Slaves for the Harem - Cover

Slaves for the Harem

Copyright© 2023 by Rachael Jane

Chapter 20: New Arrivals

Hürrem understands the difficulty of the task she has set me, and that I may be gone for several days. However we both know that it would be foolish for us to simply wait at Hatice Sultan’s house for events to unfold. After much effort I manage to reach the Old Palace, and find Daye Hatun to tell her I wish an audience with the Valide. Now I must wait for the Valide to find time in her busy schedule to see me. Unfortunately for me she is preoccupied with the preparations for tomorrow’s welcoming celebration. Clearly the information Nilüfer obtained is correct, and Sultan Suleiman is expected to arrive back from the Hungarian campaign tomorrow. It looks as though I will have a long wait for an audience with the Valide.

Both wings of the main harem have been prepared for the arrival of the new captives. Extra bedding has been brought up from the storeroom and some of the rooms in the mezzanine have been made ready. I join Nilüfer and Esme, and we sit together during the evening meal. We talk for over an hour before Nigar Kalfa orders all the odalisques to prepare for bed. I go to my usual sleeping place next to Nilüfer. I don’t know if this space is going to be taken by one of the new arrivals, but for tonight it is mine. I arrange with Nigar Kalfa to borrow a spare nightdress.

The women in the harem take longer than usual to settle down. There is a lot of excitement about what will happen tomorrow and it is difficult not to get swept along with the mood. Fidan and her friends are also excited that Fidan is due to walk the golden path to Sultan Suleiman’s bedchamber tomorrow night. Eventually Nigar Kalfa is more insistent in her demands that we all settle down and go to sleep.

Sümbul Aga wakes me early the next morning. The other girls are still fast asleep, although Nilüfer has been woken by Sümbul Aga’s attempt to rouse me.

“Go back to sleep, Nilüfer,” says Sümbul Aga. “Gülnihal, you must get washed and dressed. Daye Hatun says the Valide will see you as soon as she wakes. It’s the only chance you will get to have an audience with the Valide today.”

I don’t know what time the Valide normally wakes, but I doubt it is this early in the morning. I do as Sümbul Aga instructs and then follow him to the Imperial Wing of the harem. Sümbul Aga tells me to wait in the antechamber of the Valide’s suite until she is ready to see me. Daye Hatun enters the antechamber a short while later.

“The Valide is still asleep,” says Daye Hatun. “You had best make yourself comfortable. You could be in for a long wait.”

An hour passes. I can hear movement and talking from the Valide’s room but nobody comes into the antechamber. I wait patiently. Suddenly my solitary wait is interrupted. Not by anybody coming through the door into the Valide’s chamber, but by two people coming through the door I had entered. I drop into a curtsey as soon as I recognise who has arrived.

“Are you now one of my mother’s maids, Gülnihal?” asks Sultan Suleiman.

I’m momentarily stuck for words. Partly because of the sudden arrival of the sultan and Pargali Ibrahim, but mainly because the sultan has called me by my name. With so many women in the harem, I never dreamed that the sultan would remember mine.

“No, Your Majesty,” I reply. “I am here seeking an audience with the Valide on behalf of Hürrem Hatun.”

“Hürrem?” says Sultan Suleiman. “I have just come from the her room but she isn’t there. Where is she? Is she ill?”

“Hürrem was in good health when I last saw her, Your Majesty,” I reply. “She cannot come herself because the Valide has ordered her to remain at Hatice Sultan’s house. But we believe our location has become known to those who may wish Hürrem harm. I have come to request that Hürrem and I be allowed to return to the Old Palace.”

“And why should anybody present such a danger to one of my harem that the victim must be removed from my palace?” fumes Sultan Suleiman.

“I do not know the answer to that question, Your Majesty,” I reply. “We simply obey the Valide’s orders.”

“Pargali!” says the sultan. “Have Hürrem returned to the Old Palace at once. You are personally responsible for her safety. Find and deal with anybody who poses a threat to her well-being.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” replies Ibrahim. From the look on his face, Ibrahim is clearly not happy at being given this order. He may not have been involved in removing Hürrem from the Old Palace, but he clearly favours keeping Hürrem away from the sultan. I fear my words may have earned me the wrath of Ibrahim and the Valide. They will undoubtedly take their revenge on me at a later date.

“I believe the Valide was concerned about the possible behaviour of some of the new captives towards Hürrem now that her pregnancy is beginning to show,” I add, hoping it might defuse some of Ibrahim’s building anger.

“It is a valid concern, Your Majesty,” says Ibrahim to Sultan Suleiman. “I took the liberty of sending a warning to the Valide of the dangers some of our hostages may pose.”

“Some of the noblemen and soldiers taken as hostage may indeed pose a threat, but they will be kept well away from the harem. I refuse to allow my harem to be disrupted by any of the female hostages. If any of them step out of line, then Sümbul Aga shall deal with them in the traditional manner.”

The traditional manner for any serious misbehaviour by a slave in the Imperial Harem is to be tied inside a sack and thrown into the sea to drown. Thankfully no woman has suffered that fate while I have been here, but the sultan’s words remind me that he is willing for the punishment to be applied if and when necessary.

Ibrahim bows and leaves on the mission Sultan Suleiman has commanded. Ibrahim gives me a brief look which confirms my suspicions. I have foiled some scheme which the Valide and Ibrahim have been hatching.

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