Chapter 26: A Secret Plan

Since Sultan Suleiman has already ordered Fatma and Efsun to return to the Old Palace, he clearly expects me to accept his invitation to remain with him this morning. Not that I wish to refuse, but saying ‘yes’ will place me in an awkward situation. Hürrem will be furious if she ever finds out that I have voluntarily spent time with Sultan Suleiman. The only thing preventing her from ending our friendship is the knowledge that we are both slaves and are forced to obey the sultan’s wishes.

“You hesitate to answer, Gülnihal,” observes Sultan Suleiman. “Is my company not to your liking?”

“On the contrary, Padisha,” I reply. “You honour me. I would love to spend the morning with you. However, I am thinking about the effect this will have on Hürrem. In her current condition, she...”

“You are a loyal friend, Gülnihal. Do not concern yourself about Hürrem. I shall visit her later and remind her that her duty is to care for her unborn child and not concern herself about my activities. You have far more important matters to consider this morning. I have a proposal I wish you to consider. What I shall ask of you is not without danger, and I will not hold it against you if you refuse. However, I have studied you carefully and I believe you may be both willing and capable of carrying out what I shall ask of you.”

I look at the sultan in surprise. Is this why he has selected me from all the girls in the harem? Have my nocturnal visits to his bed been arranged to serve some ulterior motive? I wait nervously for him to tell me his proposal.

“Again you honour me, Padisha,” I say cautiously. “I shall do my best to serve your wishes.”

“If you agree to my proposal then you will be honouring me, Gülnihal,” says Sultan Suleiman solemnly. “But first we shall have some breakfast.”

Despite my eagerness to learn the details of the sultan’s proposal, I manage to calmly eat breakfast as though nothing momentous is about to happen. After we finish eating, the sultan calls for Ibrahim to join us and the three of us sit and discuss the sultan’s proposal. I’m allowed to ask questions, which gradually change from ‘what’ to ‘how’ the proposed plan is to work. I mentally agree to the sultan’s proposal long before I tell him. It means I must place more reliance on Ibrahim than I have previously been prepared to do, but I can’t see any way of putting the sultan’s plan into effect without an intermediary. Sultan Suleiman clearly trusts Ibrahim to be our intermediary, and I can’t provide an alternative candidate.

Fortunately, I have remembered most of my lessons about the history and customs of the Ottoman dynasty. The dynasty rules a rapidly expanding empire which is in danger of being torn apart by the constraints of tradition. The reason for Sultan Suleiman’s request makes much more sense when it is taken in the context of these traditions.

It is common knowledge that a sultan’s children are given every opportunity to develop their knowledge and skills. Sons are taught to balance fighting prowess with a solid education and an empathy for those whom they may one day rule over. Daughters are educated and encouraged in the social graces, and through political marriages, help their father maintain his grip on power.

But when a sultan dies, everything changes. Only one son can become the next ruler. By tradition, all other sons are murdered to prevent a dynastic civil war. As for the daughters of the late sultan, they are married off to any man who can offer the new sultan sufficient influence or wealth to bolster the new sultan’s rule. Sultan Suleiman’s brothers are all dead, and his sisters ... apart from the widowed Hatice ... are all married to influential beys. Even Hatice will soon be married off again to provide a political alliance.

Sultan Suleiman’s proposal is a daring attempt to circumvent this tradition. He wishes to father a child who will be brought up in secret, far away from the influence of the traditionalists within the dynasty. My part in this plan is to be the mother of the sultan’s secret child. I will be expected to raise our child in some distant corner of the empire while keeping our child ignorant of his or her imperial bloodline. Should the link to Sultan Suleiman ever be discovered, then we will be in great danger. At best our child would be dragged back to Constantinople to live the very life Sultan Suleiman wishes his child to avoid. At worst ... death.

But that is all in the future. For now, I shall spend more nights with the sultan until a pregnancy is confirmed by a trusted midwife sworn to secrecy. Even the Valide is not to be told, since she will certainly prevent me from leaving the palace once it’s known that I’m expecting a child. At the appropriate time Ibrahim is to arrange for me to be escorted to a safe place well away from Constantinople. I will no longer be a slave and I may live and travel anywhere within the empire ... but not beyond its borders. I am even to be allowed to marry if I wish. In exchange, I must keep the sultan informed of my whereabouts and provide him ... through Ibrahim ... with regular news of our child’s health and development.

While it means I must leave the Imperial Harem, Sultan Suleiman’s proposal is not completely at odds with my own ambitions. Perhaps that is why I agree to his proposal so readily. Sultan Suleiman clearly anticipated my agreement since some of the preparations are already in hand. All that I need to do now is to become pregnant.

Fortunately Hürrem unwittingly helps in the subterfuge by demanding that the Sultan Suleiman stops calling me into his bed. Even though Hürrem has no power to make the sultan comply, it doesn’t stop her from trying. Over the next few weeks Hürrem’s demands become more insistent. They soon start to place a strain on both our friendship and her relationship with Sultan Suleiman. Fortunately she never guesses that I’m a willing partner to the sultan’s secret plan. Ibrahim puts the next stage of the sultan’s plan into effect as soon as the midwife confirms my pregnancy. The Valide and the rest of the harem are told that I’m not pregnant. They believe the sultan has finally given in to Hürrem’s demands by ordering that I be transferred to one of the smaller palaces owned by the dynasty. To her credit, Hürrem apologises to me, and tells me she never intended for me to be sent away. I feel a bit guilty for letting her believe that my imminent departure is entirely her fault. At least she and I will part on friendly terms, even if the close bond of friendship we once shared has been lost.