Shadow of Night

Esther’s heels clicked and clacked down the hallway as she made way for the throne room. Everyone’s eyes were on her as whispers snaked around her gorgeous figure. The red ball gown she wore cascaded down her body in beautiful scarlet rivulets. Her hair was tied up in a mess of braids and curls, slicked back with a single golden pin. The icing on the cake was what lay beneath the dress itself. The single dagger that was strapped to her leg twisted in its sheath as she glided down the ebony hallways, the marble floor glistening under the moonlight. Esther had a single mission, and a couple of blank stares thrown her way weren’t going to stop her.

The massive double doors lay waste in front of her, the king undoubtedly on the other side. Without focusing on the people behind her, she still knew what they muttered.

“Is she mad?”

“No one but the King is allowed in the throne room unannounced.”

“He’ll have her head!”

Esther had been uncertain a lot of times in her life but if she was certain about one thing, it was that she was Esther, and she would not be afraid. The guards stepped in front of her, their hands grasping the hilts of their blades.

“You know the rules, Lady Esther. No visitors unless summoned by the King himself.”

“It’s Queen Esther to you. Let me through and there will be no trouble.”

Esther kept still, her chin turned up. She peered down at them through thick eyelashes, as if they were mere children. The guards shared a mutual look of fear and confusion. Then with bowed heads, they stepped aside. Another round of gasps shot through the silent hall. Esther did not bother looking back as the two golden doors opened. She took in the grand elegance of the throne room. The columns in front of the throne seemed to shoot sky-high, the ceiling decorated with mosaics of flying babies with feathery wings on their backs, the crystal floor that stared back at her, and the king, who regarded her with a look of pure hatred.

“Dearest Esther,” the King moved forward, his demeanor wavering. “Must you make a fool of yourself?”

The smile that tugged at Esther’s slips was purely feline. “Whatever do you mean?”

“Don’t patronize me, girl.”

Esther didn’t answer, she just glided forward and placed a delicate finger on the scepter at his side. The finger was adorned with the jewel he gifted her on her coronation. The jewel that promised a long life of love and sovereignty.

“You won’t kill me, Xerxes.”

He sighed. “The law is the law.”

“And love is love,” she countered. At that he did look up, his royal features replaced by a look of hurt.

“You do not love me,” he whispered. “You do not love me, Esther and that is okay because I get to love you and that is enough.”

Esther gazed down at him on his throne. She had no regard for a man’s whimpering pleas. She would never love him. He took her from her home, the only family she had. He allowed her to face abuse at the hands of his own second-in-command. She would never love that man.

“Then you’ll kill him.”

King Xerxes looked up, eyes wide.

“Esther, we mustn’t speak of such things. The people will already question why I won’t have you killed for breaking the law and meeting me here. I will not have my reputation tainted by senseless murder plots.”

A crack in Esther’s cool demeanor finally revealed itself. The slightest bit of twitching at her eye. Raw, white-hot rage seeped through her pores.

“Xerxes,” she muttered through gritted teeth, not bothering with royal titles. “Your second...Haman,” she spat his name like a curse.

“He threatens the only family that I have. And while you dance at these banquets and drink yourself mad, he beats me in the shadowed halls and dark corners. You turn a blind eye, fearing what the people will say if you exile everyone’s beloved. You don’t love me. You love the crown and yourself. You only care about what benefits you. That is not love and you know it.” Her breaths came out ragged as she finished.

Light tears ripped from Xerxex’s dark brown eyes. The same eyes that looked upon her and decided that she would be his queen all those months ago. She would give him no benefit of the doubt.

“Kill him, Xerxes. Or I will, and I will be gone by sunset. A mere shadow of night. The people will riot in the streets with no one to blame but yourself. Your reputation will be tainted enough and they will kill you where you stand in your own home.”

A knock sounded at the door and Xerxes looked past Esther’s shoulders. She did not turn around for she knew who it was.

“What is the meaning of this?” Xerxes demanded.

“I heard the Queen stepped into the throne room unannounced and came as soon as the news reached my chambers,” Haman’s gravelly voice rang through her ears. It was as if a blade had pierced them. Esther fought to keep the tight frown on her face.

Haman glided down the long hall and met her gaze. “You know the law, Esther. People are outraged,” a glance at the king, “We will need to plan for her execution-”

“We will do no such thing,” Xerxes shot back, rising from his throne. He was a whole head taller than Haman and Haman had stretch to look up at him.

“My apologies, your highness but the council will-”

“I am aware of what the council will do.” Esther watched as the King slowly unsheathed his longsword, Truthseeker. The dark hilt was inscribed with an old Hebrew quote that read, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them.”

Fitting, Esther scoffed.

“You cannot execute her here, Your Highness. It will be too messy,” Haman warned. King Xerxes’ face was a battle of emotions. His eyes were riddled with anger, sorrow, disdain...fear. He feared what Esther was capable of.

Haman gulped as King Xerxes narrowed the sword at his throat, blade meeting flesh in a cool kiss.

“Your Highness,” King Xerxes pressed the blade further, drawing blood that stained the crystalline floor.

“Silence, Haman,” he said. Haman’s eyes made their way across to Esther’s steely, unwavering gaze. He saw nothing but satisfaction.

“You...” he muttered. Esther stepped forward until her face was only inches away from his.

Her voice was liquid flame when she spoke. “You should’ve killed me when you had the chance.”

And before King Xerxes had the chance to use his blade, Esther clutched at the dagger under her dress and plunged it into Haman’s chest. Steel met tendon and bone, flesh and blood. Haman could not speak as she wrenched the dagger free, blood spurting from his mouth.

King Xerxes looked away and dropped his blade to the floor. The clang of metal on the crystal was the only noise as Haman crumpled to his knees, eyes devoid of life.

Esther merely wiped the blade clean on her scarlet gown and smiled once more at King Xerxes. He didn’t face her as she spoke.

“You will arrange for a horse to meet me by the garden’s outskirts in an hour. My things have already been packed.”

Then she was gone, a ghost in the dim hall where Haman lay. She was a wisp of wind, a shadow of night.

END.