Chapter 15: Changes

All the women and girls in the harem want to know what is going on, but we are clearly not going to be told. Not that anything in the harem remains a secret for long. The agas and kalfas all go back to their rooms and only Nigar Kalfa stays to make us to settle down for the night. Hürrem decides to find out what has happened and asks Nigar Kalfa directly. Nigar Kalfa could refuse to answer, but I again witness the result of Hürrem’s efforts to win Nigar Kalfa’s loyalty.

“One of the agas found Gülsah locked in the bedding storeroom,” says Nigar Kalfa. “It seems someone locked the door while Gülsah was inside the storeroom. She didn’t see who it was, and nobody heard her cries for help. Weren’t you down there with Nilüfer today, Esme?”

“Not today,” replies Esme. “Nilüfer and I were assigned to change the bedding this afternoon, but we didn’t need to go down to the storeroom. There was sufficient clean bedding in the cupboard on this floor.”

“That’s unusual,” says Nigar Kalfa. “Normally the cupboard isn’t restocked until the bedding is changed. Gülsah must have entered the storeroom while someone was restocking the cupboard this morning. Well, it’s her own fault. She had no business being in the bedding storeroom in the first place.”

“I agree,” says Hürrem. “She spends far too much time meddling in things that have nothing to do with attending to Mahidevran’s needs. I’m surprised the Valide hasn’t taken action before now.”

“Well the Valide might take action after today’s incident,” replies Nigar Kalfa. “She isn’t happy at the disturbance caused by Gülsah’s disappearance. I think she may have Mahidevran keep Gülsah on a shorter leash from now on.”

If Nigar Kalfa is right, then Mahidevran will have suffered another blow to her campaign to rid the harem of her rivals. Unfortunately, I doubt she will give up her campaign entirely unless the Valide or Sultan Suleiman makes her stop. With the sultan away at the war and the Valide busy with important state affairs, it seems we must endure Mahidevran’s games for a while longer.

Hürrem returns to her room and the harem settles down for the night. I look at Nilüfer as she lies down to sleep. I can’t help feeling she had something to do with Gulsah’s disappearance today, but there are no witnesses, and Nilüfer isn’t confessing to anything. Gulsah’s misfortune could have been an accident, but Nilüfer had the motive and ability to lure Gülsah into a trap. I just hope for Nilüfer’s sake that the Valide is too busy with more important matters to bother with a full investigation.

The next few days are uneventful. Now that Gülsah has stopped bullying the new arrivals, and Fidan is keeping a low profile, the tension that existed between the factions quickly eases. Gülsah is only seen briefly, running errands for Mahidevran. Neither the Valide nor Mahidevran enter our part of the harem for several days. As a consequence, the mood of the women in the harem improves, and the insults and snide remarks that fuelled the tension quickly stop. The whole harem is more relaxed, which encourages Hürrem to spend more time with Nilüfer, Esme and me in the main part of the harem.

The string of uneventful days ends when Nigar Kalfa announces that Ruth, the woman trader from the market, will be visiting the harem this afternoon. It is almost two weeks since she last visited us, and several of the odalisques are eager to spend some of their stipend. Perhaps she’ll be able to tell us what is happening in the rest of Constantinople. We haven’t received any fresh news about events occurring beyond the palace walls since the day of the harem celebration. Even the older girls, who can usually prise gossip and information from the agas, have nothing new to report. It’s as though we are deliberately being kept in the dark.

Ruth arrives with her baskets of wares as soon as she has finished trading with those in the Imperial Wing of the harem. While the Valide never needs to trade with Ruth, she allows her maids to purchase items. Mahidevran and her maids get the next look at what Ruth has on offer. Only then does Ruth come into our part of the harem. She has her usual range of clothing and jewellery, together with more mundane things like combs and brushes. She is swamped by a gaggle of eager women as soon as she arrives.

Many of the women try to plug Ruth for news of the outside world. Ruth is shrewd enough to only answer questions from those who purchase something from her. Unfortunately for some of the younger girls, the prices demanded by Ruth are more than they can afford. No amount of haggling can make Ruth lower her prices.

“The war has created shortages of many goods,” says Ruth. “I must pay more for the goods which I buy from the merchants.”

We are fortunate that the Valide supplies our basic clothing, although it means wearing the grey and white harem uniforms. Not that most of us mind at the moment. More and more of the women are choosing to wear the uniforms and save their silk dresses for when the sultan returns. The prices Ruth is demanding for new dresses will mean that even more women will choose to wear the uniforms. Of course some of us can’t afford a silk dress, so we must be content with the harem uniform in any case.

After Ruth has left the harem we gather together to share what news we have gleaned. It isn’t much and some of it is contradictory. The food riots have been quelled and order has been restored for the time being. However, the city is still tense and trouble could break out at any time. The dispute between the Grand Vizier and the rebellious Janissary officers is still at an impasse.

The next morning Sümbul Aga calls us all together. Hürrem and Ayşe join us from the mezzanine and the odalisques from the other wing of the harem halt their duties to join us. Daye Hatun joins us once everybody is assembled.