The banquet hall gleamed in the soft glow of great torches as I took my place beside King Ahasuerus and Queen Esther at the table. It was the second day of the banquet, and as you would expect, the atmosphere was abuzz with the sounds of merriment and delight. The first day had been grand and pleasant, my disposition greatly improved by the grandeur of the occasion and the reception afforded me by the queen.

The second day was already proving to be as glorious as the first. The feast laid before us was a symphony of affluence, with more than enough wine to go around.

Amidst the laughter and merriment, I reveled in great joy to find myself in that place. Partaking in this banquet had proven to be the very balm my soul required. Now thoughts of Mordecai’s lineage seemed so inconsequential. At one point, a thought even crossed my mind.

Perchance? I may yet have the opportunity to execute my scheme.

With the king’s previous command for the honouring of Mordecai, one might question the feasibility of my plot. After all, why would he call for the execution of a man he had just honoured?

But then, bowing to me was an order of the king, and the despicable Mordecai had defied that order time after time. So then, this wasn’t so much of a mountain, was it? It was a venture worth undertaking. All I had to do was to bring this transgression to the attention of King Ahasuerus, and he would swiftly turn against Mordecai. After all, it took one disrespectful refusal from the previous queen, Vashti, to turn the king against her. Mordecai was not that special.

His countenance softened by the pleasures of the banquet, King Ahasuerus turned to Queen Esther. “Esther,” he spoke with a gentle warmth, “what is your petition? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.”

I observed with mirth as the king asked his dear queen that question. A question he had asked the previous day. She had promised to give him an answer at that banquet, and I was more than curious to find out what her petition was.

I could not help but wonder what sort of sentiment it was in the king’s heart that made him declare such an audacious declaration. What had she done to render him so joyous and willing to give her half of his kingdom? It must have been truly great and special.

But then, to be honest, this king was of a most emotional nature; in moments of joy, he reveled in it exceedingly. In wrath, however, it would become a matter most fearsome. He would become a lion that would not be tamed.

Queen Esther, a vision of regal grace and otherworldly beauty, looked up at the king with a measured intensity. Then she spoke.

“If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request.”

The king’s countenance immediately darkened, and so did mine. Why would this gloriously beautiful queen have to seek clemency for her life and the lives of her subjects? Who would actually dare to perpetrate any kind of evil against this resplendent queen of unparalleled beauty and her people…

Oh. Hold on…

In that moment, dread settled upon me like a suffocating cloak, as if an invisible force had unveiled the depths of my darkest secrets.

Was… was Queen Esther… was Queen Esther a Jew? Was she one of Mordecai’s people?

A hush had fallen over the banquet hall, a silence that hung uncomfortably in the air. The king, now attentive to the urgency in Esther’s plea, leaned forward, wanting to hear more.

She continued. “For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have been silent, for our affliction would not be commensurate with the loss to the king.”

As the queen’s words unfurled, a cold realization gripped my soul.

My plan, my nefarious scheme to annihilate the Jews, had just been laid bare before the king.

Panic surged within me. Just when I thought my predicament had somewhat improved, it was suddenly shooting down to a state of utmost despair.

The king, his eyes narrowing with fury, demanded loudly, “Who is he, and where is he, who has dared to do this?”

The queen’s eyes bore into mine.

She pointed at me.

“This wicked man and adversary, is Haman!”

In that moment, the banquet hall transformed into a chamber of judgment. The grandeur of the banquet hall had disappeared completely, and had now been replaced by a discomfiting collage of contrasting emotions.

Despair, rage, terror, fright, fury…

The king, his facial expression now etched with a mixture of incredulity and rage, rose from his seat and stormed out without another word. As he did so, I felt the ground beneath me shift. Knowing that man so well, I knew my hours had been numbered.

I looked at Queen Esther, desperation bursting through my entire being, began to beseech her.

“Queen Esther!” I pleaded, desperation lacing my words, “have mercy! Spare me from the wrath of the king, and I shall undo the wickedness that has stained my soul.”

Esther’s gaze remained impassive and cold, with not a tint of mercy for me in those pupils.

My knees buckled beneath the weight of my sins, and I fell before Queen Esther, a supplicant in the court of my own undoing. “Great Queen, in the name of all that is merciful, spare me. I beg you!”

Queen Esther met my gaze with a measure of pity. “Rise, Haman. It is not for me to decide your fate.”

With a final, desperate plea, I implored, “Grant me clemency, and I shall undo the wicked decree that would spell doom for your people.”

As the queen deliberated, the king reentered the hall, the tempest of his rage yet to subside. I scrambled to my feet, a feeble attempt at composure, as Esther regarded me with a cold detachment. In my feeble attempt to regain myself, I found myself sprawled on the queen’s couch.

Oh, fate! As if my current circumstance was not dire enough, fate decided to exacerbate it!

That sight seemed to ignite a new flame of indignation within him.

“What?” he bellowed, his voice a thunderous force that reverberated through the hall. “Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house?”

Aghast with terror, I recoiled from the accusation, my feeble attempts to rise only fueling the king’s wrath.

Esther, her expression unreadable, observed the unfolding spectacle with a quiet resolve.

Before I could offer any explanation, a cloth was swiftly placed upon my countenance by the hastening eunuchs.

“The presence of Haman with the queen!” I heard King Ahasuerus continue to seethe with a great contempt. “Shall he even assault the queen in front of me?”

And in that very moment, my heart could not have plummeted to a greater depth of despair.

With the cloth over my face, and the circumstance at hand, and the blazing ire of the king, there was only one fate ahead.

I heard the voice of one eunuch.

“Behold, o my sovereign king! There exists a gallows, towering seventy-five metres high, constructed by Haman for the purpose of executing Mordecai, the one who spoke favorably in the king’s service. It stands at his abode right now!”

Though my face remained concealed, I could sense his piercing gaze fixated upon me, piercing to the depths of my very soul.

I could sense it; impending doom approaching. There was no way out of this.

“Haman!” he thundered, “you sought to hang Mordecai on these gallows, and now they shall serve their intended purpose. Hang him on them!”

The king’s decree echoed through the hall.

I knew it was coming. The rough veil over my face was a grim testament – for anyone condemned to the gallows, their face is veiled.

How did I arrive at this lamentable juncture? How?

As we already knew was coming, Haman’s been sentenced to death! Let’s walk with him in his final moments…