"Well, you'd think so! But it was more that she told him no, and he was the Great King. And kings generally don't like people to get the idea that they can say no, even for something small. So -- Vashti was out, and Achashverosh was in the market for a new queen. And his advisors said hey, why don't we gather up all the unmarried girls in the kingdom, and let the King take his pick? And here's where we meet some of the other important characters in the story."

She pauses for just a moment.

"In the capital city of Susa, where all this was happening, lived a man named Mordechai who was a Jew. And he was raising a girl named Hadassah, who was either his cousin or his niece, and who was also called Esther."