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THE King smiled when he saw the extent of the banquet Astur had prepared. As the guests started to arrive, he sat upon his couch as she greeted them. Darius arrived soon and the Queen bowed low before him.
'I should bow to you, Astur,' he whispered. 'You are Crown Prince, Darius,' said Astur. 'I am merely Queen.' 'There is nothing "merely" about you, Astur. I admit that, like Artakhshayarsha, I was suspicious of you at first. I felt that no-one could replace our mother as Queen. However, I am happy to say we have been proved wrong. My father and I love you dearly.' 'And Artakhshayarsha?' Darius laughed. 'Even my younger brother will come around one of these days. You have that kind of effect on people.' 'I do hope so, Darius. It upsets me when there is discord in the King's household.' He kissed Astur's cheek tenderly and led her to her couch where she reclined beside the King. 'Don't let Artakhshayarsha get to you. You are all right.' She smiled. The King leaned close. 'This is remarkable, my dear. Even better than yesterday.' 'I am glad it pleases my Lord and King.' 'It does indeed. How can I repay you? I insist that you speak this time. Up to half of my kingdom if you will but ask.' Astur took a deep breath. 'What I ask is not of great value to the Empire, Khshayarsha,' she replied quietly but confidently. 'Though of considerable value to me.' The King frowned. 'Name it.' She looked straight at him. 'You know who I am?' 'Of course. You are Astur, Queen of the Persians.' 'No,' she said. 'Who I really am?' 'You are my little Hadasseh, child of the river.' 'I am a Jew,' she said suddenly. Khshayarsha smiled. 'I know that.' Astur was taken-aback. 'You do?' 'Of course,' he laughed. 'You are cousin of Marduka, the officer of the palace gate.' 'How do you know this?' she queried, her heart beating frantically. 'Artaynte and I discovered it written in the records last night. Harbona investigated the matter of the attempted assassination fully for me.' 'You do not hate the Jews?' 'Hate them?' He frowned. 'Of course not. My great grandfather set them free from bondage and gave them permission to return to their homeland and my father helped them a great deal by giving them gold for their temple at Jerusalem. I have no other people in my whole Empire who are so loyal and law-abiding.' 'Then why are we sentenced to death?' Khshayarsha stared at her in disbelief. 'Child, you have been at the wine too early in the day. I have not sentenced them to death. I would never do such a thing.' 'But,' she trembled at his accumulating rage. 'But the proclamation....' The King's dark eyes closed to slits. 'Proclamation? What proclamation?' Astur suddenly looked puzzled. 'The proclamation to have all Jews executed. If it had been that we had been simply sold into slavery, I would not mention the matter. We have been in slavery before so it would be nothing new. But now, we have been sentenced to death. Not just my people, but I, too.' 'No-one will harm you. He who harms you harms me and I shall not stand for such an act of treason.' Astur's eyes lifted slightly as Haman walked in, smiling and bowing to all the exalted company in the room. 'Then, my Lord King,' she said, raising her voice slightly. 'I regret to say you have been deliberately deceived in this matter.' The King stood up, blind rage clear in his face as the whole room fell silent. 'Who would dare do such a thing?' he bellowed at her. 'Tell me at once.' Haman hadn't heard the start of the conversation but he knew enough from the look Astur was giving him that something was gravely amiss. 'The man who would kill your Queen and all her family, the one who would seek to bring personal damage to the one we call in Hebrew "Ahasuerus, King of Kings",' she pointed, 'Is that wicked man, Haman.' The King mouthed the name slowly as he backed towards the open window leading to the palace garden. Harbona and the others rushed to help their King who was obviously in considerable mental and emotional distress. Alone, Haman gaped at Astur. 'You are a Jew?' The Queen nodded. 'I am the cousin and adopted daughter of Marduka.' 'The girl from the river,' he whispered hoarsely. 'You are the one my sons told me about. The one who got away.' Astur frowned. 'Your sons?' 'No, I didn't mean...' he began, suddenly realising he had already said too much. 'So that's it,' she said slowly as full realisation dawned on her. 'Like father, like sons.' 'What are you going to do?' he asked with a glance towards the open window. Astur was not about to relent. 'You have plotted against my people, Haman, and deliberately deceived your King. You and your sons will pay with your lives.' 'But why my sons?' 'Because they are like their father, Haman. I was there when they murdered my father in cold blood, when they raped my my mother, over and over again, while she pleaded for mercy. Your sons showed no mercy, Haman, and neither shall I.' Astur slipped her feet to the floor but Haman towered over her menacingly. 'I cannot let you do this.' 'Are you going to kill me, too, Haman?' Ignoring his attempts to intimidate her, she stood up, her face inches from his as she looked him straight in the eye. 'Or are you going to rape me first? It seems to be the only thing your family is any good at.' As she turned from him, Haman instinctively grabbed at her and the gown slipped from her shoulder as they both lost their balance and fell back onto the couch. It was the wrong moment for the King to return. 'What is this?' he bellowed in uncontrolled rage. 'Have you not already done enough to my Queen? Do you dare also to try and abuse her on her own couch? Right here, in my presence?' Haman leapt away from Astur as if she was red hot and shook his head frantically, his protests of innocence choking in his throat. 'Take him away,' the King commanded and the palace guards grabbed Haman's arms and jerked him to his feet. Harbona leant close to the King. 'With respect, Your Majesty. I have unearthed this document.' Like some kind of court magician, Harbona produced with a flourish the death warrant originally meant for Marduka. 'This Marduka saved your life, my Lord King, and Haman would have hung him today from the stake he has had erected, fifty cubits high.' Gradually, the rage dissipated from the King's face as everyone paused with baited breath. Khshayarsha suddenly nodded with inspiration. 'You men. Take this animal outside to the public square and hang him on this stake of his. Ensure everyone in Shushan sees it.' Harbona covered Haman's face before the guards dragged him, screaming and pleading, from the room. Khshayarsha then relaxed and turned round to see his Queen in the arms of his son, crying her eyes out. 'Take good care of your step-mother, Darius,' he said kindly. 'For the next few months, Astur will need every bit of help we can give her.' | ||||
 CHAPTER
TWENTY-THREE
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