ALREADY, people were leaving Shushan for the mountains. It was yet Springtime but the palace was almost empty and the heat once again oppressive.
'The city is quiet, my father,' said Astur as they ate a midday meal.
'Almost everyone has left, Hadasseh. There are just the Harem supervisors in the palace.'
'That is odd,' frowned Artaynte. 'Why have they stayed behind?'
'To supervise the choosing of the Royal Harem in readiness for the King's return. Khshayarsha has given the command that his harem of concubines be extended so that, upon his return, he can choose a new queen from among them.'
'Are you hoping to become one of the royal concubines again, Artaynte, now that Amestris has gone for good?'
'Alas, Hadasseh, such a thing is not possible. The immediate danger from Amestris has gone, I know, but there was my promise to the King to find you. Until I can live up to my sworn oath, by the law of the King I must remain banished from his presence.'
'What if you could fulfil your promise?' asked Mordecai quietly.
Hadasseh turned to face him. 'Do you realise what you are saying, my father?'
Mordecai nodded. 'Yes, I think so.'
'You are suggesting I consent to becoming a royal concubine, a mere toy for the King's pleasure?'
'It will not be like that, Hadasseh my child. The position of concubine is a great privilege, second only to the Queen and the Royal Princes.'
Hadasseh stood up. 'I cannot do it. You do not know what you are asking of me.'
Artaynte placed her hand over her friend's. 'What troubles you, Hadasseh?'
'After what happened to my mother on the road from Babylon, I will let no man ever use me that way.'
'It does not need to be like that,' soothed Artaynte. 'I was with the King for many nights and his love was like the balsam of Gilead. He is kind and loving, not at all like the men who raped and killed your mother.'
'I will not do it,' Hadasseh insisted. 'I feel sick at the very thought of anyone touching me.'
'There will be no pain,' reasoned the Princess. 'I promise.'
'Artaynte is right, my angel. Remember, you could become Queen.'
Hadasseh looked at her cousin with sadness in her big eyes. 'I somehow did not expect you to take her side in this matter.'
'I am not taking anyone's side, Hadasseh; I am simply being realistic. The two of you cannot keep hiding away here for the rest of your lives, hoping no-one will recognise you. If you were to marry the King, you would not have to do that anymore and neither would Artaynte. No-one then would dare harm the Queen of the Persians nor her Maid of Honour.'
'But there will be many concubines and princesses. What if I am not chosen? How could I spend the rest of my life at the beck and call of a man who wants me for just one thing and one thing only. It is humiliating.'
'What if I could guarantee that you will become Queen?' said Artaynte quietly.
'How could that be? The matter is not up to you.'
'No, you are right. But it is up to Hegai.'
Hadasseh spun around. 'What?'
'Hegai has been entrusted with choosing and preparing the concubines for the King. You and I both know that, given the choice, he will select you as concubine. I also know that when you are presented to the King, he will choose you as his Queen.'
'How can you know all this?'
Her friend tapped the side of her long nose. 'Leave it to Artaynte. Artaynte knows everything.'
THE King stood on the coast and watched as his army slowly crossed the mile-wide stretch of water separating Asia from Europe. If the Greeks had any kind of gumption, it was then that they would have attacked, while his army was at its most vulnerable. There had been considerable delay due to the fact that the first pontoon bridge had been swept away during a freak storm and now, as he watched, the ships stood off in case the same thing happened again.
Artabazanes rode up. 'We are ready, my Lord King.'
'Very well, my brother.' He turned to his advisor. 'Come Haman, see Greece at last.'
'I am weary, your Majesty. The long march has been hard on us all.'
The King pointed. 'You see those hills on the other side of the water? That is Thrace. Beyond that is Macedonia and Thessaly. In a few weeks, come what may, you and I will be in Athens.'
'I feel unhappy, Sire. I wish I was more convinced that we are doing the right thing.'
'It was you who cast the lots which guided us here. Therefore, it is the will of Ahura-Mazda. We cannot fail.'
'As you say, my Lord King. I am with you unto death.'
MORDECAI watched as Artaynte put the finishing touches to his cousin's hair. 'You will remember what I have said.'
'Of course, my father.'
'From now on, you must forget the name Hadasseh. You must always be Astur of Babylon and I must be called Marduka at all times.'
'Will I not be able to speak with you?'
