E I G H T
2021,
Yraqia
★ ★ ★
ESTHER 4: 14
And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?
★ ★ ★
In the years that had since passed, through prayer and finding the courage to explore repressed memories, Hadassah could remember every fine detail pertaining to the night she had lost her parents.
And after years of being in the palace as Queen Nura’s wife, she believed that the struggle was over. She and Mordecai were supposed to be safe, away from any potential harm from the men who’d killed their parents.
And now it felt as though she was back in her bedroom in Cenin with her back pressed against the wall, praying that the men who’d just slaughtered her family would not find her in her hiding place. Her chest felt tight with panic and for a while, it seemed like her heart would stop then and there.
“Oh gracious, how could Nura let this happen?” Hadassah asked Mordecai after he’d explained all that he had gathered from Haman and his accomplice a few hours ago.
They were in the foyer that led to the Royal Chambers, far away from any prying company, because according to what Haman had said, not even servants could be trusted.
“Cousin, like I said before, Haman disguised the decree to make it look like a commonplace form like the ones she signs day in and out.”
“This cannot be happening,” Hadassah said and placed a hand on her forehead as she began to hyperventilate.
“What’re we going to do?” she asked, her voice was nothing but a mere broken whisper.
“There is nothing we can do, Cousin but to pray and ask Yahweh for guidance.”
“I can’t even tell Nura about it because she left for The United Kingdom this afternoon,” Hadassah said, ignoring what Mordecai had just told her.
“Maybe Nura can reverse the decree, yes, that’s it. She will know what to do.”
“Hadassah, are you listening to me? You need to pray and beseech Yahweh’s favour.”
“My prayers will not reverse a decree!” Hadassah cried and stood up and began pacing the room.
“Now is not the time to lose sight of your faith!” Mordecai said and rose to his feet to stand before her, “you will need to talk to your wife but you cannot step foot before her without Yahweh’s guidance, Cousin. I know you’re scared,” he said, lowering his voice to a gentle croon while Hadassah wiped the tears that had sprung from her eyes.
“This isn’t how the story was supposed to go, we don’t deserve this,” she said.
Mordecai wrapped his arms around her and she sobbed against his chest, her body trembling with the kind of fear she thought she’d never experienced again.
She could hear the sound of her aunt’s screams and the ghastly sound of blades slashing through human skin and the agonised groans of a grown man about to die being replayed on a loop in her mind.
“We are going to die,” Hadassah said through warbled speech.
“No we will not. Our G-d is the god of David who faced Goliath, the G-d who made the walls of Jericho come tumbling down, surely He will save us.”
“Where was He when our parents were slaughtered by those evil men? Where is He now?”
“Cousin, don’t you see it? Do you not see how Yahweh placed you here so that he could position someone to prevent his people from falling into the same despair? You’re our only answer, Hadassah, as I have kept on saying over the years.”
“I’m just someone’s wife,” Hadassah replied, “how am I going to save our people, Mordecai?”
“With much prayer, there is much power. You must pray cousin – in fact, I will find a way to send word through all of the synagogues of Kediakin. We will all fast for three days and three nights while you seek favour with Yahweh and you will go before The Queen and you will tell her of Haman’s plans.
With Yahweh’s favour, you will find a way to save us, I am certain. For what if Yahweh knew from dawns before that our people would be endangered again and therefore brought you to the palace for such a time as this?”
Mordecai spoke with so much conviction that Hadassah had no choice to believe him.
“Okay, Mordecai, we will fast. I will start praying about it tonight,we will commence the day after tomorrow,” Hadassah said with more bravado than she felt.
Mordecai hugged her close one last time and released her into her chambers where she spent the rest of the night praying with an awkward tongue full of pleas she could not even verbalise beyond desperate cries.
Hadassah, Mordecai and every singe Jew in Kediakin fasted for the next three days and three nights without any food or water. The clouds darkened with grey and locked the sun behind their steely blankets.
Kediakin looked as if it had been covered in a sheet of darkness.
