the king’s new decree.
The interminable day passed and Esther waited, but Ahasuerus did not come to see her. She sent Hathach to tell Coes that someone had better go after Arses, who still might not realize that the king had returned to Susa. Hathach reported back to Esther that Coes would take care of it.
It was late in the afternoon when Hathach told Esther that her uncle wished to see her. She and Luara were in the queen’s reception room, looking over a marriage offer for one of the harem girls. Esther told Hathach to bring her uncle to her.
Mordecai had bathed and eaten before coming to the palace, but even so Esther was appalled by his haggard looks. She took two steps toward him and cried in distress, “Uncle Mordecai! You look terrible! Are you certain you are all right?”
“Yes, Esther.” His face was grave. “Thanks to you, I am all right.”
Her lip quivered and tears filled her eyes. “I am so glad to see you! I was afraid that monstrous man would kill you before I could speak to the king.”
“My brave girl,” he said tenderly and held out his arms.
He had sheltered her for almost all of her childhood. For years, his arms had been her safety and her refuge, but even as she huddled against him, she knew that he could not help her now. It was not her uncle’s arms she longed for.
She said into his shoulder, “Ahasuerus has promised me that there is nothing to fear. He has sent two messengers on every stage of the road and there is still time for them to reach their destinations. None of our people will be hurt.”
Mordecai patted her back. “This is all because of you, Esther. You have saved your people—Israel.”
She pressed her forehead deeper into his shoulder. “What is happening to Haman?”
“The king has ordered him to be hung from the very scaffold he erected for me.” Mordecai sounded pleased.
Esther stiffened and backed away from her uncle’s embrace. “How awful all this is for Ahasuerus,” she whispered.
“Yes. He trusted that Edomite snake. This must have come as quite a shock.”
Esther nodded mutely.
Mordecai scanned her face. “You look distressed, Esther. Why? What is there to worry about now?”
She tried to explain. “Ahasuerus is . . . upset . . . with me. He trusted me like he trusted Haman, and I, too, have deceived him. I let him believe a lie about me; I never told him I was a Jew.”
Mordecai gestured dismissively. “Surely that cannot matter now? He should be grateful to you, Esther! You saved his name from infamy.”
“I don’t think he is feeling grateful right now, Uncle Mordecai,” Esther said shortly. “I think he is feeling betrayed.”
“Not by you, surely!”
“By me, because I lied to him. By you, because you lied to him. By Haman, of course. By Haman most of all.”
Mordecai was full of confidence. “He will get over it, chicken. I can understand that right now he may be feeling a little annoyed, but once he has a chance to assess the situation, he will be grateful to you. There is no need for you to worry.”
Esther stared at her beloved uncle.
How insensitive he is
, she thought. He would die for her, of that she had no doubt. But he would never understand her feelings. Once she had thought that all men were like that. Now she knew differently.
She didn’t bother to attempt an explanation; she merely said, “I hope you are right, Uncle Mordecai.”
A smile lit up his thin, drawn face. “Think about it and you will see that all has turned out for the best. I know that you are fond of Ahasuerus, and now that he finally knows you are a Jew, you will be able to follow your religion and remain married to him as well.”