The book of Esther is a thrilling story to read about and yet we rarely look into what this would have been like to live through for the two very brave and virtuous (yes, both of them) Queens who had to walk a knife edge within the world of honor/shame dynamics where a shamed woman could easily wind up a dead woman. (And yes, Mordecai was her cousin--not sure where my brain was on that and why I didn't catch it in editing.)