I do not own anything Phantom. Please review, go to my profile and if you have questions contact me. Thank-you to my beta. Enjoy the story!
Words to Know
HASHEM means G-d. It is one of the "nicknames."
Aneni means Answer in Hebrew
G-d is not a typo.
Chapter 4 How Ester Felt
Chavia felt the masked man's stare upon her and shivered.
She opened her eyes
only when she heard footsteps descending and
the bedroom door closing
softly. She whispered the first morning
blessing in Hebrew. "Thank you living
eternal G-d for
returning my soul back to me with your love and your
abundant
compassion. Your faithfulness is everlasting."
Tears stung her eyes as she
spoke the last word.. Jewish law said
that after waking a person should
ritually wash their hands, but
she could not perform the commandment
here. In this place she felt
disconnected from everything. If it wasn't for HASHEM, G-d, she would
be completely alone. Nothing was familiar to her here with
the
exception of the masked man's voice, which she hated to admit
(and would never
admit out loud) soothed her and made it easier to
sleep. She quickly got out
of bed. Her pale face filled with
curiosity when she discovered what was on
the foot of the bed, a
white gown with three roses lying on top. One was red,
another
white and another
yellow.
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Erik
paced in the living room only steps from Chavia's bedroom, his
heart
consumed with worry for this young beauty. He could hear her
soft cries.
"Aneni, Aneni HASHEM." He understood her
Hebrew and in this instance it
shattered his heart like glass
every time it made its way to his ears. Of
course she did not
realize he understood her Hebrew. Aneni
, Aneni, HASHEM" she
repeated over and over. Answer, Answer HASHEM. He didn't
know how
much longer he could listen to her cry without running to her.
She needs to
eat" he thought as he walked to the kitchen and retrieved
two
apples, he returned to the closed bedroom door and knocked softly, to
his
shock and delight, she quickly opened the door. Her head was
raised and her
spellbinding eyes met his.
"Good morning," he said.
"Good morning, Sir," she
replied softly, fear entering her voice. She had
decided that it
was always best to speak in German while in this man's
presence
"There is no need to be so formal.
"Isn't there?"
"No," he said as he held out the apples to her.
"No thank you, Sir. I can not eat that."
I
forbid you to fast now. There is nothing un- kosher about an apple.
You
must eat. I am not working to save you, so that you can starve
yourself. You
will eat and then you will change into the dress I
left for you."
"What will you do to me if I refuse
to comply?" Erik hated hearing fear in
her voice but he
didn't let it show. One day soon he decided she would learn
he was
not the monster he appeared to be. He could not blame her at this
point
for fearing him. She did not trust that a man wearing the
uniform of the enemy
wanted to save her life.
"There
will be no refusal; you will comply with my wishes. I know
this
because I will watch you do it." Chavia swallowed the
lump that had formed in
her throat.
"if I take the apples and promise to eat them, will you leave the room while I change?" Erik slowly nodded.
"Yes, if I see you
eat," he said after a brief pause. Chavia took the
apples,
careful not to touch the masked man's hands. She hated
taking anything from
him, being at his mercy. She wanted her life
back, her parents back,
her, synagogue, her friends. She wanted to
go home. Quickly she whispered the
blessing for the fruit of the
tree and ate the apples. She could feel her
cheeks grow hot as
fire. The masked man's stare was so intense! She looked
down at
the floor and only looked up when she was sure he left the room
again
and closed the door behind him. Moments later she approached the foot
of the bed. She moved the roes to the side and gently held up the
gown to
herself, inspecting it carefully. To her astonishment and
relief it was perfectly
modest. The skirt of the gown which, was
of regulation length, flowed
gracefully down to her ankles; the
sleeves were long and covered her
elbows.
The neckline of it
was just high enough to see a necklace if she chose
to wear one.
She had never seen such an enchanting dress. She always dressed
modestly,
as Jewish law required, but never could she afford a
dress so beautiful! It
was exactly the way she dreamed her wedding
dress would look. This is not my
wedding
dress; I will not be married to him! He can do a lot of things
but he
can not marry me! It's not legal"no matter what, no
matter whom he hires to
perform this mockery! She thought to
herself, furious that for one
instant she could think of this
garment as her wedding gown! She despised herself for
noticing how
good the dress felt against her skin.
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Erik's
breathe caught as he saw Chavia, his bride, emerge from her room
with
her dark brown curls pinned up. He had never seen or known
beauty until
he saw her. .It was she who set the standards for
beauty and went beyond them more and more every single day. He hoped
she liked the dress. It had been hard to get silk and it was even
harder to place on the skirt, going downward the tear-drop peals he
had
managed to acquire. He smiled, his heart engulfed with pride.
The dress she
wore was made for her and it showed. He had gotten
her every
measurement right.
"You take my breathe
away, my beloved, the masked man said. "Take
these."
He handed her some documents. Chavia said nothing, but was positive
he
could hear her breathing heart. I am not your beloved is what
she
wanted to tell him again. She felt her hand instinctively move
and grab on to the
papers. "Your name is Christine; that is
what I and everyone else will
call you until this mess of a war is
over. You must no longer be known as or
answer to Chavia. Your
name is and will be Christine. The papers you have in
your hand
are yours. If anyone asks to see your papers these are the ones
you
present them. It is my prediction that this will not happen
after
today. You must listen to me carefully at all times because
my instructions will
keep you alive." The masked man talked
and talked for what seemed like a
lifetime, giving her directions.
She felt herself nodding her head when he asked
if she understood.
She felt herself walking. Everything after the word alive
was
a blur. She felt as though she were watching someone else's
nightmare.
Before she could process what was
happening, she was standing next to
the masked man as he told one
of his high-ranking Nazi friends in a big
office that she agreed
to be Erik's wife and Erik agreed to be her husband. As she
stood
there she thought back to Ester. I'm terrified; I want to save my
life
but fear I will die that I am in the most dangerous place
living among
enemies, "marrying" a powerful stranger.
This must be how Ester felt as
she became the wife of King
Ahasuerus. All these thoughts ran through her
mind as a Nazi
declared that she and the masked man were married! Suddenly she
felt
she had a clearer understanding of the Scroll of Easter
that all Jews were
commanded to hear every Purim.
She prayed no one noticed her
fear-induced trembling. She felt a
wave of nausea hit her when she saw the title and
the author of a
book the masked man's friend slipped into his hand as a
wedding
gift. I can imagine how Queen Ester felt, but there is a
huge
difference! Ester took on the job of helping to save her
people from death. Ester and I
are from the same people, we are
both Jewish women. But by being the "wife" of
this
masked man known as Erik I am not helping to save my people from
murder,
I am only helping to save only myself .
