| “ | Women of the kingdom of Moron, listen to reason! Your destiny is before you! The destiny of all Jaredites! Your fate cannot be altered! Nimrah is our new king! | „ |
| ~ Asherah when her true motives are exposed |
| “ | If anyone tries to spill my blood or the blood of my daughters, you can be certain that my son-the new king-will hunt you to the ends of the earth! You would suffer and die in ways that you cannot imagine! How can anyone deny that Nimrah's rise to power was not foreordained by God Himself? Who else possesses the might and wisdom to defeat Akish and the sons ofMizerath? Esrom and Coriantumr were weak. Look what we've endured! By following King Omer, our destruction was always assured. I declare to all of you: Submit to King Nimrah! Submit or face his wrath. Nimrah is, and has always been, the only rightful heir to the kingdom of the Jaredites! | „ |
| ~ Asherah's threatening speech to her people |
Asherah is a major antagonist in Chris Heimerdinger's Tennis Shoes Adventure Series. She serves as a minor character in Kingdoms and Conquerors, one of the two main antagonists (alongside Nimrah) of Sorcerors and Seers, and one of the overarching antagonists of Drums Of Desolation and Thorns Of Glory, Part One. She is the wife of Akish and the queen of the Jaredites.
Biography[]
Past[]
Asherah was the daughter of Jared, who was the son of King Omer. She met Akish when he was employed by Jared to help take over his father's throne. As part of their agreement, Akish was allowed to marry Asherah as Jared took the throne from his father. Asherah helped Akish in his plans to murder King Omer, but Omer learned of their intentions and escaped. In his absence, Jared took the throne.
At some point during her rule, Asherah introduced sorcery to the Jaredites. She drew information from texts carried over the oceans and taught her people the secret oaths and combinations. She even went so far as to prod Akish into using sorcery himself.
Kingdoms and Conquerors[]
Asherah and Akish continued to commit crimes and sorcery among the Jaredites. However, when Akish murders Asherah's father, she sets out on a quest against him. During this campaign, she experiences a dream vision where she sees that one of Akish's prisoners, Joshua Plimpton, is destined to be the one who kills Akish. She recalls that Akish told her he could only be killed by his own mystical sword, and the sword had to be wielded by an avowed enemy. With this knowledge, Asherah steals Akish's mystical sword and frees his political prisoners. Asherah meets Joshua Plimpton and decides to send him to the time and place he yearns for the most. Using the mystical sword, Asherah opens a time rift that takes Joshua to the final days of the Nephites. Believing that Joshua is still destined to kill Akish, Asherah knowingly allows him to take the sword as he enters the portal.
Sorcerers and Seers[]
Asherah is reintroduced when Joshua Plimpton and Marcos are tracking Akish (who has stolen the Golden Plates to barter for his stolen sword) and end up in the time period of the Jaredites. A group of female warriors led by Teshebel and Hamira, Asherah's daughters, brings Joshua and Marcos to the encampment where Asherah resides. Teshebel informs Asherah that Joshua possesses Akish's sword, much to her surprise. Asherah looks at Joshua and recognizes him. She tells him not to address her as Queen Asherah, as she is not queen here. Asherah then orders Teshebel and her soldiers to untie Joshua and Marcos, as they pose no threat to them.
Hamira and Teshebel question Asherah's decision, pointing out that if Akish wanted to send warriors to kill King Omer, then he would surely have given said warriors his magic sword. Asherah tells them that she has foreseen that Joshua will be the one to save them from Akish and allow them to return to the land of their forefathers. Joshua admits that he isn't sure why he and Marcos are there, since they had simply followed the Liahona's directions and ended up in the Jaredites' time.
King Omer then comes out of his tent and inquires about Joshua and Marcos. Asherah tells Omer that Joshua is the one who stole Akish's sword from her, which Joshua corrects by saying she took it. At first, Omer doesn't believe that Joshua is the same boy, as Joshua has aged five years. Joshua assures Omer that he is the same boy, and that he is completely free of Akish's sword's evil influence. Asherah doesn't believe him, saying that no man is free of the sword's influence. Marcos clarifies that Joshua only just touched the sword today, and that he had gone five years without touching it. Asherah testifies that, when she saw Joshua in Akish's dungeon, he was "an utter slave to the silver sword" and was consumed by his hatred of Akish. Asherah goes on to explain her true motives for freeing Joshua and giving him the sword.
