Chapter 27: A Helping Hand

“Sultan Suleiman instructed me not to give you his letter until we were alone,” I reply to Mercan Aga’s question. “I haven’t been able to see you alone since my arrival.”

“Don’t try being clever with me, girl,” snaps Mercan Aga. “You should have told me you had a message to deliver. What about this second scroll? Who are you to deliver it to?”

“Nobody,” I reply. “I’m to open the scroll only if it is necessary.”

Mercan Aga breaks the seal on the scroll addressed to him. He reads the contents twice before looking at me. Şeker Aga watches us both, obviously curious about the message from Sultan Suleiman.

“Are you aware of the contents of this letter?” asks Mercan Aga of Şeker Aga.

“No,” replies Şeker Aga. “I had no idea Gülnihal was carrying any messages from the Palace.”

“But I presume you are aware of the letter’s contents,” says Mercan Aga turning towards me.

“I am,” I reply in as steady a voice as I can manage.

“I see,” muses Mercan Aga. “I shall keep hold of both of these scrolls while I decide what to do.”

“Sultan Suleiman’s instructions are very clear,” I reply. “The second scroll belongs to me. I would like it back.”

“I shall keep it safe for you,” replies Mecan Aga. “Don’t start making demands, Gülnihal. You may have amused Sultan Suleiman once, but he has clearly tired of you. He isn’t going to care what happens to you now.”

I look at Mercan Aga with a mixture of anger and fear. I had assumed he would comply with the sultan’s order without question. Clearly he is contemplating doing something else. Something which won’t be to my benefit. Fortunately I have the sense to hold my tongue for the moment. I can’t risk Şeker Aga discovering too much about the contents of the scrolls. If he finds out that the sultan has freed me from slavery, then the rest of the palace will soon know. That will arouse the curiosity of the Valide, among others, and could well lead to an investigation. The Valide may become suspicious of the sultan’s motives for freeing me and she might arrange to have me watched. I can’t keep my pregnancy a secret forever.

“Forgive me, Mercan Aga,” I say humbly. “I forgot my place.”

The tension between us eases when I allow Mercan Aga to believe he has won. I’m in a dangerous situation. Without knowing it, Mercan Aga may be right when he says Sultan Suleiman won’t be following what happens to me. He has far more important matters requiring his attention. If Mercan Aga hides or destroys my manumission letter, then I have no means of proving that I’m no longer a slave. I’ll be trapped here. I doubt Mercan Aga will let me write a letter to Ibrahim to let him know what has happened. By the time Ibrahim comes to investigate my failure to provide the promised reports, my pregnancy may already have become common knowledge. Somehow I must get away from here.

While my first encounter with Mercan Aga hasn’t gone well, it at least encourages him to send Şeker Aga on his way back to Constantinople. Whatever scheme Mercan Aga is dreaming up, he clearly doesn’t want any witnesses he doesn’t control. Şeker Aga packs his belongings and leaves first thing the next morning.

Mercan Aga calls me to his office shortly after Şeker Aga has departed. This time I’m more prepared for our encounter. Since yesterday I’ve checked my money and belongings are intact, and I’ve questioned Armin and Aybige about Mercan Aga. They confirm what I realised yesterday; Mercan Aga is a greedy opportunist who uses his position for his own benefit. I prepare myself for a difficult encounter.

“I presume you are a fully trained concubine?” asks Mercan Aga.

“Yes,” I reply. “But I’m a free woman now.”

“Do you know how much I can get if I sell you to one of my wealthy contacts?” continues Mercan Aga, ignoring my response.

“Money is of no value if you don’t have your head on your shoulders,” I reply.

“You have a bad tendency to speak out of turn. Don’t you dare make threats against me ever again. You are a nobody. Sultan Suleiman will have forgotten you already.”

“I am not threatening you,” I reply. “I am merely reminding you of the penalty any official faces if they deliberately disobey an order from the sultan. You may be right that the sultan has forgotten about me, but is it a coincidence that Sultan Suleiman’s Master of the Royal Bedchamber decided to pay you a visit so soon after I arrived?”

I’ve no idea why Ibrahim visited here just after I arrived, and I’m hoping Mercan Aga doesn’t know either. I’m taking a huge risk. If Mercan Aga calls my bluff, then I’m doomed. He looks at me suspiciously as though trying to assess the extent of my bluff. Fortunately I’m right in thinking that Ibrahim didn’t share the reason for his visit with Mercan Aga. Thanks to the observations made by Esme and Nilüfer back in the Imperial Harem, I know Ibrahim has a habit of being secretive. Mercan Aga now seems less sure of himself.

“I’m a loyal subject of Sultan Suleiman,” says Mercan Aga defensively. “You would do well not to spread lies to the contrary. I suppose the sultan’s instructions are clear enough. What assistance do you require of me and my staff?”

I can’t believe Mercan Aga has given up so easily. Armin and Aybige lead me to believe I was dealing with a tyrant. Something about Mercan Aga’s capitulation makes me remain cautious.

“Firstly I would like you to return the scroll you took from me,” I reply. “As for anything else, I simply require food and lodgings for a few days until I can make travel arrangements.”

Mercan Aga returns the scroll containing my manumission letter. The seal on the outside has been broken open, and I briefly worry that Mercan Aga has tampered with the letter inside. But everything seems to be in order.