Esther by Rebecca Kanner

more men who think deeply. They know what has come before, so that they can build upon it. They will build higher than we will. This is how they continue to advance, and how they will pass us by in learning if not in numbers.”
    â€œIs this the lesson I must learn? That reading is important?” I was tired of my cousin’s grim pronouncements about the empire.
    â€œYou know it is the Persians’ practice to deliberate upon affairs of weight when they are drunk; and then on the morrow, when they are sober, the decision to which they came the night before is put before them by the master of the house in which it was made; and if it is then approved of, they act on it; if not, they set it aside. Yet, long before the day ended and the king had emerged from his cups, Vashti was gone. The very next day he mourned the loss of his queen. He had no remorse about the decree though. Hadassah”—he took a deep breath—“you are not one of the king’s subjects. Men are the king’s subjects. Women are the subjects of men.”
    It was true I never saw a woman selling wares in the marketplace anymore. Persian women had enjoyed status that Greek women never could have imagined. They could own property and engage in trade as freely as men. But that was before the decree was issued the year before. “Am I your subject?”
    â€œYou are not my subject. The decree has taught me . . .” He cleared his throat. “The decree has taught me how deeply I care for you. I know this because the thought of the empire’s foot upon the backs of women angers me more now that you have come to live with me. My love for you has started to make me wish the world were kinder.”
    I felt my face flush. We had never before spoken of any affection for each other. “Was Vashti exiled or executed?” I asked quickly.
    â€œIf she was ever executed it was done in secret, for she did not end up upon the gallows. I believe Xerxes could not stomach the thought of his queen’s lifeless flesh being eaten by vultures, her eyes picked out and loosed on the world so that he would feel them, always, upon him.”
    â€œYou spoke to him?”
    â€œIt is not my place to speak to him of anything but numbers. I listened. When the feast was over he called me to him to find out what taxes had been collected while he was in his goblets. His eyes were unfocused as I spoke until suddenly he said, ‘Haman advises me to send soldiers to bring Vashti back from the place to which I have sent her. He says that it is too dangerous for her to be free. She will spread false tales about the palace, the empire. About me. I told him she is the mother of my heir, Artaxerxes, whom I have hidden away. I cannot kill her.’ ”
    He stopped for a moment to catch his breath, before continuing, “Haman could not have liked to hear this. But he knew that at least he would have his war. The war we have just lost, the one that has cost the empire half its glory.
    â€œHadassah, whose fault is this war?”
    â€œHaman’s.”
    â€œNo, it is Xerxes’. A ruler’s most important task is figuring out who to trust. Xerxes is both aggressive and uncertain. He is strong-bodied but his heart is weak. His reign will not end well. I only pray he does not bring the whole empire down with him.”
    â€œNow I know this story is not true cousin, for you do not pray.”
    He half-smiled. This was half a smile more than I was accustomed to seeing on his face. “It is true, I do not pray,” he said. “But a few times I have thought of what this king will do to the empire and been tempted. I hope our God is more powerful than the king’s and Haman’s gods, and more wise.”
    I had not prayed much either, not since God let my parents die. “Does Xerxes miss his queen?” I asked.
    He looked at me in surprise. “Ah! I knew I had left something out. I was in the