Joshua admits to Asherah that she is right about the person he was back then, but he has changed now. Marcos tells Asherah that he believes he and Joshua were sent here by God to help them. Asherah shoots down his claims, saying that she feels God has abandoned them. Omer decides to allow Joshua and Marcos to be taken in by the Jaredites, while Asherah orders Teshebel to protect Akish's sword with her life.
King Omer holds a feast where everyone, including Asherah, attends. Omer reveals that his people possess ancient, valuable records whose pages have only been seen by their author. He explains that himself and one other person (whose identity is unrevealed) know the location of these records, hence why their country is plagued with civil war. This is also why Akish and his sons are so desperate to usurp the kingdom-they want to destroy the records.
Omer goes on to say that he had a dream much like Asherah's, where he saw that he would have to gather his people and take refuge inside a cavern near the beach. Asherah states that Akish and Hathrom, along with their assassins, have discovered this cavern's secret location. Hamira counters this by saying that an earthquake destroyed the passage leading to the Jaredites' homeland where Akish and Hathrom reside. In other words, the Jaredites may very well be safe from Akish and Hathrom.
Marcos deduces that the reason he and Joshua were sent here was to help the Jaredites return to the land of their forefathers. Asherah doesn't believe this. She reiterates that their enemies found them in Ablom and would've killed the king and destroyed the records if they hadn't escaped. Marcos insists that, based on what he knows from the book of Ether, Akish and the sons of Mizerath are fighting a war that will lead to both of their downfall, leaving the Jaredites unharmed. Marcos goes on to explain that Akish stole the Golden Plates from him and Joshua in the hope that Joshua would bring him his sword back in exchange. Asherah asks them probing questions about the Golden Plates and how they plan to make the exchange with Akish. Joshua's and Marcos' answers cement Asherah's belief that they are not really servants of God.
Joshua presents the Liahona to Omer and Asherah in an attempt to dispel Asherah's false belief. Asherah examines the Liahona and comes to the conclusion that it's an object of sorcery. Omer takes a look at the Liahona and sees words written on the spindles inside. The words warn him that Akish and his sons' armies are coming, and that they seek to destroy them.
King Omer orders his people to perpare to leave for their homeland of Ablom. Asherah tries to convince him otherwise, insisting that the arrival of Joshua and Marcos and everything that has transpired since has contradicted Omer's predictions that Esrom, Coriantumr, and Nimrah would be the ones to liberate the Jaredites. Omer, being the king, shoots Asherah down and makes the final decision to leave that very night.
As the Jaredites are preparing to leave, Uguleth and Teshebel act under Asherah's orders and ambush Joshua and Marcos in an attempt to kill them. As they fight, the area begins to flood, prompting them to call it off and join the Jaredites in evacuating.
The Jaredites work together to escape the flood and find refuge atop a plateau. While residing there, Omer tells Asherah that she will hereby be silenced among their people, and that he will pronounce her full sentence later.
While Joshua and Hamira are surveying their enemies' armies, Omer's young wife Elorah goes into labor and gives birth to a baby boy she names Emer. To Asherah's fury, Emer is declared to be the next rightful king of the Jaredites. When Marcos, Uguleth, Shoalah, and Hearthrah are searching for Joshua and Hamira, they encounter Nimrah and discover that he, Asherah, Teshebel, and Uguleth have been conspiring against King Omer to over throw him and make Nimrah king of the Jaredites. They even went so far as to murder Esrom and Coriantumr to leave Nimrah the only heir in line. But, with the birth of Emer, their plan has reached a problem.
Marcos returns from his scouting mission and exposes Asherah to Omer. Asherah makes no effort to hide her treason, saying that it is the Jaredites' destiny to hail Nimrah as their king. Omer angrily tells Asherah she is banished, but Asherah refuses to comply. She threatens King Omer with a knife, saying that if he tries to silence her, she will kill him. Asherah warns the crowd that the same fate will befall them if they rebel against her. Elorah cries out in protest, saying that Emer is the rightful prince of the Jaredites. Asherah angrily advances on the queen and her baby, ready to murder them both. Marcos, desperate to end Asherah's villainy, pulls out a gun and shoots Asherah. His gunshot kills Asherah, much to the people's shock.
Drums of Desolation[]
In the twelfth book, it is revealed that, after Asherah's death, her body (along with Teshebel's) is thrown into the river.