The atmosphere felt ominous and eerie and although the day-to-day affairs continued in the palace, Hadassah could not shake off the feeling of something bigger looming in the horizon.
Hadassah had especially asked to be left alone by her servants during the day and the only time she was not on her knees pleading her case to her G-d was when she was with the twins.
She could not afford to tear off her robes and cover herself in ash because she would attract attention to herself and whichever of the servants who were dedicated to spying for Haman would alert him. Instead, she rose every morning, bathed and cover her body in sweet cosmetic oils, smiled and conversed and kept her head held high like a sweet young wife of the Queen should.
By the third night, she wasn’t sure if it was delirium from her hunger and thirst or the hand of G-d that enabled her to believe that she had reached a breakthrough and that their prayers had been heard.
The next morning, Hadassah and Mordecai convened in the parlour where they ate bread made without yeast and drank wine to break the fast.
At the synagogues, a few livestock had been given as offerings that very morning. It seemed as if a collective breath was being held until Hadassah would approach the throne.
Nura would be returning that afternoon and she would head straight to her office to see her. The clouds had finally let up and a weak sunlight filtered through to the kingdom that afternoon.
Hadassah had bathed herself to death after breakfast and had Elaheh help her with her hair so that it was oiled and styled underneath her crown. With Shadi and Bahar leading the way, Hadassah walked into the North Wing where Nura’s throne rested.
She allowed her handmaidens to open the doors for her and she stepped into the room alone. A servant announced her arrival and she began to pray for every step that she took that brought her closer to the throne.
She didn’t even try to make eye contact with her wife and focused rather on putting one foot in front of the other.
By law, she wasn’t allowed to be in that room unless she had been summoned by the Queen and for her life to be spared, Nura would have to touch the crown of her head with her sceptre.
She climbed the stairs of the throne, a long and tedious process until she reached its and bowed down at her wife’s feet.
It felt like years had passed while she waited for the touch of the sceptre on her head or alternatively, the arms of the guards who’d escort her out of the room and to her death.
Yet she stayed still in her position and held her breath for good measure and until finally, the cold, heavy metal grazed her hair and she had permission to raise her head and speak.
“Forgive me for entering this room without your summon, My Queen.”
“My Wife, what seems to be the matter? Is something amiss?”
“Yes, My Queen,” Hadassah replied and bowed her head.
“Talk to me,” Nura said and Hadassah could hear the distress in her voice. She knew Nura would’ve wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around her and hold her close. Protocol wouldn’t allow for any of that so she had to wait for Hadassah to state her case and act accordingly.
“It has been brought to my attention through a worthy source that a few days ago, Her Royal Highness signed a decree that would allow for the mass murders of all the descendants of the Bantu Ethiopian slaves in The Kingdom of Kediakin all in accordance to the hundred year celebrations of the Aihifalat. The descendants are of African nationality and are the last remaining practising Jews. There is reason to believe that this is racially and religiously motivated, Your Highness.”
“The matter will be investigated immediately. Your case will be attended to in a week’s time.”
“Thank you,” Hadassah said and bowed one last time and waited for Nura to dismiss her by touching her sceptre to her head once more.
×
Nura took Hadassah into her arms and held her tightly as soon as the work day was over.
“I’m so sorry for my carelessness, Hadassah, I had Mordecai and Memukan pore over the documents that needed my signature in the past week and that decree is there. I am so sorry. I will fix this, you have my word. I will not let any one lay a hand on you and Mordecai,” she said in between rushed gasps. Hadassah could only nod along to her words while she sobbed and held onto her for dear life.
The love they made that night was desperate and loaded with heavy, unspeakable emotions. Nura rubbed Hadassah’s back afterwords until she fell asleep and held her in her arms all night, racked with guilt that her stupidity may have gotten her precious wife killed.
Nura couldn’t imagine a world without Hadassah. She didn’t know what she’d have done if Mordecai hadn’t caught word of the decree and one day out of the blue people would have the liberty to walk into the palace and end her soulmate’s life.
