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Whispers of Evil · The Chosen People

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  Speaker 1: Previously on the Chosen People. In the heart of the
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  Speaker 1: world's greatest empire, power was not whispered. It was shouted
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  Speaker 1: from palace rooftops and poured into ornate goblets. And King
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  Speaker 1: Xerxes was not a man of half measures.
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  Speaker 2: So it shall be.
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  Speaker 3: Queen Vashti shall be banished.
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  Speaker 4: We will find you a new queen, one who will
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  Speaker 4: honor your commands as you rule this empire. Let beautiful
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  Speaker 4: young women be sought for the king and added to
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  Speaker 4: your harem. Let them be gathered from every province, and
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  Speaker 4: let the one who pleases you most be crowned queen
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  Speaker 4: in Vashti's place.
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  Speaker 1: In the heart of Susa, the capital of the Persian Empire,
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  Speaker 1: lived a man named Mordecai. He had taken pains to
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  Speaker 1: make sure all the men he associated with at the
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  Speaker 1: city gate thought Esther was Persian, not Jewish. When he
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  Speaker 1: took her in as a child when his uncle died,
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  Speaker 1: he forced her to adopt a Persian name in an
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  Speaker 1: attempt to conceal their heritage.
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  Speaker 5: Say your goodbye and bring her to the palace within
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  Speaker 5: the hour.
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  Speaker 6: Tell me your name.
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  Speaker 1: Esther kept her eyes downcast. or Alluring, as Haggai had
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  Speaker 1: called it, and answered.
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  Speaker 3: Her king, I am called Esther, my king.
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  Speaker 1: And so, the orphan girl, the peasant princess, became queen
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  Speaker 1: of Persia. The city gate had always been a place
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  Speaker 1: of business and judgment, Mordecai's domain. He had memorized Persian law,
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  Speaker 1: prided himself on applying it with wisdom and precision. This
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  Speaker 1: was his craft, and once his pride. But now, the
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  Speaker 1: gate had become a place of restless waiting. The palace
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  Speaker 1: loomed close, yet Esther felt impossibly far, locked behind thick
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  Speaker 1: stone walls and buried beneath silken garments and endless feasts.
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  Speaker 1: She was queen now, living behind veils and gates, exalted
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  Speaker 1: in name, yet silent in power. Mordecai's eyes flicked toward
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  Speaker 1: every courier and messenger leaving the palace, hoping for a
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  Speaker 1: glimpse of news, some sign that his counsel still echoed
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  Speaker 1: in her heart. Every day he fretted and worried over
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  Speaker 1: her living among the whisperers and schemers of King Xerxes' court,
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  Speaker 1: the men who feasted on intrigue and gorged on plots
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  Speaker 1: to satiate their ambition. But he had taught her to listen,
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  Speaker 1: to observe. Now he could only pray it had been enough.
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  Speaker 1: Mordecai sat at his post, scrolls and papers spread before him,
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  Speaker 1: The ink blurred where restless fingers had smudged it. He
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  Speaker 1: tried to focus, but his anxious thoughts pressed down, heavy
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  Speaker 1: and suffocating. The hours spent worrying had compounded and he
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  Speaker 1: now had hours of paperwork to do, despite his counterpart
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  Speaker 1: judges all having gone home hours ago to their families.
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  Speaker 1: But Mordecai had no family to go home to. The
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  Speaker 1: sun dipped low, shadows lengthening. But then Piercing the stillness
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  Speaker 1: of dusk at the deserted city gate like jackals on
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  Speaker 1: the hunt came hurried whispers. They were quick, sharp, and secretive,
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  Speaker 1: but they were not meant for him. Mordecai slunk down
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  Speaker 1: but craned his neck upward in the direction of the whispers.
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  Speaker 1: Sure enough, above, there were two figures who lingered near
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  Speaker 1: the stone battlements, thinking themselves alone. Mordecai recognized them immediately.
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  Speaker 1: They were royal guards, Big Thana and Teresh. Their voices,
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  Speaker 1: caught by the wind and echoed down the stone alcoves,
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  Speaker 1: carried to where Mordecai sat.
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  Speaker 6: He doesn't deserve that throne.
