Ashtizai raced frantically to Sham’s
quarters, where she was sitting drinking tea with Vahoush. ‘The queen is gone, I saw the guards with
her, she is in a carriage, I don’t know where…’ the frightened maid’s garbled
message interrupted the calm repose of mother and daughter.
Sham’s lined face dropped with
instant concern. ‘Quiet yourself girl, you must be confused, are you sure it
was Vashti?’
‘Yes,’ tears rolled uncontrollably
down Ashtizai’s face. ‘She was wearing the gown I dressed her in this morning.
Perhaps…they are going to kill her,’ she cried.
‘Nonsense girl, the law of the Medes
would never allow it.’
‘But mistress, the anger of the
king, it was terrible.’
‘He will cool down soon; we all know
what he is like. Vashti was probably just going out for a break after the busy
time we have had. You know how she likes to be alone sometimes.’
‘But with so many guards? And
without letting me know? She always tells me her whereabouts, in case she is
needed for anything.’
Vahoush stood and went to the door.
‘I will find Harpagos, to see if he knows where she is. If the queen is in
danger, he will surely find her.’ But Vashti’s sister felt distinctly uneasy.
Astyages’ new advisors were decidedly secretive about their intentions in
matters of government. Taking advantage of the delinquent behaviour of the
king, had they devised a plot to depose the queen? Or worse still were these officials seeking
to overthrow the Medes’ hold on both empires? On her way to the barracks
Vahoush slipped briefly into the royal family’s shrine room to make a special
appeal to Auramazdaha for her sister’s protection.
Harpagos was in a tumult of
distress. It seemed his lifelong friend had done the unthinkable by banishing
his wife forcibly without giving her access to legal appeal. He paced up and
down the floor of his quarters, while Gulwashoo tried to understand the day’s
events. ‘If only someone could penetrate the king’s addled mind,’ she lamented.
‘Then he might see reason.’
‘His habits have twisted it so much,
I fear it will never be straightened,’ Harpagos commiserated. He looked
directly at Gulwashoo. ‘If we have lost our beautiful queen at a time of
extremity for our government it surely cannot be a coincidence.’
Gulwashoo had never seen such
remorse in her husband’s eyes. ‘We must not waste time speculating, you must
approach the king. Perhaps Vashti has been kidnapped?’
Harpagos had heard otherwise from
reliable sources. But he had to know the truth. He reached for his sword as his
manservant entered to announce the arrival of Princess Vahoush. She was panting
and her face was flushed. When she saw the expressions on the faces of the
vispavada and his wife, Vahoush became alarmed. ‘Is it true?’ she gasped. ‘My
sister has been taken away under the king’s orders?’ Harpagos could only nod
while Gulwashoo hugged Vahoush.
‘Surely something can be done,’
Vahoush cried.
‘I am about to request an audience
with the king,’ Harpagos replied flatly, ‘but I hold little hope for the
queen’s rescue. Apparently she has been sent to confinement and deprived of her
throne, by immutable decree of …’ Harpagos paused as though lifting the weight
of monumental words, ‘the Shahan Shah.’
Two hours later Harpagos returned,
his face set like rock. ‘It is done,’ he declared to Gulwashoo and Vahoush.
‘She is on her way to Ecbatana for indefinite imprisonment.’
Vahoush collapsed into Gulwashoo’s
arms. ‘How will I ever tell Sham?’ she cried. Then she turned to Harpagos. ‘You
must lead the Bears to retrieve her. Vashti is the legally appointed Queen of
the Medes she is being subjected to treasonous treatment.’
Harpagos shook his head. ‘Then I and
the regiment would be committing a mutinous act against the king. And to use
the regiment for such a purpose could place the soldiers under the same charge.
We also risk civil war if the people decide to choose between the king and… the
former queen.’
Vahoush gasped. ‘But we cannot leave
her to rot in some obscure prison in Ecbatana. We must go to her. We will have
visiting rights.’
‘That depends on the king’s will.’
Vahoush looked to her husband, who
had not long arrived. ‘This is the work of unseen forces whose intent we cannot
fully determine,’ he tried to explain to his stricken wife. ‘Nor can we tell
how long they will prevail.’
“And it seems we cannot fight them.’
‘We may be halted in a worldly
sense, but the power of Auramazdaha is not challenged,’ Pir Daidwar asserted.
‘We must unite ours with him and trust, because we know Ahriman’s defeat is not
far away. These happenings confirm the Piree Magush’s belief that we will soon
learn the time of the Saoshyant’s appearance.’
The young Piree’s efforts to encourage his listeners hardly seemed to
soften the blows they were enduring.
But Vahoush wondered how she would
help her mother through yet another ordeal. ‘We must uphold each other at this terrible
time,’ she asserted, as she led the way to Sham’s quarters. Ahead she saw
Prince Darius hurrying down the corridor.
When the little party reached Sham’s
quarters the sound of sobbing could be heard from within. Freshta had her arm
around Zrena, who held her grandmother’s hand.
‘Has mother really been taken away by the guards?’ Zrena cried on seeing
Harpagos.
The vispavada glanced at Sham who
rocked gently in her chair. ‘For a while, we do not know how long.’
Sham looked straight ahead. ‘First
my husband, then my nephews and my son, Cyaxares is gone and now my daughter is
too. Will Auramazdaha let everyone be taken from me?’ the old woman asked
incredulously.
Harpagos searched desperately for
words of comfort. ‘I advise you to gather your household and return to Ecbatana
as soon as possible,’ he stated. ‘Vashti will need to know you are all close to
her.’
Prince Darius, who had been pacing
the floor, interrupted, his face white with rage. ‘I will stay here,’ he protested,
‘until I finish off that dog.’ Darius had rushed out to Vashti after his
father’s judgment against her. His distress had been heightened by his horror
as she spoke desperately to him in the corridor outside the banquet hall.
Drawing his sword he strode towards
the door. But Harpagos brandished his quickly to prevent him. ‘If you are
thinking of visiting the Shahan Shah consider again,’ he advised tersely. ‘It
may mean your life.’
‘What does it matter if my mother’s
is not avenged?’ he cried. ‘It was not enough that he humiliate her with his
whores but then he expected her to dance like one in front of all those people.
The man is mad… and dangerously evil. If he held so much as a candle to my
mother the stink of his breath would extinguish it instantly. He deserves to be
left in eternal darkness. Let us rid ourselves of him and replace him with my
mother. Queen Vashti is the only one fit to rule.’
There followed a stunned silence.
Darius had expressed what they had all often thought, but been too afraid to
speak. Harpagos broke the silence. ‘Prince, as the heir to the throne you
warrant my protection, only minimally less than your father does. The enemies
of the empire might mount another attack. I advise you to remain within the
palace grounds and I will double your guard. And as commander of the armed
forces I order you to stay away from the Shahan Shah.’
To
continue in the book of Queen Vashti
