The Royal Addition
960 Words
Xerxes turned to his wife. She had caught her breath. The general glanced at them to make sure the queen was alright and then went to follow Hegai and hang Haman.
He gently helped Hadassah to her feet, holding her flush against his chest once she was standing.
"What made you come back?" She asked practically in tears.
"I saw them," He said softly she smiled at that "I saw the stars" he added with a small smile on his face. He was amazed at how brave his wife was. She came before him un-summoned, knowing that her fate would be death and she confronted the man who was trying to kill her.
She smiled and then he pulled her in for a kiss. When they pulled away she continued to gaze into his eyes.
"Hadassah." He said softly with a smile.
Tears appeared in her eyes.
"Say it again." She whispered.
"Hadassah." He said again as the tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. He used his thumb to wipe them away.
They stood there in each other's embrace for a few moments and then she said "I must admit that telling you I was a Jew was not my only reason for bringing you here tonight" she said softly against his chest.
He pulled back to look into her eyes, "what is it?" He asked concerned.
She took his hand that was on her side brushing against her breast and held it against her lower abdomen.
"I am with child." She said softly with a smile on her face.
A grin broke across his face as he glanced at his hand which was touching where their child was growing.
"Have you seen the physician yet?" He asked urgently.
"No." She said softly. "I was in fear of my own life, I knew that once you left and named Haman in charge he would start his g******e of the Jews. I knew that my uncle would be first to die and that I would soon follow."
"Your uncle?" He asked.
"Mordecai is my uncle" She said quietly "he raised me after a Haman killed my parents when I was a young girl." She said tears coming to her eyes "he didn't know that they had a child because I was hiding under my bed when he slaughtered them."
"Oh, Hadassah why didn't you tell me of any of this?" He said cupping her cheeks in his hands.
"I feared for my life, on the night I was taken from my home Mordecai told me that it was too dangerous for me to be a Jew, especially in the palace. So he said that if I was taken I would say my name was Esther, Esther of Susa."
"Why not tell me once we were wed?" He asked.
"On the day you returned from battle, Mordecai came to warn me that Haman had been made a prince and that he intended to slay the Jews at the first chance he got. I met him in the gardens near the lover's gate which is when I must have dropped the necklace." She said looking down at the designs on the fabric across her husband's chest.
"That was your uncle?" He questioned.
"I thought you were being unfaithful when I saw it was you embracing a man at the secret lover's gate." He said his shoulders sagging in relief.
"No" Hadassah said with a grin, "it was merely my uncle coming to warn me that I could not reveal myself" she looked into his eyes "he sent word again once he had discovered that when you left you would name Haman in charge. He wanted to tell me that I had to be brave, I had to go to you even though you said I was not to come to you again, that night in the library. That I had to stop Haman before it was too late for the Jews, and that my title alone would not save me." She said tears in her eyes "I intended to approach you after court but I had run out of time so I ran through the rain and into court."
"Oh Hadassah" He said softly, emotion seeping into his voice.
"Hegai tried to stop me, he told me that I was not going to the bedroom of a man I was going into the hall of a king and it would be me against protocol." She said wrapping her arms behind his neck "but I had to or I would surely die once you left for war."
"But you are here, alive." He said capturing her lips again in a searing kiss.
At that moment he remembered that she had fallen twice and the baby may have been harmed.
"Hadassah you must see a physician at once." He said pulling away.
"What?" She questioned, confused.
"You have fallen twice today, once you fainted." He said leading her through the curtains and onto the palace path.
"Oh" she said remembering the pain she had felt "when I fell in court, I felt a pain." She said worry seeping into her voice.
"What?" he asked stopping abruptly.
Concern was etched into his face. He hoped that their child would be okay. He had yet to produce an heir. He had lain with the previous queen but he had never tried to produce and heir before. Yet with Hadassah he couldn't be more happy that she was with child, half of him and half of her.
"I just remember a pain in my lower abdomen when I stood up I felt it, but I had to leave court because I broke protocol and I was putting you in a bad position." She said looking down.
- Writer
