One Night with the King Page #4

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Yes. That's what we shall call you

from now on.

Esther of Susa.

Promise me.

Promise me if you are taken.

I said, "If I am taken."

If, if, if.

But for now,

you should look for me

in the streets of Jerusalem,

dancing

like David before the glory of the Lord.

- Hadassah!

- Who?

Uncle Mordecai!

(GASPS)

MORDECAI:
Is this the way

the King's orders are carried out?

Senseless brutality

in the middle of the night?

Father, please show us favor

and turn these dungeons

into someplace wonderful.

Is this the dungeon part

or the wonderful part?

(ALL GASP)

Look!

Sarah, it matches your eyes.

Have you ever found anything

so wonderful in your life?

And Hannah,

was it not made for you?

Am I never going to see my mother again?

Only if you wish not to.

Two, three days, and who knows?

Home you go.

Do you think we're not beautiful enough

to be asked to stay, Hadassah?

Welcome to a brand-new life.

The method of your arrival

was not of my choosing.

I am Hagai, His Majesty's Royal Eunuch.

I have been assigned

to oversee your preparation.

All right, it's okay.

(GIRL SCREAMS)

MAN:
Don't let them escape. Kill them all.

Which way to the quarter of the Jews?

(GIRL SCREAMS)

(GIGGLING)

You have a very bad habit.

The palace is no place for children.

You think of me as a child?

Well, you're wrong.

I am much younger than that.

How do they call you?

- Esther.

- Curious name.

From where do you come?

I am of the wind

whose sound is heard, yet none can tell

from whence it comes or where it goes.

Well, we gather within the hour.

Try not to blow away before then.

Another 4,000 talents

for metal, weapons, armor.

And we must not forget

the pay of the mercenaries.

I know this is not a favored opinion,

but if used for peaceful purposes,

such amounts could serve many needs.

Two different ways of life are involved.

The Greeks have no king

and they want none.

It is one thing to beat our chests

and parade our boldness

pretending this is

still the empire of our fathers.

But you hear the costs

of an actual campaign!

If we are not honest with ourselves,

I fear we lose much more

than just our stature.

Then, let us sit back and do nothing?

Let the Greeks conquer.

Let them establish democracy.

Would not the King be the first to suffer,

the first to die?

Or does the memory of his father's death

not stir as deep in his bones

as it does in ours?

I speak to you as one

not without empathy.

I, too, have stood in the battle

and stared into the unknown.

For the very sword that took my eye

took from me my manhood as well.

But be at peace.

This is no warfare that you embark upon.

This is only the life

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