Chapter 3
This night had been much longer than it felt. Time, for a while, seemed irrelevant. The king and Tarshish walked in silence through the market area south of the palace. Tarshish knew better than to interrupt the king’s meditations. Even the astonishing beauty of the sunrise did not alter the king’s mood. Around them, the city was coming to life. The shopkeepers were setting up their stalls and inspecting their wares. The delicious smells of mutton and lamb cooking wafted all around.
“JESPER” the sound rang out from a booming voice nearby. Tarshish turned to see Adamo, his smile beaming, his whole body, which was huge, shaking with joviality. His appearance was deceiving. With a large belly and a round face one might think that he could be easily challenged, but doing that would be a mistake. He was agile and smart, loyal, and protective to both Mordechai and Ahasuerus. He was always aware of people and groups that were anywhere near them.
Standing with his hands on his hips and his legs firmly planted he wasn’t really as close as the sound seemed. It was just that Adamo’s voice was so strong that it carried easily over long distances and over any other sounds. Adamo, who was now quickly closing the distance, was using Tarshish’s alias, Jesper, the one Ahasuerus gave him for when they knew they would be going out to the streets of Shushan.
Tarshish started walking with his arms extended toward Adamo, but now Adamo was looking past him and frowning, his eyes showing concern. He said, “What is with Parviz? He is slumped and I didn’t even see him until you turned around.”
When Adamo said Parviz, the king stopped and turned around toward the two men. It took a second for the king to regain his composure, but just as quickly he started walking in their direction, smiling. Adamo’s smile returned.
“Shalom Aleichem”, Tarshish said, holding Adamo’s arms. “Aleichem Shalom”, Adamo replied. The men kissed on both cheeks. Ahasuerus and Adamo then greeted each other in the same way.
“So what are you two gentlemen, — I use that term loosely — doing, walking around aimlessly?” Ahasuerus opened his mouth to speak, but Adamo continued, “Don’t tell me that you were coming back from tending your sheep, as fine and large a herd as you have. You don’t have a speck of dust or a drop of dung on you.” Ahasuerus again opened his mouth to speak, but once more, as was so often the case, Adamo just continued, “You two are such thinkers, such philosophers, you must have been debating Torah. What was it, our father Abraham or Moses?”
Ahasuerus said, “We were…”
Adamo interrupted again, “Yeah, I know you and Jesper are not Jews, but you both are so close to Mordecai and Mo and they talk about little else.” Ahasuerus tried again but Adamo just continued, “I’ll bet it was Moses. In these troubled times with so many Jews being threatened in Shushan…”
“ADAMO”, Tarshish interrupted, almost shouting.
“Jesper?”, Adamo said, now embarrassed realizing he had been rambling.
“Adamo”, Tarshish continued, “you are right, we were wandering the streets talking and you are right, these are indeed troubling times, dangerous times.” Tarshish knew that Adamo’s questions would continue to become more and more pointed and harder to either answer or refute, so he had to get control or getting back into the palace would become almost impossible. He paused, sighed, and thought to himself that it was really obvious why Mordecai invited Adamo to meetings that involved tactics so often. All he had to do was propose a topic that needed options and then, just glance at Adamo. Mordecai and everyone else would then just let Adamo talk until he was exhausted and they would have more to choose from then all the rest could have thought of combined.
Ahasuerus stepped up and looking deeply into Adamo’s eyes said, “Adamo, I am glad we ran into you. Jesper is right. The times are dangerous. I am sure that we will need your support and input soon, but for now Jesper and I are urgently needed elsewhere. Shalom, my friend. Until we meet again.” With that, Ahasuerus and Tarshish turned east and walked away.
When they were beyond the market, they picked up their pace until they reached a densely wooded area. Spotting an odd looking boulder, they turned north and entered the woods. They continued north until they reached another boulder virtually identical to the one at the edge of the woods. This one had a large thick dried up bush next to it. Checking to make sure there was no one that followed them, they pushed the bush to the side to reveal a plank with a slot large enough for a person to insert their hand at the edge. The bush had a rope tied to its base and it was inserted into a notch on the opposite end from the slot.
Tarshish pulled the plank by the slot revealing a hole in the ground with a ladder. Ahasuerus descended first and then Tarshish, who pulled the plank by a handle attached to its underside over the opening and then pulled the rope that pulled the bush over the plank.
There was no light, but the two men had made this trip so many times before they knew their way well. The tunnel was tall enough for them to stand up comfortably and just wide enough for them to walk side by side. They continued walking about 50 paces when they felt some soft brush, hanging from the ceiling against their heads. They slowed and put their hands in front of themselves and they soon encountered a door. They opened it, went through, and closed it behind themselves. Now there was some light that filtered in from planks above them. Hanging from the ceiling was a green sash. That was the signal that it was OK to proceed. They went up a short staircase and lifted a trapdoor above them. They entered the room and closed the trapdoor. They moved some rags hanging on a rope in front of them and they were now in a small room.
Across the room on a chair propped up against the wall, a powerful very old man snored contentedly. Ahasuerus spotted a few chicken feathers. He picked up a small one and walked over to the old man. Smiling to himself, almost giggling, Ahasuerus reached with the feather toward the man’s nostrils. Almost to his target, one of the man’s eyes opened wide and focused on Ahasuerus. Speaking in a low, almost inaudible and yet clear growl the man said, “Get any closer and the men in my stables will have mince pie of royal flesh tonight. Even I will enjoy it, unkosher as it gets.”
Ahasuerus jumped back and feigned horrified fear. With that, the three men broke out into loud guffaws. That moment of mirth, as much as it was needed, did not last long.
The king spoke, “Samach, how long has it been since we first met, thirty, thirty-one years? Not a day passes that I don’t look toward Jerusalem to the West and thank your God that you took me under your wing and in your protection. I have some truly chilling news. We were interrupted and delayed on our return to the stables by Adamo, so I haven’t even had a chance to fully tell Jesper, but even here, now is not the place or time to discuss this. I need to freshen up. We will meet tonight in the fourth kitchen after my guests are well sated and have retired. Secrecy is of paramount importance. I leave it up to you to set up security and invite the right people from the servant staff. Jesper and I will be the only ones from the palace tonight. Tell them that it is critical that they all are fully ready to contribute. They must be alert. For now, know this. Without careful planning and execution the future of the empire and the Jewish people here are in jeopardy.”
Ahasuerus nodded to Tarshish and they walked together to another side room where they changed to palace garb and carefully stored their peasant clothing. They then walked to a well disguised door that opened to a shielded area of the fourth kitchen. They peeked past a curtain to make sure none of the royal family, none of the royal chamberlains, and none of the provincial princes were there. They then emerged into the kitchen proper and Ahasuerus grabbed a bottle of wine from the shelf. The kitchen servants paid no heed. They were used to the comings and goings of the King and his advisor, but the palace chef Oshalim sighed with apprehension. Ahasuerus nodded to him, but didn’t smile. Something was wrong.
The King and Tarshish grabbed each others’ forearms, met eyes, and parted company.
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