Queen of Persia

A New Beginning

I allowed the golden sun to burn on my skin as I gently tied the window curtains. The luxurious life of the rich and royal was above my standards I thought. The sunlight glistened through the window, giving the room a divine beauty. It was not long before I was commanded by one of the guards to reunite with Hegai and the rest of the candidates who were intolerably finishing up their morning meal downstairs. Not to mention, the palace meals were like home made annual feasts.

“First day of month one ladies,” Hegai squealed in delight as all the ladies gathered in the royal hall. “some of you missed breakfast,” I saw him glance over at me at the corner of his eyes.

I smiled sheepishly. First day and I already hit strike one.

“But that's just fine. We will be banqueting at noon. Ladies, look around,” he twirled gracefully, “And be in awe of the palace, for it will be your home for the year. And for one of you, forever.”

A few girls giggled behind me.

"I'm ecstatic for you guys!' he grinned, "this is a very exciting, yet very rare opportunity. A queen is not someone that is quickly trained. A queen is born a queen, and are usually raised in royalty. That is why I want you ladies to understand how important this process is. You will be taught to walk, talk, act, eat, dress, reason, rule, and breath like a queen," he sat on a stool behind him. "Any questions ladies?"

He noticed our empty expressions.

“It's okay, you'll love me very soon. Now,” he clapped. “Let us get straight into it! There are 40 of you. 20 group of ladies  will go in for treatment and 20 will stay to work on flower bouquets that will be hanged around the palace on selection day. We switch after an hour. If I call you by name, please go through the back room where you will retrieve women who are trained just for your treatment. They will give you shower robes and instruct you in your own personal warm tub of myrrh. They will treat you and wash you in the myrrh until satisfied, but if I don’t call your name, everything you need for your bouquet is behind you. Make your selections and get started. This is how it will look for the next 12 months- 20 ladies will be going in for treatment, 20 will stay and do workshops. We will switch things up a bit some days. It gets interesting as time approaches. Well ladies,” he grinned, “Enjoy your first day. Every personal needs or issues are addressed with me. We shall meet at noon. Listen for your names now.”

I was not called for the tub of myrrh. I smiled at the beautiful purple rose as I inhaled its scent and gathered the rest of my flowers to begin my bouquet. I gently sat on the nice cozy red carpet, as did the other girls, and began carving into my flowers. After 10 minutes of peaceful silence, I was interrupted.

“Wow,” exclaimed a sing-song voice, "very interesting."

I looked up at one of the candidates.

“How did you do that?” She sat herself and her flowers besides me

“The carving in the flower?” I scoffed. “I really don't know.”

“What’s your name?” she asked.

You shall now be called Esther, my uncle's voice replayed in my mind.

“Esther,” I nodded. “That’s my name.”

“Well Esther,” she smiled. “I’m Zara. And I represent Lord Haman, my father. Who do you represent?”

“Lord Mordecai, my uncle.”

“You know my father told me to expect all of this.”

“You knew that young women would be taken captive to the palace?” I raised a brow.