King Xerxes & The Exiled Queen

00:00:00 Speaker 1: Previously on The Chosen People The city of David had fallen silent, covered in darkness, hope flickering feebly beneath the ruins. Rough ropes bound the children of Israel as they stumbled forward, each step a grim reminder of their stolen freedom. This is what we've taken in five years. 00:00:25 Speaker 2: Saris, Ekbatan, Asusa, from the mountains to the sea my armies have marched. 00:00:30 Speaker 1: Mercy hides in margins. The god who once thundered from Sinai knows how to set a table, even in Babylon. Ash still covered Zion like a burial cloth. Bones still littered the valley. The temple was still gone, the king was blind, the ark was missing, the songs were faint. But hope, hope was eating dinner in Babylon, and the Lord was not done, not even close. In the heart of the world's greatest empire, power was not whispered. It was shouted from palace rooftops and poured into ornate goblets. And King Xerxes was not a man of half measures. For 180 days he wined and dined the nobles and officials of his empire, impressing them with his wealth, his dominion and his unstoppable might. Almost 15,000 of the most important men from King Xerxes' 127 provinces in the Empire of Persia, from India to Kush, came to feast with the king. The banquet was endless. For nearly six months, the capital city of Susa saw the glorious wealth of King Xerxes' kingdom on full display. Decadence abounded. Politics and treaties were discussed over broiled meats, hot baths, fine wines and palace prostitutes. It was power on display. Xerxes was a man of indulgence, yes, but also a man of remarkable tact. He used these events to test loyalties, securing alliances and collect rumours. When it was all done and the officials from the far corners of the empire had gone home, King Xerxes invited the people of Susa, the great and the small, to join in the revelry for another seven days of feasting. Silk banners billowed in the warm summer air, their edges catching the glow of intricately hammered bronze oil lamps. Solid gold couches adorned with plush cushions lined the palace gardens, nestled beneath twisting vines and the fragrant blooms of imported flowers. A menagerie of exotic animals roamed freely, captivating the guests. Brilliant birds with iridescent plumes and stilt-like legs flitted through the trees, while pygmy deer and docile reptiles meandered about. It was a marvel, it was a show, it was power on display. And at the center of it all, drinking in the admiration, sat King Xerxes himself. Surrounded by his admirers and his seven loyal eunuchs, he basked in his own greatness, utterly assured that nowhere, for thousands upon thousands of miles, was there anyone, Who would dare question him? 00:04:06 Speaker 3: Have you seen such a kingdom? Such splendor? Such a king? No, no, not a king. 00:04:23 Speaker 4: A god! 00:04:25 Speaker 1: The applause washed over him. Satisfied, Xerxes leaned back. stretching lazily upon his throne. Then, suddenly, he straightened as a thought struck him. 00:04:39 Speaker 3: My friends, you have seen my wealth, you have seen my empire, but you have not yet seen my greatest treasure. 00:04:49 Speaker 1: He smirked at the men around him, both prominent and plain. Being king came with many advantages, but there was one that was perhaps the most advantageous. 00:05:01 Speaker 3: Of all, Bring me Queen Vashti. 00:05:05 Speaker 1: Surprise rippled through the nobleman. As king, Xerxes could have any woman he desired. Men tripped over themselves to offer their most beautiful daughters. Every nobleman was eager for the power a royal marriage would bring. Queen Vashti was more than a renowned beauty. She was a strategic match. Her family was powerful. and wealthy, but Xerxes was no ordinary husband. He was the king of the greatest empire on earth, and it was this thought that inspired his next. 00:05:44 Speaker 3: Tell her to wear her royal crown. Let my guests behold the jewel of Persia. 