A Reluctant Queen (21 page)

Ahasuerus sighed with exasperation. “My father had twelve sons with his wives and thirty sons with his concubines. All of these . . . ‘princes’ have royal blood in their veins and feel they are entitled to a position of power in the empire. They cannot all be made satraps and governors, however. There must be some places kept for other, capable Persian nobles. So those who remain in Susa spend their time bickering and spending money and in general creating more trouble than they are worth.”

Esther did a quick calculation in her head. “That is forty-two sons!”

“Forty too many,” Ahasuerus said bitterly.

Esther said tentatively, “A few of them have come to see me. They wanted me to influence you.”

He stared at her, his gray eyes suddenly cold. “You never told me that.”

His voice had a distinct chill. Esther said quickly, “Once I realized what was happening, I had Hathach deny any more appointments. The Royal Kin are none of my business.”

He held her gaze for a moment more, then his eyes softened and he smiled. “Good girl.” He let out a long, frustrated sigh. “Cyrus had only one wife, and he was on campaign too much to have the time to father a pack of royal drones on his concubines. I wish my father had followed his excellent example.”

Esther’s words tumbled out before she could stop them. “Is that why you had only two concubines for all those years?”

He did not seem offended by the question. “Yes. The fewer illegitimate children the king has, the better it is for the country.”

He glanced at the window as if judging the time of day by the light and then he kicked off his soft leather shoes, stood, and began to take off his robe.

Esther said, “It’s hot. I was going to have a bath before &7 dinner.”

“You will have time,” he replied imperturbably.

Esther watched him, watched the hard male body that emerged from beneath the Great King’s finery: the strong shoulders, the flat stomach and narrow hips, the long, muscled horseman’s legs. She loved him so much; but right now she was feeling cross and a little hostile.

He slipped under the sheet beside her and she stiffened.

He felt it. “Is something the matter?”

She said, “I think you already have too many illegitimate children, Ahasuerus. I don’t think you should have any more.”

He sat up. He looked down at her. He had taken off his gold fillet with his clothes and his unconfined hair spilled forward over his forehead. He pushed it back. Their eyes met and held.

“Esther.” His smile flashed: warm, intimate, delighted. “You are jealous!”

“I would like to take those two women and throw them off the South Wall,” she answered fiercely.

He flung himself on his back beside her and laughed. It was her turn to raise herself so she could look down at him. “It isn’t funny.”

His face was flushed. “I think it’s wonderful.” He reached up and cupped her face between his hands. “I think you are right, my love,” he said. “I think that from now on I will concentrate on making legitimate children.”

My love
. He had called her
my love
. As her hair tumbled around them, she thought hazily that perhaps this was not the moment to tell him he may have already succeeded.

C
HAPTER
S
EVENTEEN

L
ater that Thursday afternoon Haman stood by the window in the reception room of the royal courtyard, staring out at the orange trees that formed a privacy screen between the wing that held the royal apartments and the south platform. Ahasuerus was late for their appointment, but the servants had told Haman that the king was with the queen and could not be disturbed.

Haman shifted the roll of parchment he was carrying from one hand to the other and stared blindly at the trees. The day’s light was fading and soon it would be time for dinner.

Ahasuerus had gone into his apartment over an hour ago and he had not yet come out. They had said he was with the queen. He was supposed to be with Haman.

Finally there came the sound of voices from the corridor that led to the king’s apartment.

He’s left her at last
, Haman thought bitterly.
Perhaps now he’ll have time for me
.

He moved away from the window to stand under the golden disk, symbol of Ahuramazda, that hung on the wall directly opposite the arched doorway into the corridor. On the disk, in bas-relief, was a winged globe with the head and shoulders of the god rising out of it. This particular symbol appeared in all the king’s private rooms. Its significance was that Ahuramazda, who reigned in the sky, watched over and protected the king, who was his viceroy on earth.

Finally, well past the time of their scheduled appointment, the king came into the reception room.

“Haman,” he said pleasantly, “I’m sorry that I was detained.”

As always, Ahasuerus was immaculately groomed. His hair, still damp from the bath, was perfectly ordered. The folds of his robe fell with mathematical precision. But the faintly languid look in his eyes would have told the sharp-eyed Haman what he had been doing earlier, even if Haman had not already known.

During the years since first he had laid eyes upon Ahasuerus, jealousy had become Haman’s familiar demon. In Babylon he had been fiercely jealous of the small, tight-knit circle of the king’s boyhood friends. He had envied bitterly their ease with him, the beautiful ease of old friends who have known each other forever. But over time he had come to see that even Ahasuerus’ old friends had never breached the shell of reserve that lay between the king and the rest of the world. For all their undoubted comradeship, their obvious love of Ahasuerus, his essential self remained beyond their reach. It was this perception that stoked Haman’s burning desire to be the person who truly got close to the king.

