A Reluctant Queen by Wolf Joan

Author:Wolf, Joan [Wolf, Joan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2011-04-18T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Later that Thursday afternoon Haman stood by the window in the reception room of the royal courtyard, staring out at the orange trees that formed a privacy screen between the wing that held the royal apartments and the south platform. Ahasuerus was late for their appointment, but the servants had told Haman that the king was with the queen and could not be disturbed.

Haman shifted the roll of parchment he was carrying from one hand to the other and stared blindly at the trees. The day’s light was fading and soon it would be time for dinner.

Ahasuerus had gone into his apartment over an hour ago and he had not yet come out. They had said he was with the queen. He was supposed to be with Haman.

Finally there came the sound of voices from the corridor that led to the king’s apartment.

He’s left her at last, Haman thought bitterly. Perhaps now he’ll have time for me.

He moved away from the window to stand under the golden disk, symbol of Ahuramazda, that hung on the wall directly opposite the arched doorway into the corridor. On the disk, in bas-relief, was a winged globe with the head and shoulders of the god rising out of it. This particular symbol appeared in all the king’s private rooms. Its significance was that Ahuramazda, who reigned in the sky, watched over and protected the king, who was his viceroy on earth.

Finally, well past the time of their scheduled appointment, the king came into the reception room.

“Haman,” he said pleasantly, “I’m sorry that I was detained.”

As always, Ahasuerus was immaculately groomed. His hair, still damp from the bath, was perfectly ordered. The folds of his robe fell with mathematical precision. But the faintly languid look in his eyes would have told the sharp-eyed Haman what he had been doing earlier, even if Haman had not already known.

During the years since first he had laid eyes upon Ahasuerus, jealousy had become Haman’s familiar demon. In Babylon he had been fiercely jealous of the small, tight-knit circle of the king’s boyhood friends. He had envied bitterly their ease with him, the beautiful ease of old friends who have known each other forever. But over time he had come to see that even Ahasuerus’ old friends had never breached the shell of reserve that lay between the king and the rest of the world. For all their undoubted comradeship, their obvious love of Ahasuerus, his essential self remained beyond their reach. It was this perception that stoked Haman’s burning desire to be the person who truly got close to the king.

Never before had he been jealous of a woman. Never before had he begrudged Ahasuerus his sexual pleasure. But never before had he seen Ahasuerus so bewitched. Haman was beginning to suspect that Esther might prove to be more of a rival than he had ever thought a woman could be.

He went now to kiss the king’s cheek in greeting. He stepped back and said, “I have been waiting for over an hour, my lord.

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