Hadassah Covenant , livre ebook

The Hadassah Covenant Copyright © 2005 by Tommy Tenney and Mark Andrew Olsen
Published by Bethany House Publishers 11400 Hampshire Avenue South Bloomington, Minnesota 55438 www.bethanyhouse.com
Bethany House Publishers is a division of Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan. www.bakerpublishinggroup.com
Ebook edition created 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of the publisher and copyright owners.
ISBN 978-1-4412-1174-3
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
All the characters in this novel are fictional except for those from the biblical account of Esther. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Cover illustration by Bill Graf Cover design by Paul Higdon Maps created by Meridian Mapping, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Dedications

Without fail I have always dedicated my books to my family or perhaps the surrogate family of my staff. After nearly a decade of being a published writer, I have come to realize something: I have an even larger family, the readers who have chosen to allow me into their homes and lives. It is to them I dedicate this book. The mere fact that this novel is a sequel is a testimony to my “adoptive” family’s acceptance.
I have observed you, my readers, from an anonymous distance reading my musings. For that I am thankful. To be published is one thing; to be read is another.
Tommy Tenney
I would like to dedicate my efforts on this book to Dr. Leroy Patterson, beloved father to my wife Connie, Gran-Gran to our children, and the most consistent example a man could ever wish for in a father-in-law. Leroy served God faithfully for forty-eight years, and followed Him without waver for far longer. He was called home within weeks of his retirement. I hope I am as prepared when that call comes for me.
Mark Andrew Olsen
Contents

Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Cast of Characters
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twele
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter Thirty-two
Chapter Thirty-three
Chapter Thirty-four
Chapter Thirty-five
Chapter Thirty-six
Chapter Thirty-seven
Chapter Thirty-eight
Chapter Thirty-nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-one
Chapter Forty-two
Chapter Forty-three
Chapter Forty-four
Chapter Forty-five
Chapter Forty-six
Chapter Forty-seven
Chapter Forty-eight
Chapter Forty-nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-one
Chapter Fifty-two
Chapter Fifty-three
Chapter Fifty-four
Chapter Fifty-five
About the Author
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Acknowledgments

After a decade of being a published writer, I have come to the realization that the production of a book is the work of a team, not a solitary writer.
Tom Winters, whose legal skills and agent’s expertise have protected me from the beginning.
Carol Johnson, with her fine eye and red pen, who helped hone the dull blade of an idea into a story.
Mark Olsen, whose patience and literary skills have turned my private musings into a published novel.
It is to a team like this I extend grateful acknowledgment.
Tommy Tenney
Cast of Characters

Modern
Hadassah ben Yuda — First Lady of Israel, wife to Prime Minister Jacob ben Yuda, daughter of David Kesselman.
Jacob ben Yuda — Prime Minister of Israel, husband to Hadassah and champion of Middle East peace.
David Kesselman — “Poppa” to Hadassah, survivor of Nazi occupation and Holocaust escapee.
Ari al-Khalid — aka Ari Meyer, aka Dr. Clive Osborn — British-born antiquities expert, adviser to the coalition campaign to save Iraqi artifacts, and possessor of several more covert identities.
Anek al-Khalid — London-based, Iraqi-born businessman and champion of exiled Jewish causes.
Ancient
Leah — beautiful, young, royal-blooded Jewish resident of Persia’s royal harem, a queen’s candidate. Recipient of Queen Esther’s original journals (see Hadassah: One Night With the King ).
Hadassah — Queen Regent of Persia, the former Queen Esther, widow of Xerxes and de facto mother of new King Artaxerxes.
Mordecai — Hadassah’s cousin and adoptive “Poppa,” Master of the Audiences to the king, second most powerful and beloved man in the empire.
Hathach/Jesse — the king’s chamberlain, master of the harem. Hadassah’s first love until he was taken to the palace and made a eunuch.
Artaxerxes — king of the Persian Empire following the assassination of his father, Xerxes.
Ezra — Jewish priest in exile, revivor of the Torah, and leader of the restoration of Jerusalem.
Nehemiah — royal cupbearer and leader of the rebuilding of Jerusalem.
Chapter One
S USA, CAPITAL OF P ERSIA, IN THE TWENTIETH YEAR OF THE REIGN OF K ING A RTAXERXES, FOLLOWING THE DEATH OF HIS FATHER , X ERXES