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  Speaker 3: Keep your voice down.
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  Speaker 5: But you're right. We risk our lives for him.
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  Speaker 3: And for what?
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  Speaker 7: Disdain?
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  Speaker 3: Mockery? I say, I say we end it.
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  Speaker 2: Go quietly.
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  Speaker 6: Go quietly. A blade of our violent poison. The citizens
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  Speaker 6: of Susa will thank us. And the king's rivals will
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  Speaker 6: reward us.
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  Speaker 1: The wind then shifted and carried the voices elsewhere. Mordecai's
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  Speaker 1: breath caught in his throat.
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  Speaker 3: A plot.
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  Speaker 1: He could see the men continuing in their murderous planning,
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  Speaker 1: unaware of his presence below. but he didn't want to
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  Speaker 1: push his luck. And besides, he didn't need to hear
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  Speaker 1: any more to prove their guilt. As silently as he could,
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  Speaker 1: he gathered his scrolls with shaking hands, his mind racing.
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  Speaker 1: This was more than treason. It was also a threat
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  Speaker 1: to Esther. Though Mordecai had no great love for King Xerxes,
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  Speaker 1: what would happen to Esther if he was removed from power?
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  Speaker 1: Would one of those treasonous thugs take his place? He
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  Speaker 1: shuddered to think of either one of those smarmy men
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  Speaker 1: laying a hand on Esther. Mordecai moved quickly, slipping away
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  Speaker 1: from the gate, heart pounding, to send secret word to
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  Speaker 1: the palace. The next morning, Esther reclined in her private garden,
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  Speaker 1: her handmaidens nearby, their quiet chatter blending with the rustle
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  Speaker 1: of leaves. She tilted her face toward the sun, savoring
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  Speaker 1: the warmth on her skin, while the cool bite of
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  Speaker 1: night still clung to the shaded corners of the dense oasis.
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  Speaker 1: She was still adjusting to the staggering wealth and the
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  Speaker 1: suffocating presence of constant companionship. Her handmaidens seemed harmless enough,
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  Speaker 1: but Mordecai's warnings lingered.
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  Speaker 3: The palace is full of spies, whispers, and watching eyes.
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  Speaker 1: It was strange to go from a life of quiet
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  Speaker 1: solitude to one where she was never truly alone. From
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  Speaker 1: somewhere beyond the garden walls, doors opened and shut. Moments later,
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  Speaker 1: Hettark appeared, the eunuch the king had assigned to her
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  Speaker 1: after their wedding. Even that notion still felt surreal.
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  Speaker 4: I'm married.
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  Speaker 3: I'm a queen at that.
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  Speaker 4: A king's wife.
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  Speaker 1: And yet, with every passing day, The title felt more
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  Speaker 1: like a role to perform than a life to live.
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  Speaker 1: She watched Hedark approach, uncertainty flickering in her chest. He
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  Speaker 1: had once served Queen Vashti. Where did his loyalty truly lie?
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  Speaker 3: Was he the.
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  Speaker 1: King's watchful eye, placed to guard against rebellion? Or could
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  Speaker 1: he be something more? A confidant in a palace full
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  Speaker 1: of masks?
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  Speaker 3: My queen. Lord Hathak?
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  Speaker 1: He straightened, then flicked a glance at the handmaidens. With
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  Speaker 1: the smallest lift of his brow, they scurried away, disappearing
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  Speaker 1: into the palace corridors. Esther marveled at the subtlety of
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  Speaker 1: his authority, a power wielded without.
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  Speaker 3: Raising his voice.
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  Speaker 1: She wondered if she would ever command presence like that.
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  Speaker 1: She resisted the urge to stand. It felt strange to
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  Speaker 1: sit while he towered over her, But she remembered Higgai's instructions.
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  Speaker 1: She stood and bowed only to one man, her husband,
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  Speaker 1: the king. The silence stretched. Hettark seemed perfectly at ease
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  Speaker 1: with it. Esther, less so. She searched her mind for
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  Speaker 1: the right protocol.
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  Speaker 7: You came to see me, Lord?