'Not for the time being. There are many who suspect that I am a Jew though, so far, I have been able to overcome the matter. However, if anyone finds out that you are one, too, it could be the end for us all. Artaynte must become our go-between each week.'
'Then we will keep in touch?'
'Of course, my child. One day, we may be able to meet openly but that day is far away.'
Hadasseh smiled a little. 'I trust your judgement, my father.'
THROUGHOUT that summer, news reports came in regularly and the latest from the western front was the subject of most discussions at Shushan.
'I hear that the King has marched unhindered into Aetolia,' said Artaynte as she gently smoothed oil of Myrrh into Astur's back.
'Is that good?' asked Astur, not having the faintest idea where the place was.
'It means that the whole army has crossed the Hellespont safely and that they have penetrated right through Thessaly.'
'What of the fleet?' asked Astur, her eyes closed as a young girl trimmed her toenails and smoothed oil into her ankles and soles.
'Hegai said that the fleet has sailed through a canal the King had dug across the Acte Peninsula to avoid the terrible winds and waves which destroyed his father's fleet off Mount Athos.'
'So all is going well?'
'It would seem so.' Artaynte playfully slapped her friend's bare bottom. 'Turn over.'
Astur sighed as she rolled over. 'Must I go through all this?'
'Yes, you must, and stop complaining. It is traditional that, before any maiden can be admitted to the King, she must be massaged for a year with oil of myrrh and balsam oil. She has to have skin as soft as a baby's bottom.'
Astur squealed as Artaynte splashed some cool oil onto her chest. 'That's cold.'
'Look, if you don't stop bellyaching, I will get Hegai in here and you know what he is like. He won't let you get away with all this moaning and groaning.'
Astur pulled a face. 'You're worse than Marduka ever was.'
'It is for your own good. You want to look your best for the King don't you?'
'Of course, but...'
'Then lie still and enjoy it while you can.' Artaynte stood up. 'Here, let Melane take over for a while, my back is killing me.'
'Who's complaining now?' muttered Astur with a sly grin.
'Hmm!' said Artaynte, her hands on her hips. 'Right girls, what do we do with someone who complains?'
Astur instantly sat up. 'You wouldn't!'
'Oh yes we would. Grab her arms and legs, girls.'
Astur screamed as Artaynte and the other maids she had been assigned grabbed her wrists and ankles and lifted her bodily from the couch.
'Put me down,' she yelled, kicking and struggling in vain.
'One, two, three,' said Artaynte as they swung the screaming girl backwards and forwards until, with a shout, they pitched her into the bathing pool with a mighty splash.
'What girls do?' called the booming voice from the curtained doorway and the room fell silent. 'Hurt Astur and I very unhappy.'
'It's all right, Hegai,' called Astur as she shook the water from her face. 'I was teasing them.'
He pointed an accusing finger at her. 'If you get hurt, you no good to King, and King make angry with Hegai. Hegai then banished to Kavir and Hegai not like that.'
'I said we were sorry. We don't want you sent to the salt-wastes.'
'Then you must do as told. Is very important.'
'Hegai,' said Astur as she stepped from the pool. 'From now on, we will do just as you say. You have been very good to me, bringing me here to the best part of the Palace. We don't want to spoil it after all you have done.'
'Then behave self.' He suddenly smiled. 'When you Queen, you tell Hegai what to do.'
'When I am Queen,' said Astur with a sly grin. 'I will make your life a misery like you have mine these last weeks. Eat this, eat that, drink this, drink that. I'm about sick of fruit and vegetables.'
'They good for you.'
'That's what my mother used to say.'
'Do not mock mother. Mother in land of gods.'
Astur sighed. 'I wasn't mocking, Hegai. I'm just so bored with so little to do but lie here and be pampered.'
'Very well. Tomorrow, you run round palace seven times.'
'Run? Seven times? That'll kill me.'
'Seven times. Before breakfast. No run, no food.'
'All the other concubines don't have to do that, do they?'
'Other girls not going to be Queen. Up early and run. Hegai has spoken.'
He left.
'Now look what you've done,' said Astur accusingly.
'Me?' said Artaynte innocently. 'What did I do?'
'You got me into this, Artaynte, so you had better be up early too. Remember? Seven times around the palace.' She stuck out her bare chest in imitation of the eunuch. 'No run, no food.'
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CHAPTER
NINE
