King Ahasuerus of Persia was searching for a new queen.  He fell in love at the sight of a beautiful Jewish orphan named Esther, and she was chosen to be his bride.  The King's favorite counselor, Haman, was an evil man to whom the kingdom had to bow down by order of the King.  Esther's cousin Mordecai refused to bow down to Haman.  This angered Haman.  He told the King that Jews would not obey the laws of the land, therefore they should all be put to death.  Mordecai told Queen Esther of this order to kill all Jews and asked her to intervene with the King to save her people.  Queen Esther invited the King and Haman to a banquet and bravely asked the King to spare her life and the lives of her people, the Jews.  the King had not known that Esther was Jewish and he demanded to know who had threatened her life.  She pointed to Haman, and the King was so angry that he ordered Haman to be killed instead of the Jews.  Queen Esther's bravery spared the lives of her people.