EIGHT: Queen Candidate pt 2

The pages of Persia's early history were colored red with blood.

Wars dotted the Great Empire's timeline, both within and without the country's borders.

In the beginning, many people worshiped the God of Abraham. They prayed to Him for strength in battle and praised Him for their victory. They lived simple lives focused on protecting their families and serving Abraham's God.

Over time, however, eras of prosperity grew longer and wars grew infrequent. Those who had spent their days worshiping and fearing for their lives now found themselves with an abundance--both of time and wealth.

Kings turned their backs on the God of Abraham, and the people followed. The dozens of prophets who used to commune with God on behalf of the people all but disappeared.

Simply put, religion had gone out of style.

Over time, the remaining Believers migrated away from the cities of Persia, gathering with their families in the countrysides of the Empire.

At that point, the God of Abraham no longer had a significant place among the Great Empire's pages of history. Events continued to unfold--the succession of Kings, expansion of trade, and construction of glorious buildings--all without mention of the strange fringe groups of Believers.

By the time the twelfth King of Persia, King Ahasuerus, took the throne, little was known or cared to be known about the Despised Clans living in the shadows of the Empire.

As a result, the rift between Believers and non-believers had grown as wide as a chasm. Persian women valued the arts: musical performances, poetry and exotic paintings, while women from the Despised Clans valued labor: cooking, cleaning and rearing children.

Mordecai recognized immediately that Esther would stick out among the other Queen Candidates.

She was soft spoken, humble and hard working. She knew nothing of fashion or music. Her table manners were unrefined, and her hands were calloused.

Within the fifty days that had been allotted for the clans residing in Shushan to present their candidates, Mordecai would have to turn his pure and virtuous niece into a woman of Persia.

Later on, he would curse himself for not sending Esther away sooner and protecting her from this fate.

But, for now, there was no time to wallow in the bitterness of what might have been. Like he'd lectured Esther, he also had to be strong.

There was no other choice.

"The first thing you must learn is proper character," Mordecai instructed his niece as she sat across from him. "Rather than a woman who has lived simply her whole life, you must resemble a woman who is cultured in the ways of Shushan."

"What does that mean?" Esther questioned. "How does one change their character?"

"For starters, relax your shoulders," her uncle instructed. "Move your hands around as you speak, and laugh loudly."

Esther clumsily attempted to follow the man's directions.

She let her shoulders sag and unclasped her neatly folded hands while trying to let out a loud giggle.

Mordecai sighed and shook his head.

"You're so quiet and graceful," he remarked. "It's not necessarily a bad thing, but too much of it can draw attention to you."

"And I don't want to draw attention?" Esther wondered.

"Absolutely not!" Mordecai slammed his fists into the table. "You could be bullied by those unsavory women or worse!"

"Oh," Esther swallowed. "I'll practice the behavior you taught me."

"Be conscious of your every position and movement starting from this moment," Mordecai went on. "Try your best to look confident--haughty even."

"Haughty?" Esther frowned. "To act in such a way is a sin-"

"I told you to forget all of that!" Mordecai interrupted.

Esther's distress must have been evident in her eyes, because the man soon added, "just for now."

"Just for now, Esther," he repeated. "It's critical that nobody discovers the fact that you are a Believer."

"But won't they know I am the candidate from the Despised Clan anyway?" Esther responded, beginning to feel even more unnerved.

"I've pulled some strings," Mordecai answered quietly. "Your arrival at the palace won't be announced. Only the paperwork will know the truth."

Esther's eyes widened in shock.

Her uncle had only heard the news today, yet he had planned so far ahead already.

Perhaps, the Royal Palace was a much scarier place than he'd ever led her to believe.

"I'll do as you say, Esteemed Uncle," Esther finally gave in, still feeling in the pit of her stomach that it was wrong.

She tried her best to smile, pushing the unsettling feeling down.

Even as her gut was screaming that abandoning her identity was a vile sin before Abraham's God, she decided to put her trust in the man who had not once let her down over the past twelve years.

"What else do I need to learn?"

Mordecai looked relieved at his niece's compliance, and eagerly shoved a pile of scrolls across the table.

"Come. There's much left to learn."

Over the next several weeks, Mordecai and Esther remained cooped up inside their tiny clay house. Mordecai had been granted time away from the palace to prepare his clan's candidate, and he intended to make the most of it.

From dawn until well into the night, they worked. Dancing, literacy, trends, table manners, history--they went over all of it.

Esther was a bright child. She learned quickly, and oftentimes surprised him with her sharpness.

But still, he worried.

When Esther fell asleep in her bed, exhausted physically and mentally from another day of candidate education, he spent hours on his knees, pleading with Abraham's God for another miracle in the child's life.

"She has been saved from death twice in her infancy," he begged, eyes turned upward. "Please, spare this child once more!"

Eventually, the hottest part of summer passed by, and members of the Despised Clan wondered what happened to the beloved uncle and niece pair.

For many of them, they would never see the loveable young girl ever again.

When the forty-ninth night came, another young girl passed discreetly through the neighborhood streets--a girl none of them recognized, escorted by Mordecai.

Dressed in shimmering plum silks and golden trinkets, the girl looked like she came from a different world, one far beyond the dreary streets of the Despised Clan.

The time had come for Esther to report at the palace.