She didn’t sleep much that night because she was far too anxious to allow herself to drift in oblivion.
Instead, she watched her wife who lay still in her arms and memorised the way her lashes fluttered against her high cheekbones to create soft shadows and how she pouted her lips when she was having a dream.
Nura was the first thing Hadassah saw the next morning when her eyes fluttered open. She was delighted to find that an elaborate platter of all of her favourite food was laid out on the bed.
“What’s all this?” Hadassah asked, sitting up and leaning against the headboard of the bed.
“What? Can a woman not spoil her wife?” Nura asked, her tone light and teasing as she leaned down and kissed the side of Hadassah’s head. “Good morning my love.”
“Morning,” Hadassah replied and returned a kiss to her cheek.
They ate in a good natured silence. Nura wasn’t in the mood for too much food so once she was done, she’d laid on her side and watched her wife. Her eyes got drawn to her naked form and she was filled with a desire so strong it made her hands feel shaky.
Her wife had the most beautiful body she’d laid eyes upon, every time she saw it she grew to love it more.
She was in awe of the way Hadassah’s curves melded and rippled into such a shapely body that felt so velvety to the touch. She couldn’t help but trace her fingers over her prominent collarbones and her lips followed soon after.
“Nura, I’m trying to eat,” Hadassah said with a giggle but Nura only smiled and pushed the tray away. She rolled on top of her, the press of her abdomen coming into contact with her wife’s was gentle and was satisfied when her wife wrapped her young, supple limbs around her.
“I love you so much,” Nura said before lowering her head to kiss her neck. She felt her wife’s body melt into the touch and felt her sleek fingers carding through her hair.
“I love you too,” Hadassah replied in a whisper and cradled Nura’s head closer to her body and held her close. With fervent lips and nimble fingers she explored her wife’s body.
She loved the way Hadassah would writhe and pant against her and the intimacy that shrouded the both of them was so strong it had the power to render them weak for hours afterwards.
Nura only stopped once her tongue and hands were drenched in the remnants of their love. She left Hadassah with one last kiss against her lips and urged her to go back to sleep.
Nura could count the people she trusted on her one hand. Namely: Memukan, Hadassah, Mordecai and Hegai. She could always count on him to get things done in the most effective and efficient manner.
Hegai was quick-witted, skilled, resourceful and loyal to the bone. She only had to look at her wife and their successful marriage as a real-time effect of his work. Therefore, she knew she could trust him with the task she had in mind.
She met up with him in the library. He was in the Persian Literature section, flanked by two library assistants who were rearranging the new arrivals into the shelves via the Dewy Decimal system.
Upon seeing her, the two assistants bowed in greeting and went back to work as soon as Nura dismissed them.
“Good day, My Queen,” Hegai said.
“Good day, Hegai. I see the books ordered from Iran have finally arrived,” she said.
“Yes, we received them this morning.”
“My wife will be most pleased. She was the one urged for these new arrivals. Apparently the writers are new to the scene but are very accomplished storytellers.”
“I’m pleased with her choices, she has good taste. She is well I presume?”
“Yes.”
“And the children?”
“They’re well too.”
“How may I be of service to you, Your Highness?”
“Can a queen not come and pay a visit to one of her favourite servants?”
“She may,” Hegai said with a charming smile, the corners of his lips lifted to show a row of pearly teeth.
Sometimes Nura couldn’t quite wrap her head around the many men who served her that had chosen to forgo getting married and building a family of their own.
Hegai was such a man and she often thought how sad it was that no one would ever get the pleasure of enjoying his handsomeness. He was perfect in his contentment and had chosen celibacy with a willing heart.
“I do have something I would like to discuss with you, though,” she said.
“What might that be?” He asked.
“Let’s take a walk in the botanical gardens, shall we?”
×
“As I’d already suspected, I can’t reverse a decree so I have to find another way around this,” Nura said. She’d just explained the situation to Hegai and he’d been quiet throughout the entire process, nodding where it was appropriate and thinking on possible solutions as she spoke.