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  Speaker 1: Hettark raised a finger to silence her. his head tilting
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  Speaker 1: slightly toward the retreating handmaidens still lingering within earshot. Only
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  Speaker 1: when they had vanished into her private chambers did he speak,
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  Speaker 1: his voice low and direct.
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  Speaker 3: A man named Mordecai, I think word.
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  Speaker 1: Esther's breath caught. Mordecai had warned her to keep not
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  Speaker 1: only her heritage but also their connection a secret. Yet
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  Speaker 1: now it seemed Hettarch knew. But for the moment, Esther
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  Speaker 1: pushed aside the implications. She was too eager to hear
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  Speaker 1: what news he carried.
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  Speaker 6: Mordecai?
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  Speaker 3: What news?
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  Speaker 1: Hedark hesitated, weighing her, the risk, and the words.
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  Speaker 3: He risked much to get this to you. The message
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  Speaker 3: is treason.
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  Speaker 1: He drew a folded parchment from his robe and placed
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  Speaker 1: it in her hand, his eyes never leaving her face.
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  Speaker 1: Her heart pounded as she unfolded it. Her cousin's familiar,
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  Speaker 1: neat script swam before her eyes.
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  Speaker 8: My dear Esther, you must warn the king. Two of
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  Speaker 8: his guards, Bigthala and Desh, conspired to murder him. I
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  Speaker 8: overheard them myself at the city gate. I know the
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  Speaker 8: risk of sending this message, but I trust you.
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  Speaker 2: Act swiftly, and remember... All I have taught you.
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  Speaker 3: Yours, Mordecai.
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  Speaker 1: Esther looked up, the weight of the words still sinking in.
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  Speaker 1: Hettark watched her closely, measuring every flicker of emotion. She
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  Speaker 1: shot to her feet, her voice barely a whisper.
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  Speaker 3: We must act immediately. We must go to the king.
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  Speaker 1: For the first time, Hettarg's polished composure cracked. He closed
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  Speaker 1: the space between them, his voice low and sharp.
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  Speaker 3: And you swear this is not some scheme of your cousin's?
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  Speaker 7: If the accusation is false, it will destroy your standing,
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  Speaker 7: and it will mean your cousin's death.
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  Speaker 3: You know the cost of a misstep in this palace.
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  Speaker 1: Esther faltered. His warning echoed the very danger Mordecai had
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  Speaker 1: taught her to fear, and Hugai's lessons too. Wives are summoned.
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  Speaker 1: They do not summon the king. But then she drew
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  Speaker 1: herself up.
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  Speaker 4: No.
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  Speaker 3: I believe him. Mordecai is no schemer. He raised me
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  Speaker 3: to stand loyal and speak the truth. I will do
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  Speaker 3: the same.
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  Speaker 1: Hetark held her gaze with piercing intensity, as though searching
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  Speaker 1: for any shadow of doubt. Esther did not flinch. She
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  Speaker 1: would not wilt. At last... Hettark gave a single nod.
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  Speaker 5: Very well.
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  Speaker 3: We will soon know the truth.
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  Speaker 1: With Hettark's reluctant permission, Esther went before the king. She
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  Speaker 1: kept her connection to Mordecai hidden, trusting Hettark to do
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  Speaker 1: the same. But only time would tell where his true
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  Speaker 1: loyalties lay. The plot was investigated, found true, and justice
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  Speaker 1: came swiftly. Bigthana and Teresh were impaled on stakes outside
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  Speaker 1: the palace gates. A gruesome warning. The king recorded the
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  Speaker 1: event in his royal chronicles. Mordecai's name was written down
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  Speaker 1: as the man who revealed the traitors, but it was
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  Speaker 1: quickly forgotten. No thanks were sent to the city gate.
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  Speaker 1: Mordecai was not exalted. There was no reward, no commendations.
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  Speaker 1: King Xerxes slept soundly and Queen Esther kept her place
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  Speaker 1: in his favour. But in the shadows, Mordecai remained unseen
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  Speaker 1: and unthanked, a man remembered by parchment but forgotten by power.
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  Speaker 1: Five years passed. The palace bustled with new faces, shifting alliances.