My Dearest Sister in Spirit Leah,
I write you in some anxiousness tonight. I even waited until after the sun had set and the shadows here in the harem had grown long, my candle had burned low, and the halls fell quiet. You may consider me overcautious, for even though my position in Persia as Queen Regent is an exalted one, no position is safe from danger right now. So I take up stylus in reply to the intriguing yet potentially dangerous information in your recent letter.
The rumors are true.
That is why, as much as I long to see you again and give you the warm embrace of a sister, it is too dangerous at the moment to see you in person. So I must write you from my quarters, even though we find ourselves behind the same palace walls.
Queen Mother Amestris, who as you know recently resurfaced as my palace nemesis, has posted her spies everywhere, and now even many of the guard have turned against me. There is so much rumor and so many threats spoken and unspoken. Most of what circulates about Commander Megabyzos, I am sorry to say, is true. Far from being a loyalist general, he is actually a hidden leader of the rebellion. What’s worse, I fear some of what they have said about my beloved Xerxes is true. I’m sure you also heard some of this gossip in ensuing years, but you never heard it from me—until now. How I wish he were here to explain his actions! All those lingering questions only compound the pain of my loneliness.
Nehemiah, along with our Jewish people’s success with the return to Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the walls, has set everyone and everything in Persia on edge. As a result, I fear that even your painful predicament with the King and your politically motivated rejection have become guarded knowledge at court. Even passion must sometimes submit to politics, I fear. And the result is unrequited love. I know personally how much that hurts.
On top of all this, King Artaxerxes is in mortal peril, and as goes his fate, so will that of all the Jews. Do you recall your first letter to me, not so long ago? You began it with the words, “My dear friend, I am in trouble.” Well tonight, my dear friend, I fear we are all in trouble.
Thinking of all of this, I feel an invisible band tighten about my heart. It almost feels like a return of the dark days I once wrote you about, the times of my own great dangers and sorrow. I feel that I risk my life every time I pass a cordon of the royal guardians, the Immortals, or even ordinary soldiers. My heart beats faster within me and I avert my gaze from theirs. For years I only felt security and comfort within the walls of the palace. Now I imagine that every time I venture into the innermost halls of the court I may well again stumble upon a headless body sprawled across a dais or a bodyguard holding a bloody scimitar. I try to consciously soften my breathing and unbolden my gaze, to make myself less recognized. Most of all, to conceal my inner defiance. But I saw far too much during those murderous days, and I can feel the fear return like a stench in the air.
As a result I now live under a self-imposed house arrest and dare not come to speak with you directly about this matter. That is why I asked Onesi to carry this to you herself. She is utterly trustworthy, I think you would agree, and knows all the back ways of the palace. I pray that she reaches you without being accosted or arousing suspicion.
Leah, you and I are very blessed to be able to communicate in this way—most unusual for women, as you know. My beloved Poppa certainly was going against tradition when he taught me to read and write as I was growing up. And your more recent tutelage has been most fortuitous, particularly now when it is dangerous for us to meet in person. You yourself must be so careful, even more so than your new confidant, my adopted father Mordecai, would urge. I’m afraid that as prudent as he has always been, even he is becoming bolder and less cautious of late than I would wish.
While protocol dictates that I sign this in my official capacity, our common blood covenant makes me long to close this simply as your sister, Hadassah. Sending this under the seal of Queen Regent may offer some small protection of respect were this letter to fall into the wrong hands.
I must go—please be careful and strong and obedient to G-d.
Your friend Esther, Queen Regent of Persia
Chapter Two
A L H ILLAH , I RAQ—PRESENT DAY, TWO IN THE MORNING , I RAQI TIME
T he commandos struck precisely three minutes after the moon had melted