A Reluctant Queen (28 page)
Ahasuerus nodded his approval.
A tall, gaunt man with a narrow face and severe features approached the throne. He prostrated himself as soon as he reached the incense bearers.
“You may rise,” Ahasuerus said.
“My lord.” The man rose, glanced quickly at the king, and fell abruptly silent.
“Do you have something you wish to say to me?” Ahasuerus asked in what he hoped was an encouraging voice.
“Yes, my lord.” Akis visibly pulled himself together. He cleared his throat. “I have come as a representative of the Susa merchants to ask you to do something about the brigands who inhabit the road between Susa and Persepolis. For years we have been paying them tribute for free passage, but they have become bolder of late, robbing our caravans even though we have paid them not to.”
This was not something Ahasuerus was aware of. He frowned. “You are speaking of the Royal Road between Susa and Persepolis?”
“Yes, my lord. These brigands have taken over the heights of the Persian Gates and no one can get past them. I had two men killed there a month ago, my lord. That is why I have come to the Great King to beg for help.”
Two men killed? Ahasuerus’ frown deepened. “For how long has this been going on?”
“It is only in the last few months that they have begun to raid the caravans.”
“Yes, but for how long have you paid them tribute?”
“Forever, my lord. They are Mardians, and you know how Mardians are, my lord. They care for nothing but their own greed.”
“Was Darius aware of this problem?”
The reply was prompt. “My lord, Darius himself paid tribute for passage through the Persian Gates.”
Ahasuerus found this astonishing. “I did not know that.”
“You were gone in Babylon for many years, my lord. I would not have troubled you, my lord, but the Susa merchants will not be able to send their caravans along that road unless something is done about these brigands. And if we cannot use that road, our businesses will be severely wounded.”
Ahasuerus instantly made up his mind. “All of my subjects should be able to use all the Royal Roads without fear—and without having to pay bribes. I will see that this problem is taken care of.”
It was a moment before the merchant realized that his request had been granted. His face brightened. “Th-thank you, my lord.”
“I am glad that you called this problem to my attention. If you will wait until this audience is over, I will see that you are reimbursed for the goods that were taken from you.”
The merchant’s eyes widened. “Thank you, my lord!”
Ahasuerus nodded and looked at Haman, who called the next petitioner.
That evening at dinner Ahasuerus told Esther about his interview with Akis the Merchant. “I am going to have to send a regiment of cavalry to the Persian Gates to clear out the Mardians,” he concluded. “This is a situation I cannot tolerate.”
They were eating in the small dining room of the royal apartments. Ahasuerus looked forward to these intimate dinners with his wife; he often even shared some of his problems with her. He liked to hear her comments; she was clear thinking and he could count on her telling him what she thought, not what she thought he wanted to hear.
He said, “I cannot believe that my father actually paid tribute to them!”
Esther sipped her water, regarding him over the top of the cup with her beautiful large eyes. “They must be dangerous, these Mardians. I do not think Darius was the kind to pay if he did not have to.”
Ahasuerus gave a short laugh. She had perfectly captured his father in those few words. “That is certainly true.”
Esther put her water back on the table and the page hurried to refill the goblet.
“Thank you, Niki,” she said with a smile. The little boy’s face lit up and he smiled back.
Ahasuerus was slowly growing used to the way his wife treated servants. He looked at little Niki’s shining face, then back to Esther, who was now eating some lamb. He was relieved to see that her appetite seemed to be coming back. He had been waiting for weeks for her to tell him about the baby. He couldn’t imagine why she was keeping it a secret from him.
His mind returned to the morning’s session. “I cannot understand why so few people in Susa attend the Public Audience. In Babylon I always had a crowd.”
“They are probably afraid to come.” Esther patted her lips with a napkin.
He stared at her in astonishment. “Afraid? Why would they be afraid?”
Her eyes shimmered with amusement. “I saw you parading off this morning, my lord, all draped in purple and dripping with gold. You almost scared me.”
He frowned. What did she mean? Of course he would properly dress for an audience.
She continued, “Then you probably sit on your golden throne and surround yourself with all your royal paraphernalia.”
She looked at him for confirmation. “Of course,” he said with dignity. “They have come to see a king, not a shepherd.”
She nodded slowly. “You don’t think that, under the circumstances, an ordinary person would find it a trifle intimidating to approach you?”
He began to feel a little huffy. “That is how my father always held his Public Audience.”
“So I have heard. And how many people did Darius see?”
He liked it when Esther spoke her mind, but he liked it best when she agreed with him. “I held formal audiences when I was in Babylon and they were well attended,” he informed her.
Esther ate another slice of lamb and looked at him. “I’ll wager they were not as formal as the one you held this morning.”
