Chosen: The Lost Diaries of Queen Esther by Garrett Ginger

Author:Garrett, Ginger [Garrett, Ginger]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Christian, Historical
ISBN: 9781576836514
Publisher: NavPress
Published: 2005-06-05T06:00:00+00:00

35

Sixth Day of Month of Adar

Eighth Year of the Reign of Xerxes

Year 3399 after Creation

I don’t know where to start.

Life can change so fast. Lightning can destroy in an instant, but it also illuminates.

It felt so good to be back among the people. I wanted to inhale their scents, memorize every face, and touch them somehow, to carry part of them back with me to my confining quarters. But I was in the royal seating box next to the seat of Xerxes. His royal seat was surrounded by the officers of the court, with Prime Minister Haman on his left and the nobles of each province in the rows beneath our feet. Haman stood to welcome the people, and to queue the musicians for a most majestic greeting of King Xerxes.

Acrobats came leaping and tumbling out of the stadium doors, followed by young girls tossing flowers on the ground, a carpet of petals for Xerxes to tread. I couldn’t help but wonder if these young girls were the newest arrivals to his harem. But then the Immortals came through the doors, and they are a sight that can make one cold even in the noonday sun. Their helmets of bronze cast strange shadows across their eyes. Their enormous shields are as tall as their shoulders, and their spears are as ornate as any woman’s jewelry. Most feature the sign of the double lion’s head, or dragon’s horns curling upon themselves. The Immortals also wear richly ornamented robes. (How easy it must have been to distinguish between warriors during the battles with Greece—Mordecai once told me the Greek men often fight nude!) The crowd grew quiet, and for a moment, all I could hear were the heavy treads of an army. The last man entered now, leading a camel to the center of the stadium. I was confused for a moment why such a beast would be brought. Surely no one would fight the plodding creature.

An Immortal stepped forward and gave a command, and the beast knelt. The men circled around it, and slit its throat. Red blood spurted into the air against the blue Persian sky. Each Immortal stepped forward and dipped his sword in the blood, raising it high above his head, before running to a place along the wall of the stadium as the poor animal’s body was dragged away. The men were lining the walls, each ready to fight or, if not called, ready to ensure the other warriors fought to the death.

Then Xerxes entered, being drawn in a gold chariot, looking radiant in his crown and robes. The people screamed for him, and he tossed gold coins in high arcs in every direction. While Xerxes was circling the stadium, enjoying the crowd, I noticed the young girls giggling and pointing shyly to Haman near me. It was true, Haman was as handsome as the palace rumors had led us all to believe. I tried to smile at the girls, remembering their age of innocence.

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