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  Speaker 1: Favour was fleeting, power even more so. And then, after
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  Speaker 1: a long absence from court, off fighting in the king's war,
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  Speaker 1: earning victories as well as influence, an old familiar face
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  Speaker 1: returned to Susa, Haman. He was a polished politician and
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  Speaker 1: a ruthless opponent, on and off the battlefield. He hailed
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  Speaker 1: from the province of Agag, and was even rumoured to
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  Speaker 1: be descended from an Amalekite king, sworn enemies of Israel.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, his disdain for the Jews and the other
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  Speaker 1: minorities within his province was no secret. His ambition rippled
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  Speaker 1: through every gesture and polluted every calculated move. He bowed
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  Speaker 1: to power, not out of loyalty, but for the rewards
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  Speaker 1: it could deliver. Persia ruled the world, and Haman intended
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  Speaker 1: to rule whatever parts of it he could grasp. When
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  Speaker 1: he returned to Susa, the king elevated him and so
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  Speaker 1: he strutted through the capital in robes of the highest rank.
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  Speaker 1: And wherever he went, conversations died. Smiles faltered. No one
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  Speaker 1: dared meet his gaze, but they were compelled to bow
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  Speaker 1: and scrape to him as they would the king. This
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  Speaker 1: was an honor bestowed to no other man in the
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  Speaker 1: Persian Empire. One morning, at the city gates where Mordecai worked,
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  Speaker 1: Haman emerged from the palace. The nobles bent low, merchants
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  Speaker 1: pressed their foreheads to the ground, and servants groveled in
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  Speaker 1: the dust. But despite the masses paying their homage to
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  Speaker 1: the man deemed second in all of Persia, Mordecai stood
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  Speaker 1: tall and unmoving, his eyes narrowing in silence seething hatred
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  Speaker 1: and distrust. Arjan, Mordecai's fellow judge, noticed out of the
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  Speaker 1: corner of his eye When Haman and his entourage had
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  Speaker 1: continued out into the city, and the bystanders around them
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  Speaker 1: resumed their activities, he leaned over and whispered discreetly to
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  Speaker 1: his old friend.
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  Speaker 3: Why do you not bow?
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  Speaker 6: Do you not fear what Lord Haman might do to you?
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  Speaker 1: Mordecai felt his jaw set. He chose his words carefully.
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  Speaker 1: His years of quiet loyalty, his unwavering service to the
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  Speaker 1: Empire and the King, had gone unnoticed, forgotten in the
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  Speaker 1: royal record. And now, to see an obscenely ambitious, cruel
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  Speaker 1: man with an abhorrent reputation, an enemy of his people
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  Speaker 1: no less, elevated to honour and power, it didn't just
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  Speaker 1: feel unjust, it felt like a violation of the natural order.
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  Speaker 1: Mordecai had given his loyalty to Persia, the captors of
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  Speaker 1: his people. He had served faithfully, though his people were
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  Speaker 1: scattered across the empire far from home. But to bow
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  Speaker 1: to this man, this enemy, never.
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  Speaker 2: I will not bow to that man.
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  Speaker 1: But unfortunately for Mordecai, Arjan was not the only one
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  Speaker 1: who noticed that Mordecai did not bow. The whispers carried,
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  Speaker 1: and rumors spread as they always did in Susa. They
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  Speaker 1: reached Haman's ears like smoke, curling through palace halls.
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  Speaker 5: Who's the man who will not bow? His name is Mordecai.
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  Speaker 1: He's a judge at the city gate.
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  Speaker 7: And this isn't public knowledge, mind you.
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  Speaker 6: He likes to keep it quiet.
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  Speaker 7: But I know those who have seen what side of
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  Speaker 7: town he goes to each night and comes.
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  Speaker 4: From each morning.
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  Speaker 8: The Jewish quarter.
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  Speaker 6: He's a Jew.
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  Speaker 3: Of course. I knew this had to be no more
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  Speaker 3: than petty posturing or the trivial jealousy of a rival.
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  Speaker 8: Ha ha.
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  Speaker 3: Ha ha. As if this no-name judge could rival me.
