A Reluctant Queen by Joan Wolf Page A

to both Esther and Muran. Next she proffered the tray to Muran, who helped herself to a large, sugar-coated, nut-filled pastry. Esther, not accustomed to the luxury of fruit in winter, chose an orange.
    “That will be all, Gazel,” Muran said, and the girl effaced herself quietly from the room. The Mistress bit into her pastry with obvious pleasure, but Esther held her orange. She didn’t think she would be able to choke down anything just now.
    When Muran had finished her pastry, she licked the sugar from her fingers delicately. Then she gestured for Esther to bring her the tray of delectables. This time she chose a ripe peach. “We all had hopes for Barsine,” she said as she examined the peach.
    “I know. Barsine is so beautiful. And she is a direct descendant of Cyrus. I thought that was important to the king.”
    “Apparently, it is not.” Muran bit into the peach and a little juice squirted onto her chin.
    “What can he be looking for?” Esther asked again.
    Muran put the peach down, wiped her chin, and rested her jeweled hands on her stomach. “I will tell you something, Esther. This supposed competition has little to do with looks. Quite simply, Ahasuerus wants a wife whose loyalty will be to him. Darius made him marry Vashti, whose loyalty was to her father, Mardonius. And everyone knows he hates Ahasuerus, despite his being Ahasuerus’ uncle.”
    Esther remembered Abraham saying much the same thing when first they heard of the king’s edict. She said now what she had thought then. “If that is so, would he not be wiser to choose a girl whose family he already knows is loyal?”
    “The number of families whose loyalty was pledged to Ahasuerus over Xerxes can be counted on the fingers of one hand,” Muran said.
    “But surely that has changed,” Esther protested. “Now that Ahasuerus has been named Great King, the loyalty of the nobles will be to him.”
    “Ahasuerus would count that as expedience, not as loyalty,” Muran said.
    Esther nodded slowly. “I suppose I can understand that. But he did not reject Barsine, Mistress. He merely wants to see more girls.”
    “If he had found Barsine acceptable, he would have taken her immediately. No, Esther, Hegai and I have come to the conclusion that Ahasuerus is looking for a different kind of girl for his wife.”
    Esther sat perfectly still, terrified of what might be coming next.
    Muran crossed her still, dainty ankles. “To be frank, Esther, Hegai agreed to see you only out of courtesy to the Deputy Treasurer, who made the request for one of his people. Technically, of course, you are an Achaemenid, but your father’s family are lesser nobility, and your mother’s family appear to be merchants.”
    “Yes,” Esther agreed to the lie.
    “Hegai was surprised by you,” the Mistress went on. “He accepted you, but you must realize that you are different from the other girls who are candidates. If he had been looking for a woman for Xerxes, Hegai would never have taken you. But Ahasuerus is different. Both Hegai and I feel that there is a possibility that you will please him.”
    No! No! No! Esther thought in horror.
    Muran went relentlessly on, “We want to take you in hand and make a special effort to prepare you. You have great potential, my dear, and we are prepared to invest our time in you.”
    Esther hesitated, then spoke in a rush. “I will be honest with you also, Mistress. I agreed to present myself to please my family, but I did not expect to be accepted by Hegai. I truly do not feel that I am qualified for such a high calling.”
    With a great heaving of flesh, Muran arose from her divan. She beckoned Esther to come to her, then she turned the girl around so that she faced the large bronze mirror that hung on one of the room’s walls. The Mistress ran her finger up and down Esther’s cheekbone. “There is a sweetness in your face that is pleasing, Esther. And you have the most beautiful eyes of any of the candidates. Most