Chapter 7: Dancing for the Sultan

Hürrem and I wait patiently outside the sultan’s bedchamber. The trays of food we are holding are starting to feel heavy, but we dare not put them down. Mahidevran told us to stand here until she collected the trays from us, but she didn’t say how long we would be waiting. I begin to understand why she didn’t order two of her personal maids to do this chore. Ibrahim left us as soon as Mahidevran entered the sultan’s bedchamber, leaving Hürrem and I in the company of the two men guarding the door.

Although the guards remain passive, I can sense the lust in their eyes. Nigar Kalfa has repeatedly warned us to be careful not to be caught alone with one of the household guards. These men might be warrior slaves, but some have been known to run the risk of punishment for a few moments of pleasure with a harem slave. Regardless of the circumstances, the consequences for any woman unfortunate enough to be ravished by a guard is much worse. The best she can hope for is expulsion from the harem, the worst is execution by the traditional means; tied inside a sack and thrown into deep water to drown.

We wait for nearly an hour before the bedchamber door opens. Mahidevran leaves the room and walks past us without looking in our direction. The thunderous expression on her face suggests that her meeting with the sultan hasn’t gone well.

“Now what are we supposed to do?” muses Hürrem once Mahidevran is out of sight.

I’m about to suggest taking the trays to the kitchen when there’s a call from inside the sultan’s room. One of the guards opens the door and goes inside to answer the sultan’s summons. A moment later the guard returns and orders us to take the trays into the sultan’s room. I nearly drop my tray in alarm. This was never part of Mahidevran’s plan. I desperately try to remember the correct procedure for entering the sultan’s chamber.

Hürrem takes the lead and I simply follow her into the room. While I am terrified of doing something wrong, Hürrem clearly sees this as an opportunity to be seized in both hands.

“Leave the trays on that table,” says Sultan Suleiman as we enter his room with bowed heads.

We quickly do as he commands. As soon as we have deposited the trays on the table we drop to our knees, keeping our heads bowed. Even Hürrem is not so bold as to look at him face to face.

“You must be two of the new slaves,” says the sultan. “What are your names?”

“Gülnihal, Padisha,” I reply as calmly as I can manage.

“And you must be Hürrem,” says the sultan, before Hürrem can reply. “Both Mahidevran and my mother have told me of a newly arrived red-haired firebrand in my harem. I trust you are paying attention to your lessons?”

Fortunately, Hürrem has sufficient command of the Turkish language to understand the gist of what the sultan is saying.

“I am your humble slave, my Sultan” replies Hürrem. “I strive to learn how best to serve you.”

The sultan seems to understand Hürrem’s reply even though she mispronounces several words and fails to correctly address him as Padisha. Her reply is one of several standard responses we are being taught to say. The sultan clearly knows this and doesn’t pursue the conversation any further. He dismisses us and we carefully back towards the door. Once through the door, we quickly head back to the harem.

The next morning Gülsah, one of Mahidevran’s personal maids, comes looking for Hürrem and me. Several of the women in the harem have already warned us to keep clear of Gülsah. She has a reputation for causing trouble, as well as being Mahidevran’s spy. Unfortunately there’s nowhere for us to hide from her.

“The sultana has her eye on you two,” sneers Gülsah. “You had best watch your step.”

There are currently four sultanas living in the Imperial Wing of the harem, so at face value, Gülsah’s warning is ambiguous. Nevertheless, we don’t need to be told which sultana Gülsah means. What I don’t understand is what we are supposed to have done to deserve such treatment.

Hürrem’s slip in referring to the sultan by his name seems to have been forgotten. Nobody mentions her error over the next few days. Hürrem and I go back to our daily routine and put our moment of excitement to the back of our minds. We don’t even think about our meeting with the sultan when Nigar Kalfa tells us that a special evening of entertainment is being planned for the sultan next week. Nor do we think it out of the ordinary when Hürrem and I are selected along with six other young women to have dancing tuition in addition to our regular lessons.

The style of dancing is like nothing I have ever encountered before. The sexual overtones to the dances are hard to ignore. I do my best to imitate the lithe young woman teaching us. Hürrem seems to find it much easier to achieve the allure and grace required to perform the dance well. Our teacher encourages and praises all our efforts, but her best praise goes to Hürrem.

After Nigar Kalfa’s initial announcement, no further mention of the special evening of entertainment is made. I begin to think it has been cancelled since the sultan has many things requiring his attention. It is quite possible that he has decided he has no time for such frivolity. But I’m wrong. Hürrem and I, along with four other odalisques, are called away from our lessons early one morning. We are escorted to a room at the side of the harem where Ibrahim, Sümbul Aga and Daye Hatun are waiting.