“I was not the Great King then,” he retorted quickly.
“That is so. Now you are the Great King, and your people are so in awe of you that they do not feel comfortable coming to you with their problems.”
He knew she was right, which irritated him a little. “Do you expect me to entertain them by sitting cross-legged around a campfire?”
Esther chuckled. “I should dearly love to see it.”
A choking sound came from Niki. Ahasuerus ignored it.
Esther leaned toward him, the candlelight highlighting the warm glow of her skin. “I am not criticizing you, my lord. I am trying to explain to you why I think so few people attend your Public Audience.”
He sipped his wine and thought.
“Perhaps you are right,” he conceded after a while.
“Do you really want more people to attend? After all, you have more important things to think about than some trivial quarrel between a miller and his son.”
“I don’t like to think that my people are afraid to come to me.”
“Darius might have needed all the trappings of royalty to appear a king. You do not.” She smiled at him warmly. “Even sitting cross-legged around a campfire, my lord, no one would mistake you for other than what you are.”
He smiled back. She had made him feel better. She always did. He watched as she cut up an apple and thought that it looked quite tasty. She saw his look and handed him a slice. He ate it with enjoyment.
She said, “This idea of a Queen’s Guard seems to have gone over well with the younger eunuchs. I was talking to Hegai today and he sounded quite enthusiastic. They are all excited about choosing a uniform.”
“They do realize they are going to have to acquire some military skills?”
“Oh, yes.”
“And the older ones?”
“The older ones are mostly content as they are—as are the older women.”
He shook his head in amazement. “A contented harem. You do not know how impossible that sounds.”
“I am not saying that everyone is content, my lord.”
She had no idea what a miracle she had created. “To have
most
of them content is wonderful.”
“Well, we still have to find husbands for many of the younger girls. But we are working on it.”
“We?”
“Hegai, Muran, and I.”
“Excellent,” and he extended his hand for another slice of his wife’s apple.
A
hasuerus had not traveled the Royal Road that went from Susa up the mountains to Persepolis since he was a child. He remembered it as being like the other Royal Roads in the empire, paved in all but the steepest parts with a packed gravel surface. During the good weather the caravans were able to travel daily from one staging place to the next, transporting their goods from one part of the empire to the other and then beyond.
Darius had always prided himself upon the internal security of his empire. Under his rule, ordinary citizens could travel the Royal Roads without fear of bandits, and even when silver was being transported in bulk, a guard of ten men was considered to be sufficient escort. This is why Ahasuerus had been so surprised when he discovered that his father had been allowing the Mardians to collect tribute for safe passage through the Persian Gates.
The Persian Gates was the name given to the impregnable pass on the Royal Road that led to Persepolis. Ahasuerus remembered a narrow gorge cut through the mountain rock, with cliffs soaring sheer above it on either side. It would not take a large party of men on the heights of those cliffs to render the road impassable.
Ahasuerus studied the maps that were available of the area and spoke to several people who were familiar with the road. When he decided what his course of action would be, he summoned the commander of one of his premiere cavalry regiments to give him orders. The commander’s name was Cambyses.
Cambyses was surprised by the summons. He had just completed a successful tour commanding the cavalry at Sardis. He had only recently returned to court and had never met Ahasuerus. He dressed carefully in the cavalryman’s uniform of embroidered full-sleeved tunic and leather trousers, and presented himself somewhat nervously at the small reception room where the king conducted business.
The king looked perfectly at ease as he sat in an intricately carved chair, his immaculate white robes disposed in perfect folds around him. He wore a thin gold fillet around his brow and the silken fall of his hair shone in the light from the hanging lamp.
The king came directly to the point of the meeting. “I have discovered that the Mardians have been exacting tribute from my subjects in order to pass through the Persian Gates. I have also discovered that my father allowed this. I, however, do not like the fact that my roads are not open to all my subjects. This problem must be dealt with.”
Cambyses’ heart sank. He looked as levelly as he could at his king, who was a beautiful creature, certainly, but the cavalryman doubted if he knew much about the logistics of mountain warfare. He devoutly hoped that Ahasuerus was not going to ask him to clear the pass with one regiment of men!
He did his best to explain the reality of the situation. “It is true that Darius paid tribute to the Mardians, but it was because that pass is a death trap, my lord. The Mardians have held all the high territory along that part of the Royal Road for years. Believe me, it is much simpler to pay tribute than it would be to try to flush them out.” He added belatedly, “My lord.”
Ahasuerus said, “It appears, however, that the Mardians have grown greedier of late. I was told by one of our merchants that they have been taking the merchants’ tribute money and then attacking and robbing the caravans as well.”