00:05:52 Speaker 1: There was a dangerous frivolity to this request. Emboldened by the wine, the men hollered and laughed like teenagers at the thought of the Queen of Persia parading before them in her crown. Across the palace, a similar, albeit more subdued, banquet was being held for the women of Queen Vashti's court. Queen Vashti was seated slightly above them all. She was regal, composed. a woman accustomed to power. Vashti's keen, politically savvy senses picked up on approaching footsteps down the hall from their gathering. They were heavy and authoritative. Queen Vashti arched a brow as she turned her head and saw that her suspicions were confirmed. A messenger from the king slowed his pace as he approached the knot of noble women around Queen Vashti. The man hesitated, as if unsure of how to proceed, and the other women hushed as they took notice of his approach. The messenger bowed. 00:07:05 Speaker 5: Your Majesty, the king summons you. He's demanded you come at once. 00:07:12 Speaker 1: Queen Vashti assessed him in her severe and exacting way. Though she didn't indicate that she noticed, she reveled internally at the man. struggling not to shrink under the intensity of her gaze. 00:07:27 Speaker 6: To what end? Why so immediate? 00:07:30 Speaker 5: To display your beauty before the noblemen, and to wear your royal crown. 00:07:35 Speaker 1: The words assaulted Queen Vashti like a slap to the face. A concubine was acquired for beauty and spectacle, but not a wife, not a queen. The request was beyond insulting to Vashti's noble birth and royal status. Her eyes narrowed, and anger thrashed against her carefully crafted mask of indifference. 00:08:02 Speaker 6: My husband asks that I parade the symbol of my status before the court? 00:08:10 Speaker 1: The messenger winced at the undercurrent of anger in her non-question. 00:08:15 Speaker 3: Yes, your majesty. 00:08:17 Speaker 6: My husband would. Your Majesty. 00:08:19 Speaker 1: Vashti's most loyal handmaiden placed a gentle hand on her elbow. Hetak, Vashti's advisor, gave her a stern look of warning as well. The king's words were law over customs and etiquette, but Vashti's pride was too wounded and her anger too stoked to turn back now. In her mind, she could see the entire room of drunken men jeering and gawking, and her standing there, crown on her head, stripped of dignity. She might as well parade in there naked and dance on their table. The blood roared in her ears. She fixed the messenger with a lethal, predatory stare and gave her answer. 00:09:07 Speaker 6: Tell the king no. 00:09:09 Speaker 1: The air in the chamber shifted. The messenger flinched as if struck. 00:09:15 Speaker 5: My queen. 00:09:16 Speaker 1: Vashti met his gaze, unwavering, unshaken. She heard more than saw her handmaiden's gasp and shrink back in fear. 00:09:28 Speaker 6: My answer is no. 00:09:30 Speaker 1: The messenger lingered, uncertain. Then, realizing there was no room for negotiation in her answer, he turned and hurried from the chamber. The doors closed behind him. The air in the chamber remained tense, but Vashti's closest handmaid plucked up her courage and asked the question they were all thinking. 00:09:54 Speaker 6: Your Majesty, what will the king do? What will happen to you? 00:09:59 Speaker 1: Vashti inhaled deeply, steadying herself for the fallout to come. Her husband was not a man who was accustomed to being denied anything. Vashti and Xerxes had that in common. 00:10:16 Speaker 6: If the king is so eager to parade me like a spectacle, then reason has left him. I will not be degraded to the status of a concubine, or a common entertainer he can summon at will. I am the queen of Persia, and if my husband wishes to strip me of that title, he can come and take the crown from my head himself. 00:10:42 Speaker 1: And with that, she made her choice. a declaration of will. But there was only one will that ruled the day in Persia, and Vashti had just challenged it. Choices in Persia came with consequences. The mood had soured in the king's banquet hall and the laughter had faded. The crowd of men stood transfixed on the messenger kneeling before Xerxes, his head bowed low. 00:11:16 Speaker 3: Say it again. 00:11:20 Speaker 1: The messenger swallowed audibly and desperately tried to suppress his fear. She refuses, my king. Xerxes slammed his goblet down on the table. Anger sharpened his wine-dulled senses. Wine spilled across the gleaming surface dripping onto the floor mimicking the king's rising anger. The man avoided his gaze. No one dared breathe. The weight of silence was heavier than gold. She refuses. The queen refuses me. Once filled with revelry, the room now trembled under the weight of the king's fury. 00:12:08 Speaker 3: This is insubordination. This is humiliation. In front of my court. 