Now.” Her eyes, a strange gray like fog over the river, twinkled. “I saw Hegai give you the necklace. The king rarely has anything presented publicly. His gifts are usually given in private, so many women use their allowance to order jewelry they say is from him when we all know it is not. You will not have to stoop to that. He must love you immensely.”
Contentment welled up. “I think he does. I hope so. No other man has ever made my heart awaken like this.”
Chinara wiggled down and took off. Jasmine watched her as she dashed about. “You are blessed. I have found happiness here thanks to Chinara, but if not for her . . . I angered the king by weeping the night we became man and wife, and he has never called me again. Perhaps he would have, to honor my father, had I not gotten with child and then been rendered barren from the birth.”
“That is awful.” Kasia reached out and covered the hand Jasmine had put on the table. “How do you smile so brightly?” And how could the same man who spoke to her heart ignore Jasmine’s so completely?
Dimples flashed in Jasmine’s full cheeks. “It is not so terrible. I feel no need to compete with the others—I am at the bottom of their hierarchy, and that is a secure place to be. They all like me well enough since I am no threat. But still the king treats me kindly, because he adores our daughter. It is sufficient.”
“Yes, but . . .” She flushed to a halt. Having only been married a week, she could not bring herself to ask if Jasmine did not miss the touch of a man, the roar of passion through her veins. That heady sensation of a long kiss.
Jasmine quirked a brow. “You enjoy his company. I have come to appreciate him in a friendly way, but there was no connection between us on that level. This is the best life I could hope for.”
It struck her as sad, but Kasia nodded and let it go. “I have no desire to compete with the other wives. Perhaps you can help me avoid it.”
Jasmine chuckled and rested her gaze on the pearls. “You can choose not to compete with them, my friend, but you cannot stop them from competing with you. But do not dismay. Soon enough they will get used to the attention the king pays you and realize that you can do them favors.”
“Favors? I?” She laughed.
“Just wait. If you retain the favor I think you will, the others will come to you asking for advice, for extra portions, for a special word in the king’s ear for their children.”
Unfathomable. Right now it still felt as though her relationship with Xerxes existed in a plane separate from this one, unconnected to these other wives. As if a different Kasia came to life when the sun edged toward the horizon, one that could never show her face here lest she be judged.
Jasmine leapt to her feet with a heaving breath. “There she goes again. Forgive me, Kasia, I must run after her. Might I find you later?”
Kasia smiled as her new friend scampered off. “I will count on it.”
Eight
In the corner of the room, two of Kasia’s maidservants sat with their instruments while Desma sang. Kasia had taught them a few Hebrew psalms the day before, and she smiled now when Desma fumbled some of the unfamiliar words. It may not be perfect, but it did her heart good to hear David’s lyrics.
Though her hands worked the loom, her mind and heart inclined toward Jehovah. Thank you, Lord, for sending me Jasmine. Please help me to be a true friend to her and Chinara.
The quick swell of joy crashed into concern. But Esther, Jehovah God. Please care for her. Whom will she turn to when she needs womanly advice? Who will tease the sorrow from her eyes? I know she must be in such terrible pain. . . . Give my family and her cousin wisdom in what to say to her. Perhaps you could give Mordecai an assurance that all is well?
She let the music minister to her spirit. All in all, a pleasant way to pass her afternoon and evening, since she need not prepare herself for Xerxes tonight. Never before in the chaos of her large family had she realized how precious these moments of quiet communion with the Lord could be. Floating on this golden sea, she could almost forget how sharply she already missed her husband.
But the night stretched long and empty before her. She tried not to think of which of the spiteful girls from the house of women would be in her husband’s arms tonight. Such thoughts only made bile churn in her stomach. She breathed in a long breath. Soothe my heart, Lord. I am but one of many wives, and I need your help to find peace with that lot. Please, help me to be content with Xerxes’ affection, since I cannot have his whole devotion.
“Now that is a wistful look on my lovely Kasia’s face.”
She jumped up, weaving forgotten. “Xerxes! What are you doing here?” Hardly caring about the answer, she rushed forward. Perhaps she must share him—but she need not let it soil the moments that were theirs.
Xerxes chuckled and opened his arms to receive her. “How could I stay away, knowing such a reception awaited me?” He caught her mouth with his for a long moment. “I missed you. I hoped to lure you out for a stroll through the gardens.”
She tucked her arm into his. “Consider me lured.”
He covered her hand with his as his gaze swept her room. That now-familiar quirk pulled up half his mouth. “What is this little hole you have chosen for yourself, my love?”
She pasted sternness onto her face. “Are you insulting my room, Xerxes?”
“I was unaware I even had such a small closet in the house of wives. And it is all but bare. Why have you not requisitioned more furnishings?”
She had not thought it bare, though another table would be useful. “I did not want to take anything away from another room.”
“Then we shall have you some things fashioned. You know a woodworker, do you not?”
Her heart swelled. “I could have my father make me some things?”
Xerxes bent down to kiss her brow. “Of course. And if I am pleased with the pieces, I will order all the palace woodworking from him.”
She turned to face him again and framed his face in her hands. “Do you realize what that would mean to my family? They would never want again, never have to wonder how to feed all the children—”
“Sweet Kasia.” The precious contours of his face lifted in a smile under her hands. “I would do far more if I thought your father would accept it. Say the word, and I will gift them an entire city.”
An image deserving of a laugh. “They would know not what to do with it. But honest work, recognition for talent—that is another thing altogether. Yes, I shall fill this room to the brim with my father’s craftsmanship. How shall I get the order to him?”
“I will get instructions to your people. And speaking of gifts, I see the pearls suit you as well as I thought. You like them?”
She lifted a hand to the warm spheres resting against her throat. “How could I not? You could have given me wooden beads, Xerxes, and I would adore them.”
Xerxes laughed and lifted the strand. “You would make them beautiful, but these suit you better. Now, shall we walk?”
With a smile, she let
