Captured For The Sultan’s Pleasure

Roksolana regretted not eating first before she opened her mouth to decline the Sultan’s offer. She felt so hungry and even her stomach protested by grumbling.

When they arrived at the kitchen, the guards dumped her in the hands of the kitchen head and disappeared without a word. She figured that they must have done that a lot of times that no explanation was needed between them anymore.

Roksolana stood still as the woman examined her from head to toe and prayed that she wouldn’t deem her unfit for the job. True, she doesn’t know how to cook or do anything in the kitchen but she was willing to learn rather than going back to Lady Miriam or the Sultan. She sighed out loud when the woman smiled at her.

“It’s late already. Go and clean up, then get something to eat. You will have a long day tomorrow and need all the energy you can get.” The woman told her.

Roksolana smiled her thanks at the woman. She waited until the woman walked away before slumping down. She was feeling very weak and hungry and had only managed to hold it in so that the kitchen head wouldn’t have rejected her. She felt an arm around her and looked at the owner. She was surprised to find Seyiddah smiling at her.

Seyiddah helped Roksolana up and helped walked her to a chair in the room. Seyiddah left her side and reemerged with a plate full of food, which she placed on Roksolana’s lap. Roksolana ate the meal hungrily, not even hearing Seyiddah’s voice telling her to slow down.

When she was done with the food, she drank a bowl full of water and sighed. She felt her strength coming back and smiled at Seyiddah who smiled back. Roksolana looked around the kitchen and gulped when she saw that every maid in the kitchen was staring at her. Some of them looked at her with pity, some with curiosity, and others looked just to look at the new maid. Roksolana smiled at all of them and hoped that it was enough to make them feel at ease around her. She watched as they dispersed slowly and sighed.

Roksolana looked at Seyiddah who nudged her at the arm. Without a word, Seyiddah held her hand and walked away with her from the kitchen. They stopped at a small stall and Roksolana looked at Seyiddah enquiring. The woman only smiled at Roksolana before dragging her into the stall, then pointed at the tub in the middle of the stall.

Roksolana looked into the tub and saw it full of water, she smiled and began to undress. Seyiddah laughed out loud at her enthusiasm as she got into the water tub. The water was cold but Roksolana didn’t mind, especially when her sore body began to relax.

“I thought you might appreciate the bath,” Seyiddah told her.

“I do. Thank you,” Roksolana answered.

After a few more minutes passed by, Roksolana spoke up again.

“I thought you worked for the women in the harem. So, what are you doing here? She asked to satisfy her curiosity.

” I don’t. I’m just in charge of delivering their meals. Lady Miriam forced me to stay behind that day, so I can take you to your room,” Seyiddah explained.

Roksolana nodded her head. She explained everything that had happened to her to Seyiddah. From the invasion of Jamal on her sultanate to the death of her family and loved ones to how he had forcefully brought her to this sultanate along with other women. She also told Seyiddah everything she had gone through in the hands of Lady Miriam, including how she had cut her open and sprayed pepper on the open wounds.

Roksolana also explained to Seyiddah how Lady Miriam had had her whipped. She explained how the sultan had been forcing her to be his concubine and how he had dumped her here because of her refusal. When Roksolana was done, she saw Seyiddah looking at her like she was a mad woman.

“You mean the Sultan asked you to be his mistress? Our Sultan?” Seyiddah asked amazement reflecting in her tone.

“Yes,” Roksolana answered.

“And you refused?” Seyiddah asked again.

“Yes,” Roksolana replied.

Seyiddah slapped her hard on the back and Roksolana grunted. Next, the woman touched her forehead trying to see if Roksolana was okay.

“Do you even know what you are talking about? He’s the Sultan,” Seyiddah shouted at her.

“He killed my family, Seyiddah. I can’t be with such a man,” Roksolana explained.

“That is normal in every invasion from time past. Besides, the men died in combat. You should be happy he spared you. How many times have you seen people survive in the hands of other Sultans? Yet, he spared the women and children of your sultanate. He could have even forced himself on you and there was nothing you could do about it, yet he’s asking you,” Seyiddah told her.Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

Roksolana found Seyiddah’s explanation reasonable. It was hard to see where all the women of the invaded land were spared. A few, yes but never all. The children were always deemed as too much trouble, therefore they killed them in wars.

Even her Abu had recounted a story where he had invaded a land once and killed every living breathing thing on the sultanate. Yet, the Sultan had spared them all and brought them to his land to get another chance. And from what Roksolana had seen about the women from her sultanate the few times she saw them, she could tell that they were all doing okay. So in a way, she should be thankful to the Sultan for being merciful to them.

It was also rare to see a sultan ask a woman to be his mistress. They simply took the women they wanted and no one could stop them. Perhaps, she really was lucky the Sultan kept asking for her permission. But that doesn’t mean that she was ready to forgive him for killing her family and making her suffer.

“Besides, you are the first woman I know that the Sultan personally asked to be his mistress,” Seyiddah’s voice caught into her thought.

“What are you talking about? He has a harem full of women,” Roksolana asked Seyiddah.

Seyiddah went on to explain to Roksolana how the harem had become full of women of all ages. She got to know that all the women in the harem were daughters of his janissaries. Each of them had dumped a daughter on the Sultan in the hope that he would choose one of their daughters as his Sultana.

Roksolana also found out that Lady Miriam had become the Sultan’s favorite because of the influence of her father in the community. He was the finance minister and therefore, he had the others under his control. Roksolana also found out that the Sultan avoided all the maidens who were still virgins among the women in his harem and Roksolana thought that was strange.

By the time Seyiddah was done with her gossip, Roksolana was done with her bath. Seyiddah gave her a change of clothing and they walked to the sleeping room together. They saw that the others were already fast asleep due to exhaustion. Seyiddah helped Roksolana make her bed by the corner of the room, before moving to her own bed.

As Roksolana lay down on her pallet, she wondered why the Sultan was bent on making her his mistress. She also wondered why the Sultan never touched the virgins in his harem.

Realizing that Lady Miriam couldn’t have been a virgin, Roksolana was sure that she was still with the man who had deflowered her. Next, she wondered if he would back out if he found out she was still a virgin herself. She was still thinking about the Sultan when she fell asleep a few minutes later.