Chapter Nineteen
Harbonah

TO SINGLE OUT HADASSAH in front of all the other women might have stirred up jealousy, so I did not speak to her right away. But as soon as I finished addressing the harem’s most recent arrivals, I left the girls in Hegai’s care and went in search of Mordecai. I found him at his usual station, standing behind a tall desk, his eyes intent on the ciphers pressed into the clay form before him.

I had not seen my friend in several months, and it seemed to me the accountant had aged considerably since we last met. Anxiety and grief had etched new lines upon his face, and loss shadowed his dark eyes. Were these changes due to the strain of grieving for his wife or missing his adopted daughter?

This interview would require my talents for tact and discretion. I didn’t know when the man had last seen his Hadassah, or how she came to be in a slave trader’s wagon.

“Warmest greetings, Mordecai.”

He looked up, startled, then a small smile split his graying beard. “Harbonah! How good of you to come see me.”

He stepped out from behind his desk, threw his arms around my shoulders, and kissed me on both cheeks, honoring me with the greeting one man gives an equal. “Come, let us sit and talk for a moment.” He led the way toward a bench by a cold fire pit. “We have much to discuss, as I haven’t seen you since your return from Sardis.”

I took the seat he offered and smiled, not sure how to proceed. “I hope,” I began, “this day finds you well.”

Mordecai sat too, bracing himself with his hands on his knees. “Miriam died, as you may have heard,” he said, staring straight ahead, “and two days ago I sent Hadassah away with her betrothed and his father. They will be married in Jerusalem, and they will make the city of David their home.”

So he didn’t know. I swallowed hard. “Mordecai, I have news about your daughter.”

Reluctantly, he met my gaze, his lower lip trembling at something he must have seen in my eyes. “You have heard something about Hadassah?”

“I am sorry to be the one to tell you.” I bit my lip, wishing I could soften the blow. “I saw your Hadassah yesterday when she was delivered into Hegai’s custody by a pair of slave traders. I didn’t know anything about a wedding, but I know where she is now. She is in the king’s harem, in the palace of the virgins.”

Mordecai lifted his chin and met my gaze straight on. “Impossible. You must be mistaken. What of her betrothed and his father? They were with her; they were to guard her on the journey—”

“I know nothing of them, and I have not had an opportunity to speak to the girl. But you can take comfort in knowing that Hegai is a friend and your daughter has already won his admiration. He plans to give her the best rooms in the harem, the best of everything. She will lack for nothing.”

“Except . . . her freedom.” Mordecai closed his eyes, opened his mouth, his expression that of a man who had been pushed beyond the bounds of human endurance. For a long moment neither of us spoke. Then a shadow flickered over Mordecai’s face. He bowed his head, pounded his breast, and released an eerie cry that sliced across my soul like a keen-edged blade.

The other men working in the room halted and turned toward Mordecai, horror on their faces.

“I had hoped to get her safely away from the king,” Mordecai finally said, his voice breaking. “I knew she was beautiful and bright, but I hoped a marriage in faraway Jerusalem might save her from this fate. She did not want to be married in such a hurry, but she agreed because she is obedient and because she knew it was for the best. And now my precious Hadassah is captive in a pagan king’s palace while her betrothed—”

He looked at me, fresh alarm on his face. “Do you know what happened to Binyamin and his father?”

I shook my head. “Slave traders can be ruthless,” I warned, speaking gently because I knew my words would not be easy to hear. “They have been rounding up women of all sorts, knowing they will be paid if they bring an acceptable maiden to the palace. If your daughter’s defenders resisted, I would not hold much hope for their survival.”

“Binyamin and his father were scholars, not warriors.” Mordecai’s eyes glistened with pain. “I doubt they fought at all, but one can never be sure with young men in love.”

He stared at nothing a moment more; then he scooped up a handful of old ashes from the fire pit. He slowly poured them over his head, then leaned forward again. “I had better organize a search party. If they were injured, they may need my help.”

I nodded my agreement as I helped the grieving man to his feet. “One more thing.” I maintained a tight grip on his arm. “Hadassah has called herself Esther. I assumed she had good reasons for maintaining her privacy.”

A certain intentness filled the accountant’s eyes, and then he offered me a brief smile. “She is a clever girl. A good girl, and wise. She has done exactly what I asked her to do.”

“Disguise herself?” My thoughts whirled, searching for a logical reason. “Why would you ask her to do that?”

Mordecai’s dark eyes glittered above his graying beard. “Because we are Jews. And this king cannot be trusted.”

I released him. And as much as I wanted to defend my beloved master, I knew I could not.

Nearly a week passed before I had an opportunity to check on Hadassah, and even then I worried that I might cause trouble by seeking her out. Many a servant, indeed, many a free man, had been undone by harem gossip, so I resolved to do nothing that might injure Hadassah, Hegai, or myself. Life was too short and the alternative far too unpleasant to risk anything that might arouse a royal temper.

On the pretext of needing to ask Hegai’s opinion about a seating arrangement, I made my way to the palace of the virgins and found my friend standing in a doorway. I tapped him on the shoulder, then peered past him into the large courtyard, where another eunuch was demonstrating the proper way to braid hair. “See any good prospects, my friend?”

Hegai lifted his gaze to the ceiling and sighed. “Never have I been more c-c-convinced that beauty is not all a man requires in a d-d-desirable woman. Every virgin in yonder room has a pleasant f-f-face, but nearly half don’t speak Persian and another half are as g-g-graceless as oxen.” He paused to take a deep breath, apparently exhausted by the effort of stringing so many thoughts together. “We have collected c-c-comely girls from everywhere, but n-n-none of them are ready to s-s-speak to the king, let alone share his b-b-bed.”

I dropped my hand to his shoulder, silently showing appreciation for the report. Rarely did Hegai speak so many words at once.

“Surely—” I paused to seek the most delicate phrase—“surely not much is expected of a woman who provides only an evening’s entertainment?”

Hegai dipped his head and gave me a skeptical look. “The king wants a w-w-wife. And she must follow V-V-Vashti.”

“And that will not be easy.” I chuckled. “So you must not only make these girls beautiful, you must make them witty and clever.”

“If only . . . I could.” Hegai shook his head. “Some of them . . . are s-s-stupid. But—” his broad face cracked into a smile for the first time—“I have a favorite. And she is s-s-smart.”

I smiled, knowing full well whose name I would hear. “Care to share the identity of this young woman?”

“It is . . . Esther, the one who came . . . with the f-f-farm girls. I have assigned her . . . s-s-seven attendants and arranged . . . special foods because she doesn’t eat p-p-pork or shellfish. Whatever she wants . . . I’ll get.” He turned, resting an appraising eye on me. “I think . . . you sh-sh-should tell me.”

“Tell you what?”

“About her. You know s-s-something.”

I put on a shocked expression. “What makes you think I know anything at all? You heard her say she was an orphan.”

Hegai harrumphed. “Am I supposed to . . . b-b-believe . . . she was born in the desert? No, this rose was c-c-c-cultivated. And you . . . know her.”

I opened my mouth to protest again, but Hegai lifted his hand to stop me. “K-k-keep your secrets, then. But my efforts and my l-l-life . . . will depend . . . on . . . that girl.”

He didn’t have to say anything else. Hegai and I had been friends since arriving at the palace together. I knew how to read his silences and the gaps between his words. I knew the horrors that darkened his nightmares just as he knew mine.

And since the idea to audition virgins had originated with me, Hegai and I both knew that our lives depended upon the success of these girls, and one in particular.