Xerxes gives Esther a gift.

She was an orphan, he was a king. Living in Persia, Hadassah never knew just how dangerous it was to be a Jew in those days until she was taken and placed in a competition to become the next Queen of Persia. The goal? To become queen and get the King to fall for you with whatever way it takes; But knowing she was put into the King's heart for such a time as this changed it up.

An improbable tale of finding love unexpectedly - this is my take on the story of Esther as envisioned in the film One Night with the King. I use dialogue from key scenes verbatim, but flesh them out in order to tell the story the way I would like to see it. I also borrow some from the novel "Esther" by Nathaniel Norsen Weinreb.

Wherein a queen is forged in the great fires of trial, a lover shaped with care and a woman gently coaxed into bravery. Faced with many a peril in her pursuit of love, Hadassa must learn to pick her allies and choose her enemies wisely, for the ground she walks upon is treacherous, the King's favour ever changing. If she but could reach the man behind the crown. Film inspired.

King Xerxes counts the stars. But he finds himself distracted by thoughts of a certain maiden…

The second time Xerxes seeks answers from Hadassah by the pool, she does not bring up Vashdi, instead she questions him about his supposed affair the night he got back. This leads to a much needed conversation and the reveal of truths that very much needed to be shared.

Tell me this, why am I married to king Xerxes? That story is something you have to find out for yourself. With what begins with death, and revenge ends with marriage, and love. Everything might seem perfect now, has not always been like this, little one.

What if Hadassah had something else to tell the king besides that she was a Jew. This is a slightly extended alternate ending.

Based on the film One Night With the King. Four parter looking at Esther's and Xerxes' thoughts and actions at some points of their lives