Never before had he been jealous of a woman. Never before had he begrudged Ahasuerus his sexual pleasure. But never before had he seen Ahasuerus so bewitched. Haman was beginning to suspect that Esther might prove to be more of a rival than he had ever thought a woman could be.

He went now to kiss the king’s cheek in greeting. He stepped back and said, “I have been waiting for over an hour, my lord.” He heard the querulous note in his own voice and winced.

Ahasuerus heard the note also and his eyebrows lifted. However, he merely repeated, “I am sorry.”

Haman forced a smile. “I apologize if I sounded testy, my lord. It is just that I greatly desire to speak to you about this treasury audit I conducted.”

Ahasuerus said, “I do not have time for that now, my friend. We will go over your audit on another day.”

“Certainly, my lord.” Haman’s voice was expressionless. He tucked his fingers into his belt, then took them out again.

Ahasuerus said, “I have some good news for you, however. A messenger arrived in Susa earlier in the day from the Satrap of Palestine. He writes that there
is
a so-called prophet who is trying to incite the Jews to take up arms against the Edomites in South Judea. You were right about that. However, this prophet has not been able to rouse the people. The satrap writes that there is no sign of a Jewish army being raised. The people of Jerusalem are going about their business as usual. So you see, my friend, there is no cause for alarm. Your people are safe.”

Haman lowered his gaze to conceal his bitter disappointment. He had been so sure that the satrap would find evidence of a Jewish rising! He said with forced good humor, “That is excellent news indeed, my lord.”

“I thought you would find it so.” Ahasuerus smiled. “It is good news for me as well. I most emphatically do not want to send Persian troops to quell a border dispute in Palestine.”

“I understand, my lord.”

Ahasuerus said, in his unhurried way, “I have invited the officers of the Royal Bodyguard to dine with me this evening.”

Haman took the gentle hint. “Then I will be going, my lord. Perhaps we can go over this audit tomorrow?”

Ahasuerus shook his head. “Not tomorrow. But later in the week, certainly.”

Haman turned at the door to make a courtesy bow. Ahasuerus was standing in front of the open window and the glow from the setting sun lit his golden hair like a halo. Haman bowed stiffly and left.

It was nearly suppertime on Thursday evening when Milis and Artanes met together in a secluded corner of the barracks courtyard. No one was near them, but even so they kept their voices to a low murmur.

Milis said to his friend, “We told Smerdis about the plot this morning, and nothing seems to be happening. I don’t think Smerdis has warned the king.”

“I don’t think so either.” Artanes face was white and pinched-looking. “What if he
isn’t
going to say anything? What if he is part of the plot?”

This was Milis’ greatest fear. If Smerdis had told the king, Teresh would have been arrested by now.

Three guardsmen walked across the far side of the barracks courtyard, talking and laughing. Milis could feel the sweat pouring down his chest. He said, “If the two of them are in it together, our lives aren’t worth a single golden archer.”

Artanes looked around wildly. The courtyard was almost empty as most of the guards had gone to supper. Breathing fast, he said, “The only way we can save our lives now is to warn the king ourselves.”

“But how?” Milis shut his eyes for a moment, trying to think. “How can
we
get access to Ahasuerus?”

“There must be
someone
who can help us!”

Silence fell. A faint memory flitted across Milis’ mind and he gasped.

“Have you thought of someone?” Artanes sounded desperate.

“Possibly. One of the men who came through the Household Court this morning while we were waiting for our audience with the Grand Vizier? I recognized him because I was on duty in the harem courtyard the day he brought in a candidate for the king’s hand.”

“So?”

“So the candidate was Esther! Perhaps this man would be able to get to the queen for us.”

“Who was he?”

“His name is Mordecai and he works in the Treasury.”

“Let’s go to the palace and see if we can catch him before he leaves for the day.”

Milis nodded and the two young guards began to run.

Mordecai was already in the main courtyard by the great statue of Darius when Milis and Artanes accosted him. The three stood huddled together in the shade of the statue and, while a crowd of men hurried by on their way from their jobs in the palace to their homes in the city, Milis told Mordecai of the plot against Ahasuerus and of their failure with Smerdis.

When he had finished, Mordecai said grimly, “Come with me. We will go to the queen.”

The three men threaded their way against the traffic in the courtyard back to the palace. They entered through the Service Court, passed under the huge enameled-brick mosaic of the Immortals, and went through the Treasury Offices and into the Household Court, where the guards had had their abortive audience with Smerdis that morning. From the Household Court, Mordecai turned north, passing through a series of offices and reception rooms until they had reached a portico where two tall, blue-robed eunuchs stood guard before the great double door that separated the king’s private apartments from the public rooms of the palace.

“Find Hathach and tell him that Mordecai must speak with him immediately,” Mordecai said to one of the eunuchs. “It is a matter of the greatest urgency.”