"This is as far as I can take you."
Mordecai stopped in front of a looming wall.
Esther shrunk back from the wall, pulling her cloak tighter around her shoulders.
It was the tallest of the several walls and long shadows all around them. If Esther didn't know better, she would think her uncle had led her into a maze.
"You will meet your handmaiden shortly," Mordecai explained in a low voice. "She will take you in through the servants' entrance."
"Right.." Esther swallowed.
In the latter days of their candidate lessons, her uncle had informed her that every queen candidate must bring their own handmaiden.
Esther had learned how she was expected to interact with her handmaiden and what she should expect from her handmaiden as well.
She learned not to address her servant too politely nor too loudly.
She learned to maintain a certain distance between herself and her servant.
She learned how to give commands naturally and confidently.
But she had never learned who her handmaiden would be.
Perhaps it was because of the big unfamiliar walls surrounding her or the warning Mordecai had often repeated to never trust anyone too much, not even her own handmaiden, but Esther was sweating with apprehension.
For the next twelve months spent as a Queen Candidate, she would never be able to let her guard down.
Esther, the misfortunate child hidden away inside the Despised Clan, was no more.
Instead, she had become a young Queen Candidate from a small, unknown clan. A woman whose goal was to blend in, protect herself, and always look over her shoulder.
And above all the eyes Mordecai had warned her not to draw, King Ahasuerus' were the most dangerous.
"You won't come face to face with the King until candidate preparations have finished," her uncle had explained. "So make sure you don't do anything that would bring your name to his presence."
"I understand, Esteemed Uncle."
Though Esther had responded that way, she didn't feel confident she could do it. With counselors keeping watch and constantly reporting back to King Ahasuerus, would she truly be able to avoid being noticed?
Yet even as doubts began to swirl through her mind, Mordecai's words came to push them away.
'You have to. There is no other choice.'
Esther took a deep breath as Mordecai waved to a shadow moving along the wall.
"I can," she whispered. "Because I have to."
"Baara," Mordecai addressed the shadow as it came to a halt in front of them. "I leave my precious niece in your care."
The woman hardly acknowledged Mordecai's greeting before turning to Esther.
"It is my pleasure to serve you, Queen Candidate."
Esther resisted the urge to wave her hands flusteredly.
"Yes, thank you," she nodded.
The exchange had gone perfectly according to what she'd learned.
The woman, Baara, had greeted her master first, and Esther had responded politely but without friendliness.
"Please, allow me to escort you into the House of Women," Baara bowed her head, extending her hand toward the wall.
"Yes," Esther replied, following the woman's lead.
Before she could take more than two steps, Mordecai reached for her and wrapped her in a tight embrace.
"I will pray for you, my dear Esther."
She could feel his tears wetting her neck.
"And I will do what I can to help from the side."
Esther simply nodded, afraid if she tried to speak, her emotions would betray her.
At Baara's grunt, the pair reluctantly released each other.
Esther had previously imagined a similar heart-wrenching farewell between herself and her uncle many times, but always it was as she was departing toward her mother's clan in the countryside.
Never, during all the weeks she spent preparing to enter the palace as a Queen Candidate, had she dared to picture this moment, for fear it would shake her resolve.
Maybe all of her practice containing her emotions had paid off, however, because she was somehow able to turn away and follow Baara without looking back.
This isn't forever, she thought to herself as she walked.
But deep down, some part of her knew that from this moment on, things would never be the same for her.
Through a gate in the wall and into a small wooden house, Esther was led by her handmaiden. Once inside, the lady took her cloak and instructed her to lay on the small, neatly made bed.
"Get some sleep, My Lady," Baara spoke as she hung Esther's cloak on a crude wooden hook near the door.
"I will. Thank you."
Esther responded exactly the way she'd been taught, but her lips lingered open as her eyes traveled around the room.
"This is my room," Baara explained, sensing what Esther wanted to ask. "You will sleep here tonight and report to Lord Hegai in the House of Women tomorrow."
"I see," Esther nodded, slowly lowering herself onto the bed.
For a servant's bed, it was surprisingly comfortable. The mattress sank softly under her weight in a way her straw bed at home didn't. She had never thought it was possible to feel so relaxed.
All at once, a wave of exhaustion washed over her. She didn't realize how tired she was. Even though she had yet to overcome even the first hurdle of becoming a Queen Candidate, the weight on her chest had become lighter.
"What kind of man is Lord Hegai?" she asked lazily, her eyelids growing heavy.
"He is stern but reasonable," Baara answered, spreading a quilt on the ground near the bed. "You can count on him to deal with you fairly."
"Fairly.. that's good then," Esther murmured, drifting off to sleep.
Baara paused in preparing her makeshift bed to watch as her new master's breaths grew slow and even.
"You will be treated fairly," the woman eventually whispered.
"I'll make sure of it."