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  Speaker 3: And that he's a Jew. Those repugnant refugees creeping in
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  Speaker 3: every corner of Persia. They couldn't hold their own land,
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  Speaker 3: so now they infest ours. And if this Jew dares
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  Speaker 3: to defy me, please just say others won't follow. No,
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  Speaker 3: this isn't about one man. It's about rooting out the
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  Speaker 3: disease before it spreads.
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  Speaker 1: Later that evening, in his chambers, Haman rolled a small
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  Speaker 1: object between his fingers. A poor, a lot. He cast it,
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  Speaker 1: watching it fall, marking a date. He then went to
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  Speaker 1: the king.
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  Speaker 3: Your majesty, I have egregious news.
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  Speaker 5: I'm loath to even report it, but surely you know
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  Speaker 5: by now how deep my loyalty runs to you.
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  Speaker 7: My king.
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  Speaker 1: King Xerxes lapped up every lie, every false sentiment laid
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  Speaker 1: by Haman.
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  Speaker 5: I've been making observations of my travels through your glorious empire.
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  Speaker 3: Grievous observations, indeed.
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  Speaker 5: There's a people scattered among your provinces who do not
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  Speaker 5: follow your laws.
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  Speaker 3: They're dangerous, disloyal. Allow me to remove them.
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  Speaker 5: For the good of the Empire.
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  Speaker 3: Who are these people?
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  Speaker 1: Haman bit back a wicked smile at how the king
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  Speaker 1: was falling flawlessly into his trap.
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  Speaker 3: It is the Jews, my king. Their laws are different
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  Speaker 3: from everyone else's. They don't obey the king's laws.
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  Speaker 7: It is not in the king's best interest to tolerate them.
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  Speaker 7: If the king approves, let an order be drawn up
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  Speaker 7: authorizing their destruction. and I will pay 375 tons of
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  Speaker 7: silver to the officials for deposit in the royal treasury.
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  Speaker 3: Let it be as you say, and take whatever you
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  Speaker 3: need to be rid of them.
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  Speaker 1: So the king removed his signet ring from his hand
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  Speaker 1: and gave it to Haman, son of Hamadata the Agagite,
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  Speaker 1: the enemy of the Jews. Haman, with the signet ring,
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  Speaker 1: the authority of the king, had the scribes draw up
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  Speaker 1: the edicts, seal them in wax and clay, and distribute
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  Speaker 1: them throughout the entire kingdom. Early that morning, Mordecai woke
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  Speaker 1: up feeling uneasy. When he arrived at the city gates,
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  Speaker 1: he saw knots of his fellow judges and other officials
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  Speaker 1: gathered together, whispering. When he drew closer, they hushed in concern.
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  Speaker 1: His friend Ah Zhang sighed and pulled him aside, handing
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  Speaker 1: him an edict. Even before he read the words, his
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  Speaker 1: hands trembled, anticipating the severity of whatever was inside.
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  Speaker 2: On the thirteenth day, the twelfth month, all Jews, men, women,
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  Speaker 2: and children are to be destroyed. annihilate them all and
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  Speaker 2: plunder their possessions in a single day.
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  Speaker 1: Panic rippled through the empire in Susa there was confusion
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  Speaker 1: and horror and weeping of the hateful words there were
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  Speaker 1: whispers of dread whispers of evil And soon, whispers would
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  Speaker 1: rise into walls that clothed the streets in sackcloth and sorrow,
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  Speaker 1: as if the earth itself tore its garments in grief
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  Speaker 1: beneath the weight of reckless hate. Steve Gatina, Max Bard,
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  Speaker 1: Zach Schelleberger and Ben Gammon are the executive producers of
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  Speaker 1: The Chosen People, narrated by Paul Colterfianu. Characters are voiced
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  Speaker 1: by Jonathan Cotton, Aaron Salvato, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwald,
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  Speaker 1: Sylvia Zaradoc, Thomas Copeland Jr., Rosanna Pilcher and Mitch Lashinsky.
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  Speaker 1: Music by Andrew Morgan Smith. written by Aaron Salvato, Brie Rosely,
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  Speaker 1: and Chris Baig. You can hear more Prey.com productions on
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  Speaker 1: the Prey.com app, available on the Apple App Store and
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  Speaker 1: rate and leave a review.