“You can’t let Haman know that you now know what he’s planning.”
“I know. It’s going to be so hard to resist the urge to scratch his eyeballs out with my bare hands the next time I see him, I just can’t believe someone could be so evil,” Nura said and felt her shoulders shaking with the rage she hadn’t allowed herself to show to Hadassah.
“You said that Haman mentioned an ethnic cleansing of Jews fourteen years ago all over Kediakin?”
“Yes, that’s what Mordecai heard him say.”
“We need to find out what that was all about, I can have people look into that. I suspect it somehow connects with Haman’s ‘Agag’ agenda.”
“You think he may be responsible for Hadassah and Mordecai’s parents’ deaths?”
“Maybe not directly but I’m sure he had a hand in it. With his money, he may have funded the operation if it was as official as Mordecai makes it sound.”
“God, I think I’m going to be sick. I can’t believe someone as vile as that is in my court.”
“It’s ugly but I thank Allah that Mordecai found out.”
“I will supply you and your people with whatever you need to investigate this matter. I’ll also need a dedicated team of your library hands who will spend the next few weeks poring over Kediakin’s history and law books and help me find a loophole to all of this. I need more information on the Aihifalat and records on the Bantu slaves. I especially need any old laws on issuing decrees and conduct in war.”
“I’m on it My Queen. You have my word, I will do all in my power to bring a resolution. Haman the Agagite will not win,” he said.
For the next eight weeks as Hegai and his men gathered information and did their research, Nura, Hadassah, Mordecai and Memukan did all in their power to continue to act as they always had in their daily lives.
All the while, they would meet up many times in a week to strategise on the looming threat of The Aihifalat.
And then one day, a breakthrough came in the form of an old man who was willing and ready to provide information.
Hegai had received a written confession from him where he spoke about the militia group that had been created by all of the surviving descendants of King Agag.
Their sole mission was to eliminate the Jews – a people they’d had bad blood with since the time of King Saul. The man even had records of all the people they’d killed over the years.
The total number of deaths came to thousands and amongst them, Hadassah and Mordecai’s parents had been listed, along with their house address and the men that had been dispatched to the murder.
Of course, Haman the Agagite was in the thick of it as a he and a few of his wealthy friends funded the group with weapons and other resources. Because the man had betrayed his group to provide this information, his life was spared.
The next breakthrough came when after much searching, an old law was found that allowed a ruler to make three emergency laws in their time of rule. These laws could be made with immediate effect and without the need for the rest of the court to deliberate.
After this – Nura, Hegai and Memukan worked tirelessly to work all of the elements to their favour. Since the Aihifalat could not be cancelled they had to find a way to ensure that no innocent civilians were killed during that bloody pageant.
And that all of the men involved in the militia group responsible for so many deaths would be brought to account.
During this time, Hadassah and Mordecai sent word to all of the synagogues and the people remained in steadfast prayer and many intense periods of fasting.
Nura was there for her wife when she had nightmares where she relived the murders of her family and woke up in tears.
The months passed in an agonised slowness and Nura hated to see her wife in so much torment. The recent events had made her turn to Allah and she found herself committing to all five prayer times.
Allah hadn’t done anything for her and her family in a long time and she hoped that with the threat of war – Allah would step in and work his miraculous wonders and help Nura in what was her toughest challenge yet.
A U T H O R N O T E
hey look who finally updated! wow the end is actually quite near and i’m not too sure how to feel about that. on one hand i’m excited to bring this story to an end but on another i’m going to miss writing about these particular characters. i’ve never written in this style before and i never knew that converting an old, cringey two-shot would yield this outcome.
in case you didn’t know, this book has been longlisted and shorlisted for The Wattys!
i’m so excited and proud and floored. especially considering how close i was to giving up on this story. it just shows that things work themselves out in their own way and in their own time. even if this book doesn’t win a watty, the symbolism of it being shortlisted tells me that i gotta keep on writing and i gotta let marginalised voices have a seat at the table.
thank you so much for your support, it’s been a wild ride!
-dzangie