The Song of the Keepers

Chapter 5 The Ceremony

Daaow popped back into the library some time later, still grinning like a Cheshire Cat.

"Hey, you guys want something to eat? You've been at it for hours!"

"Sounds great, I'm famished!"
Kairos exclaimed, sticking her head out from around a bookshelf.

"I could eat."
Vienna commented.

"I just found this fascinating research paper by a Robert-"
Jasper's muffled reply came.

"Translation: he'll eat later."
Kairos interrupted with an eye roll.

"Astrid?"
Daaow prompted.

"Hmm?"
I asked, not having paid much attention to the conversation around me.

"Food?"
He repeated.

"Nah, I'll get something in a bit."
I responded, turning back to my reading.

"Suit yourself. Come on you two, I'll show you where to get the best meal in the Topaz Mountains."

The door clicked shut behind the three of them as they left and time once again ticked by quietly. I found myself enthralled with a small book out of the sixty-six in the manuscript called Esther.

The book chronicled the story of a Jewish woman named Hadassah, better known by her Persian name, Esther. A side note marked that she had likely changed her name to hide her Jewish heritage. When the King of Persia deposed of his queen, Vashti, he summoned all the beautiful women in the land to choose from them a new queen. Esther found favor in his sight and became the next Queen of Persia, the King not knowing she was a Jew.

Some time later, the King's highest-ranking official, Haman, plotted to kill the Jewish people. Mordecai, Esther's much older cousin who had raised her like a daughter, pleaded with Esther to approach the King and attempt to save all their lives.

"If you keep silent at this time, liberation and deliverance will come to the Jewish people from another place, but you and your father's house will be destroyed. Who knows, perhaps you have come into your royal position for such a time as this."
I read softly.

The words struck me, though I wasn't of a Jewish descent trying to save my people for mass execution, I was an Itovian fighting for the freedom of my people from the bondage they had been living under. Was some fate, perhaps even a God, placing me as a Keeper, "for such a time as this?" It was an intriguing thought, even if it was probably preposterous.

Esther had been brave enough to approach the King under penalty of death and through a clever plan, she was able to reveal to him her Jewish heritage and the threat to her and her people's lives by Haman. The King was outraged and hung Haman by the gallows that Haman himself had built to hang Mordecai, his chief enemy among the Jews.

I rather liked the ending, it had a sense of poetic justice to it. I re-read the story twice, noticing several different details each time. The one I found most interesting, was there was no direct mention of God throughout the entire book. He was certainly alluded to it and hinted at, but never once was his name included. In a way, I found that more interesting than the other books that named him multiple times in a single chapter. It seemed to be a testament to his power, that he could orchestrate events behind the scenes even in the lives of those who didn't believe in him.

"Cato, do you know the meaning of the name Hadassah? It's Hebrew."

Cato glanced up from his studying, with a frown across his features.

"Let me check something."

I waited patiently 'til he returned, another book in hand.

"Ah yes, here we are. Hadassah means compassion."