A Reluctant Queen Read Free Page A

searching for a new queen, they were nevertheless extremely interested in the process. Within a month of the king’s proclamation, girls began to pour into Susa, hoping to be found beautiful enough to enter the Great King’s harem and compete to be queen. They came from Mesopotamia, making the easy journey by ship down the Tigris or the Euphrates; they came overland, from the courts of the satraps in Cappadocia and Lydia, Baktria and the Hindukush. And, of course, there were the girls from the Achaemenid aristocracy whose families lived right around the capital.
    Mordecai, who worked in the finance office of the palace, obliged his niece and her friends by gathering as much information as he could about the seemingly endless stream of hopeful candidates. But Mordecai had more on his mind these days than the king’s potential marriage choice. The unrest between the Jews and the Edomites in their homeland of Palestine was increasing, and all the men of Mordecai’s community were worried that, should fighting break out, Ahasuerus might not side with the Jews.
    Cyrus and Darius, the two Persian kings who had preceded Ahasuerus, had a history of supporting the Jews. Cyrus had even given his permission for the Jews to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. But no one knew where Ahasuerus stood.
    One Sabbath afternoon, after Esther and Mordecai had returned from the synagogue gathering in Rachel’s father’s house, Mordecai shared his concerns with his niece. The brutal summer heat had begun, so the two were sitting in the common room of their own house, which, like most of the houses in Susa, was protected from the merciless sun by a roof of palm covered over with three feet of earth.
    As women were not allowed at the synagogue meeting itself, Mordecai told Esther about the discussion the men had held after their reading of the Torah. The conversation always changed when the women came in with the food, so Esther never knew what had been discussed by the men until she reached home, where her uncle had formed the habit of sharing everything with his niece.
    Mordecai was a teacher by nature, and once he had discovered how quick Esther was, how curious and intelligent, he had made her his pupil. They had progressed from him reading the scriptures to her, to him teaching her to read them for herself.
    Today, though, Mordecai was focused on political matters. Esther could see that he was deeply disturbed and she listened intently as he spoke.
    “You know about the land the Edomites stole from us when we were driven into exile in Babylon,” he said.
    “Yes, Uncle. You look worried. Has something happened?”
    “Yes. I have learned from my friend Araxis, one of the palace scribes, that the Edomites have sent a letter to the Great King asking him to confirm their rights to southern Judah.”
    “To our land?”
    “Yes. Our land.” Mordecai pulled at his beard, something he always did when he was upset. “Then, to make matters worse, some mad prophet is going around Jerusalem trying to stir up our people to go to war to take it back.”
    Now Esther understood why her uncle looked so concerned. “War in Palestine? That would not be a good thing for anybody!”
    “It is the worst thing that could happen. Should war break out, and the king decide to send troops to pacify the region, we don’t know which side he will favor. Darius would have favored the Jews, but no one knows about Ahasuerus. If he should choose the Edomites, we could lose half our country!”
    Esther slid forward on her stool, leaning toward Mordecai. “Do you think the king would send an army? Would he not let the two sides fight it out between themselves?”
    Mordecai shook his head. “Palestine lies directly on the route into Egypt. No Persian king wants unrest in Palestine.” Mordecai slapped his hand against the arm of his chair in frustration. “This king is so hard to figure out, Esther. He went to war against Egypt when that country rebelled against