EIGHTEEN: Restless pt 2

When the trio arrived back at the House of Women, Esther immediately dispatched a maid to seek Lord Hegai.

Afterward, she settled down on a cushion in her room to rest for a while.

"Excuse me, My Lady," one of the light-haired maids approached her as she sat. "Do you plan to wait here until you hear back from the Lord?"

It was obvious the girl desired nothing less than the idea of watching Esther waste time sitting around her room yet again

"No, I won't," Esther responded, causing the girl to breathe a sigh of relief. "Please help me change my attire."

The maid's face lit up even more at Esther's request.

"Of course, My Lady!" She gushed. 'What kind of clothes would you like to wear now?"

"Something comfortable and pretty," Esther answered. "I believe I will attend that tea party you mentioned to me earlier."

While the remaining maids squealed with delight, crowding around Esther, an unlucky dark-haired girl was sent to relay the message to the Queen Candidate hosting the party that Esther would be attending.

If the 'tea party' turned out to be anything like the last one, Esther would have to be prepared to make another premature exit. Just the thought of it made her shudder with apprehension.

Still, she could no longer lounge about wasting all the hours of the day. Since cooking and cleaning were obviously not options for a Queen Candidate to pass the time, and she had yet to obtain permission to explore the enticing record hall, she figured attending a party was the only thing left to do.

She knew right away that Mordecai would have been against it. In fact, she could almost hear his voice cautioning her to stay put in her room, away from all the eyes and ears of the House of Women.

Yet, although her appearance had changed greatly, she was still the young, energetic, and curious girl she had been months previously.

And she couldn't quite muster the self control to stay put.

Unlike her Uncle, or what she imagined of her Uncle, Baara seemed to approve of her choice and was relieved to see her master partaking in ordinary activities for young women.

"I think you will find the company of other girls similar in age and situation quite stimulating," the handmaiden explained as they later found themselves walking toward the second best place in the House of Women.

"Stimulating.." Esther echoed, imagining the dancing and laughter from last time. "At the very least, it should be that."

The tea party this time, however, turned out to be exactly what it was called--an ordinary tea party.

Esther had not realized until she saw the girl, but the Queen Candidate residing in the second best place in the House of Women had been one of the few to disappear rather than attending the party in the garden.

It seemed this small get together was her way of making a statement regarding the behavior of the other candidates.

"Greetings, Queen Candidate of the best place."

All the earlier arrivals bowed graciously and welcomed Esther as she entered the room.

"Thank you for receiving me," Esther replied, praying there was no trace in her expression of the awkwardness she felt at being the center of attention.

As she took a look at her surroundings, she thought the second best place in the House of Women seemed practically identical to the best place. Because Esther had a rather inexperienced eye when it came to places of luxury, she could not discern a single difference aside from the layout of the furniture and style of decorations.

Perhaps, rather than size and lavishness, the ranking of the places of the House were based on proximity to the Lord, himself--Esther's room being the closest.

As she seated herself at the long table, the first right hand seat to the head, she noticed something else.

Among the thirty total Queen Candidates, only seven or so were present. Additionally, the table looked to be set for a maximum of nine people, so refusal of invitation wasn't to blame for the small number of guests.

Rather, it seemed only a few of the Queen Candidates had received an invitation in the first place.

Upon her discovery, Esther slowly drew her gaze to the woman at the head of the table, the candidate hosting the party, hoping to ascertain what kind of woman she was and why she had only selected certain candidates for her gathering.

The woman's wavy golden hair was partially pinned up similar to the way Esther's had been done. Her attire was neat but not terribly remarkable, and her steady green eyes refused to betray the intentions hiding behind them.

Instead, Esther turned to look around the table where she was met with the faces of high-ranked candidates and low-ranked candidates alike. Some had been partaking in alcohol and dancing at the garden party, and some had not.

The commonality could be that the women all came from prominent clans in Shushan, but Esther would be at least one exception in that case.

Mordecai had done well keeping her true origins hidden, but it was clear she came from a middle-ring clan of no consequence.

Therefore, with what intentions had the Queen Candidate of the second best place made her decisions?

"My name is Habeth, and I'd like to thank you all for attending my little gathering today," the lovely golden-haired woman spoke just as Esther was thinking of her. "I hope we can all get to know each other a little better and enjoy ourselves."

A wave of assenting murmurs spread around the table, each candidate echoing the head's sentiments. Then, at the clap of the head's hands, tea and small desserts began to be served.

As other girls began to turn to their seating neighbors with polite smiles and small talk, Habeth turned to Esther.

"I hear you hail from the middle ring of Shushan," she remarked. "Did you know? My clan also hails from the middle ring."

"Is that so?" Esther replied. "I had not realized we had that in common."

As they continued making cordial chatter, Esther found that Habeth, the Queen Candidate of the second best place, was not as calculating as she first imagined her to be.

Her words and well wishes were teeming with sincerity, and her smile emitted a genuine warmth that Esther had not expected to feel from the other Queen Candidates.

Kind.

Habeth was kind.

"There are so many clans in the middle ring, we could not possibly hope to recognize each other's," Habeth spoke, "but I hope from now on, we can view each other as friends and allies."

"Of course," Esther couldn't help but mirror the woman's infectious smile.

"There is that clan, however, in the middle ring of the city."

One of the women sitting nearby had overheard Habeth's words.

"That clan?" another of the candidates questioned, drawing even greater attention to the conversation between Esther and Habeth.

"The despised clan," the woman who had first interrupted spoke again.

"You've both been so forthcoming, so I don't suppose either of you are from that appalling place?"