00:12:15 Speaker 5: In front of my kingdom! 00:12:18 Speaker 1: He rose too quickly and his chair scraped against the marble. His hands curled into fists, trembling with rage. A murmur rippled through the gathered nobles. But where others panicked, others saw an opportunity. Memucan stepped forward. He was one of the king's eunuchs, one of his inner circle of wise men. Long ago, the kings of Persia and neighboring nations put into practice castrating the young men who served them so they would have no illusions of starting their own dynasty. But where they could not start a dynasty of their own, they could still bend them to their will. 00:13:04 Speaker 2: My king, your anger is justified. 00:13:09 Speaker 1: This is an outrage. 00:13:11 Speaker 4: The woman has forgotten her place. 00:13:14 Speaker 1: Xerxes' eyes narrowed, and the other men around the king piled onto Mamucan's inflammatory comments, seeking the king's favor. But there was another in the shadows of the court. Haman, an Agagite noble, stood silently observing. His rise had been swift. In Haman's visits to court, he had found the eunuch Mamucan useful. A whisper here, A subtle nod there, and the puppet strings tugged, and Mamukon performed out Haman's schemes. Haman's gaze lingered on the king's flushed face, calculating. He knew unstable men were easily directed, even kings. Haman leaned over to Mamukon in the chaos and whispered in his ear, so only Mamukon could hear. 00:14:06 Speaker 5: Remind him who rules. 00:14:08 Speaker 1: His house, or sue. Mamucan's spine stiffened at Haman's words. Then, a slow smile crept across his face. Mamucan stepped forward again with new confidence. 00:14:26 Speaker 2: If her defense goes unanswered, what message does it send? If the queen can refuse the king, will not every wife in Persia refuse her husband? 00:14:38 Speaker 4: Your Majesty, what is a kingdom if the order of the home is broken? Chaos begins in whispers. 00:14:46 Speaker 1: And ends in ruin. A ripple moved through the Grand Hall and even out into the garden as news spread. Some nodded, others murmured. The suggestion took root, and Xerxes, ever influenced by the tide of opinion, noted the room's consensus. 00:15:08 Speaker 2: A decree must be made, one that ensures this defiance is never repeated. 00:15:14 Speaker 4: Let Vashti be vanished, or banished, that is to say. Let her name be struck from the annals of history, and let another more worthy. 00:15:25 Speaker 5: Take her place. 00:15:27 Speaker 1: Mamucan turned back to Haman, who gave him a smile and a slow nod. It was working. The king's pride was stroked. arousing a swell of anger and childish indignation. Xerxes exhaled sharply and stood. He slammed his royal scepter into the marble floor. Its echo was sharp. 00:15:52 Speaker 3: So it shall be. Queen Vashti shall be banished. 00:15:58 Speaker 1: And with that, the decision was sealed. Xerxes nodded to his guard, and they efficiently marched from the chamber, and toward the other side of the palace, Vashti's fate was sealed with each echoing footstep. When the doors to the queen's chambers burst open, Vashti did not rise. She did not speak. She did not fight. She did not need to. Instead, she lifted her chin as she was led from the palace, her silence her final act of power. And just like that, She was gone. The throne was empty, and a new search was ripe to begin. A search that would bring forth a new queen. A queen whose name would echo throughout the annals of history. A queen who would change the course of God's chosen people forever. And somewhere, far from marble halls and golden thrones... an orphan girl would soon step into a story no one could imagine. This PrayDog.com production is only made possible by our dedicated team of creative talents. Steve Katina, Max Bard, Zach Schellewager and Ben Gammon are the executive producers of The Chosen People, narrated by Paul Coltofianu. Characters are voiced by Jonathan Cotton, Aaron Salvato, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwald, You can hear more Prey.com productions on the Prey.com app, available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. If you enjoyed The Chosen People, please rate and leave a review.