ASTUR rose carefully from her bed and, slipping her gown over her body, tiptoed out of her chamber. Quickly, she ran along the passageway and into the entrance hall.
'Your Majesty?' said the guard.
'I won't be long. I am going to see Marduka.'
'I will accompany you,' said the Captain, knowing full well what would happen to him if the King found out she was allowed into the city unguarded, on this of all days.
'Very well,' Astur sighed. 'But quietly, please.'
Together, they slipped through the shadows until they reached the gate. In a matter of an hour or so, the sun would be up but, in the meantime, the night seemed full of shadows. Four of them seemed to be heading for the palace.
'Captain,' she whispered. 'I think those people intend to attack the King. You had better follow them and make sure they are able to do no harm.'
Without further thought, the Captain nodded and went after them, keeping to the deepest shadows. Astur smiled, ran out of the gateway and knocked on the big door at the end of the street.
'It is Hadasseh,' said Astur as the small inspection panel opened. The door opened and she went inside.
'You took a risk coming here,' said Artaynte with concern.
'No more than staying at the palace. At least, here, we are all together.'
The girls embraced as Mordecai entered. 'So you came.'
'I had to, my father. I wanted to be with you.'
'Very well.' He turned to his attendant. 'Congregate the servants, at once.'
Within minutes, Mordecai's entire household was gathered before him.
'My friends, today is the day when many will seek to kill me and my brothers. You will notice that the Queen is also with us and that her life, too, is in grave danger. I cannot expect you to stay and risk your lives with us and therefore give you freedom to leave whenever you wish. Return to your families and friends until this is all over.'
They stood in silence for a long time until an elderly man stepped forward. 'I know I have served you but a matter of months, my Lord Marduka, but I am too old to leave now, especially as I have nowhere else to go.'
Artaynte's maid stepped forward. 'I will stay with my mistress and die with her if need be.'
'I, also,' said the butler, then the cook and, eventually, the whole household.
Mordecai had tears in his eyes as he thanked them.
'The Queen will not die,' said the groom grasping a sword which seemingly materialised out of nowhere. In a matter of minutes, all the servants had armed themselves with anything they could lay their hands on and, as the sun rose over the Zagros, they were ready.
ALMOST instantly, there came the sound of fighting from all over the city. They waited in the house until there came the inevitable banging at the door.
'Come out or we will burn down the house with you in it,' called Dalphon.
Astur recognised the voice immediately; the voice she had not heard in many years; the voice of the first man to rape her mother.
'Let them in,' she said quietly and the butler glanced at Mordecai for confirmation.
Mordecai nodded and the door was opened and about a dozen men strode in with swords and spears.
Dalphon stopped and his mouth dropped open at the sight of Astur. 'You are here?'
She confronted him. 'Of course. This is where I should be. I am afraid your mother and sisters have a little shock in store for them at the palace.'
'You mean...?'
'I mean that they are now my prisoners. If I do not return to the palace, safe and sound, they will be executed.'
'You wouldn't do it.'
'How dare you come here in this manner and attempt to kill my relatives and friends?' She stepped close to him, her face inches from his. 'I know how they intended to dispose of us. They want to do it in the same way you tortured my mother.'
He looked puzzled. 'Your mother?'
'Do you not remember, Dalphon? Nor you, Poratha? Have both of you already forgotten the woman on the road from Babylon who begged you for mercy? Did you not hear her cries when she pleaded with you not to harm her unborn child? I do, because I was there. I heard it and, that day, I swore I would see you die for what you did.'
A look of stark fear flashed across his face as Astur spat the words at him. He opened his mouth the speak but, instead, grunted.
Astur pushed again and the blade in her hand went deeper. 'Do you remember now?'
The other men stood, as if paralysed, as Dalphon slowly sank to his knees. Gradually, the servants encircled the other terrified invaders and, before they could flee, they were all struck down. Artaynte put her arms around the trembling Queen.
'I have killed a man,' moaned Astur.
'You have executed a criminal,' consoled Artaynte. 'Is that not right, Mordecai?'
'He was a rapist and a murderer, Astur,' agreed the Prime Minister.
'Also,' added Artaynte. 'There is the King's decree that Jews could defend themselves. You are a Jew and have defended not only yourself, but your family and friends.'
'It is God's law, my child,' added Mordecai. '"An eye for an eye, a soul for a soul". With the death of Dalphon and Poratha, you have avenged the lives of your father and mother as well as that of the unborn child.'
Astur raised her head. 'It is as you say, my father.' She paused. 'I must return to the palace.'
'I will accompany you,' said Mordecai.
'And me,' said Artaynte.
Together, they scurried towards the palace as screams and cries emitted from buildings all around them.
The Captain of the Guard met them. 'I have taken the prisoners, your Majesty.' He beamed with pride. 'There were three women.'
Astur sighed. Only the women were caught. 'Take me to them.'
The Captain led the way along the passageway until he came to the room near the Court of Women. He unlocked the door and stepped aside as the Queen breezed past him. Astur stopped and put her hand to her mouth. Frantically, she fought to hold back the bile in her throat as she surveyed the gory scene before her.
'Don't go in,' said Astur as Artaynte tried to see. She turned on the Captain of the Guard. 'Who did this vile act?'
'Your Majesty. They were alive when we put them in there and locked the door.'
'Some death,' said Astur, shaking her head to clear it. 'That is what they intended for me. Zeresh meant for me to see this as a sign.'
'A sign of what?' said Marduka.
'Whoever is behind all this wants me humiliated and desecrated as was my mother.' She bowed her head. 'It is the sign of how I am going to die.'
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CHAPTER
TWENTY-SEVEN
