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THE ROYAL FAMILY

King Xerxes the Great — He was the fourth king of kings of the Achaemenid dynasty of Persia. His empire was vast -- stretching from Greece to Egypt to the Indus Valley -- and as such, his harem was populated with the most beautiful young women from the various lands he had conquered and beyond.

Queen Vashti — She was considered the most beautiful woman in all of the Persian empire. She was the great-granddaughter of Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II, the granddaughter of King Amel-Marduk, and the daughter of King Belshazzar. King Darius, invaded Babylonia, slew her father, and award her to his son, Crown Prince Xerxes as a bride.

Prince Darius — The eldest of Xerxes sons born by Vashti and named after his grandfather, Darius the Great.

Prince Hystaspes — The second son of Xerxes born by Vashti.

Prince Artaxerxes — The third son of Xerxes born by Vashti.

Princess Amytis — The eldest daughter of Xerxes born by Vashti. When she reached adulthood, many years after her father's , she was considered by many almost as beautiful as her mother.

Princess Artaynte — The daughter of Prince Masistes, the brother of King Xerxes, and the bride of Princess Darius II.

THE HAREM -- Wives

Ailene — A pale skinned red-haired Gaul girl.

Aiya — An innocent Israelite girl.

Charvi — One of the Indian girls gifted to the King as tribute.

Emel — A young Turkish girl.

Hadassah — An innocent Israelite girl.

Kassandra — One of many prized Greek virgins taken as part of the King's conquest of Greece.

Kiya — A naive girl from Egypt.

Laliya — A young Babylonian girl.

Nairi — A young girl from the Armenian region.

Yeraz — A young girl from the Armenian region

THE HAREM -- Concubines

Alexina — A curly-haired girl from Ionia Greece.

Anika — A dark-skinned girl from India.

Djamila — A shy girl from Canaan.

Petra — A straight-haired girl from Ionia Greece.

Nylah — A young tan-skinned girl from northern Arabia.

Sefa — A petite Turkish girl.

Sirun — A young Armenian girl.

Zahra — A tan-skinned girl from Egypt.

PRINCE DARIUS' WIVES

Afet — a pretty Turkish girl.

Gamila — A delicate young girl from Arabia.

Zahra — A pretty Persian girl.

THE COURT

Artemisia -- The legendary Grand Admiral and leader of the Persian Navy. She was the ruler of Halicarnassius, a Greek City-State and a colony of Persian Empire. A great powerful, independent and intelligent woman who won many battles for Xerxes, her powerful ships and helped the King defeat the Greeks in the beginning phases of naval Battle of Salamis. She was his lover but never became his wife.

Haman the Agagite -- The grand vizier of Xerxes' court and a descendant of Agag, the King of the Amalekites, a people who were wiped out in certain areas by Kings Saul and David.

Mordecai -- An Israelite refugee who became a vizier in Xerxes' court and the uncle of his orphaned niece, Hadassah.

Artabanus -- A vizier Xerxes' court and the commander of the royal bodyguard.

Farzad -- The former personal scribe to grand vizier Haman

Aspamitres -- An eunuch guard loyal to Artabanus.

Bigthan -- An older Babylonia eunuch who is loyal to Vashti.

Teresh -- A young Babylonia eunuch who is loyal to Vashti.

RELIGION

Ahura Mazdā -- The supreme god in Zoroastrianism, who created the universe and the cosmic order that he maintains. He created the twin spirits Spenta Mainyu and Angra Mainyu (Ahriman)—the former beneficent, choosing truth, light, and life; and the latter destructive, choosing deceit, darkness, and . The struggle of the spirits against each other makes up the history of the world and is reflected in the choice between good and evil that humanity constantly faces.