Queen of Persia

Queen of Persia Chapter 4

“I’m sure I had more gold then this!” screeched Josie from down the hallway.

Esther groaned.

She wanted breakfast, but she didn’t want Josie to think she was somehow disturbing her if she walked past the room.

“The door is probably wide open,” muttered Esther. “I thought she’d have it shut, but it can’t be if I can hear her from in here.”

Esther sat up, getting out of bed and walking over to change into something one of her hand maidens had left out. She had given them a day off of serving her, explaining to them Josie may require more help than she would on this very day. Esther had felt sorry for Josie, since she was the first girl who had a lot of pressure on her, which is why she’d sent her hand maidens to help Josie, although by the sounds of it, Esther now regretted her choice.

“And where has the tiara gone?” asked Josie, her voice getting louder by the second.

Esther rolled her eyes, stepping behind the fold out screen and pulling her nightgown off over her head. Her method of getting ready for the king would be very different to Josie’s. Instead of having lots of servants around her, she would only have her seven hand maidens, simply because she knew seven people were enough to help her get ready.

“I will have to apologize to my girls for getting them to help her. I hope she’s not being too rude to them,” said Esther to herself.

She slipped the dress over her body and pulled at the strings that tightened the dress to make fit properly her waist. Today her hand maidens had left out a vibrant green dress that had glittery beading around the collar and hem line. Esther smoothed out the dress out with her hands, making sure there weren’t any bumps.

When she was satisfied with her overall appearance, she grabbed a hairbrush that had been left out and quickly ran it through her soft brown hair a few times. When Esther was done she put the brush down and glanced at the makeup, before shaking her head and walking away from it. This morning she couldn’t be bothered fussing about her appearance. She wasn’t the one going to the king tonight, so why should she worry about little things like that?

                                                               ***

The hours flew by for Josie, the first girl who would spend the night with one of the most powerful men in the world – the great King Xerxes. The girls had been gathered together and stood just outside the harem’s entrance, waiting for Josie to come down from the room. They lined either side of the path, all craning their necks to catch a glimpse of Josie and her chosen outfit. Expectations were high and everyone knew Josie was going to do her best to impress.

Hegai stood at the entrance with a serious expression playing on his face. He swept his gaze over the girls, before turning back to the entrance where Josie was going to come out. He saw a twinkle of gold out of the corner of his eye and realised she must be ready to go.

He clapped his hands for total silence and waited for Josie to come out into view for the girls.

As soon as she stepped out into view the girls fell completely silent and stared in awe. Josie wore a deep cherry red sari that fell to the floor and was covered in an intricate pattern of golden beads. Her arms were covered in gold bangles, and her hands had many different rings on various fingers. Around her neck hung three necklaces that, just like the bangles, were also made of gold. Finally, to top it all off, Josie wore a golden tiara that had different sizes of rubies embedded in the front and sides.

“She looks like a Persian queen,” whispered one girl to another.

Josie did a twirl for the girls, and rays from the sunset caught on the gold, almost blinding Esther with its intensity.

“Girls,” began Hegai. “We are here to honour Josie, the first girl who will spend her night with Xerxes, King of the Persian Empire. She leaves now, in the early evening, and will return in the morning.”

The girls, as if on cue, started to clap and cheer for their fellow candidate. Esther smiled warmly at Josie, although it was hard to see her under all that gold.

Hegai nodded at Josie, who began to walk down the path which was lined on either side with the other harem girls. She waved occasionally, although she was more focused on keeping the hem of her skirt off the outside ground.

Hegai followed suitly behind Josie as they made their way past all the girls and towards the large doors of another section of the palace. Josie turned around just as they reached the doors and gave the girls a small wave, before turning back around as the doors opened up.

                                                               ***

As soon as Josie and Hegai had stepped inside, the doors closed behind them and the girls began to mingle with each other, already gossiping in their little cliques about Josie’s chosen outfit.

“It was very royal,” commented one of the girls. “I mean the colour was fanastic!”

“And did you see how much gold she had on?” asked another, her eyes going huge. “She was covered in it! I’m so glad I took heaps with me.”

“Her tiara was the highlight for me,” said a third. “Absolutely stunning.”

“But do you think she’ll be able to win over the king?” asked the first girl.

The other two shook their heads.

“She’s not pretty enough.”

“So you believe the king will pick his bride solely based on how they look and the way they’re dressed?” asked Esther, cutting into the conversation.

The girls looked at her as if she had gone mad.

“Well of course, what else would he base his choice on?” asked the second girl.

“Perhaps on their character and integrity?” suggested Esther.

“I suppose he might take that into consideration,” shrugged one of the girls, not really convinced.