The opulent palace of Shushan is not free of turmoil. A party that has lasted for almost 6 months is winding down with a week-long intensive festival. At the conclusion of it, the queen is summoned, so that all assembled may delight in her beauty. The queen rightly guesses the real reason she is being summoned and refuses to degrade herself in such a way. Almost immediately, she is dethroned and the search for a new queen begins.
In this midst of Shushan lives a Jewish exile named Mordecai. He serves the king while caring for his orphaned cousin, Hadassah (Esther in the language of Persia). While the search for a queen continues, Esther is taken to see if the king would be pleased with her. She does not reveal her nationality to those helping her prepare to meet the king. After a year-long preparation period, Esther is presented to the king who immediately places the crown on her head and takes her as his queen. Mordecai, no longer responsible for the care of his cousin, is showered with gifts as her relative. While going about his daily routine, Mordecai discovers an assassination plot against King Ahasuerus. He passes this information to the queen, who passes it along to the king in her cousin's name. The treasonous parties are discovered and hanged; a public record of this is made in the official history of the kingdom.
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