Chapter 50: Epilogue

Salonica, Summer 1533

It’s hard to believe that ten years have passed since I left the Imperial Harem in Edirne. Like any story there must be an end, but real life goes on. When we arrived in Salonica, my rank of Begum provided me with automatic access to the various committees and social circles frequented by the important women of the city. Through those contacts I’ve been accepted into the community despite my distant origins. For the last six years I’ve taught various languages at the local schools. Coupled with looking after Hasan and five children, my teaching and committee work keeps me very busy. My only regret is that I have little time for dancing, although I do my best to keep fit.

Three months after Hasan and I returned to Salonica I gave Hasan a private performance of the dance of the seven veils. We often joke that it was on that occasion that our first son was conceived. In reality it could have been any night around that time. Hasan certainly has the stamina, and I the skill, to keep our sex life interesting and active. Another girl and boy followed over the next four years.

When Hürrem and I first entered the Imperial Harem in 1520 we were told that our ultimate prize would be to give birth to a şehzade who might become the next sultan. I’m happy to concede that victory to Hürrem. She too now has several children, breaking the time honoured tradition of a sultan’s favourite only being allowed to give birth to one son. In many respects she has achieved her goal of wealth and prestige. But is she really happy in that vipers den of powerful women? I don’t know.

I’m not entirely cut off from my former life. I’ve written to Ibrahim periodically so that he can pass on my news about Nesrin’s and Irene’s development. Last month I was invited to the palace in Salonica along with several other prominent local citizens. Sultan Suleiman was travelling through Salonica and the local dignitaries arranged a small celebration in his honour. A few of the local women thought it strange that Nesrin and Irene should also be invited at the sultan’s request. I’ve never made it a secret that I was once briefly Sultan Suleiman’s concubine, so it was easy to convince people that the girls’ inclusion was because the sultan held a lingering regard for his former concubine.

I strongly suspect that Hasan has guessed long ago who is the real father of Nesrin and Irene. You only need to look at two of them to see they have no likeness to Ibrahim, whereas they have several features similar to Sultan Suleiman. Hasan has never pushed me for a confession, undoubtedly because he knows the danger it would present to the girls if that knowledge fell into the wrong hands.

On the evening of the celebration I prepare the girls as best I can. Despite their young age, they aren’t strangers to adult gatherings. Hasan often entertains his business contacts in our home, and sometimes they include wives and older children. I put on my jewel trimmed jacket which Sultan Suleiman gave me. It has survived the intervening years well, and has only needed minor repairs as the material begins to show its age.

The sultan greeted each of the gathered guests in turn and made a special point of talking to Nesrin and Irene. At the end of the evening he presents both girls with a ruby necklace each. I thank him on behalf of the girls, since they were too excited and overwhelmed by the gifts to say more than a brief thank you themselves. Sultan Suleiman smiles and gives me a necklace of my own which he tells me is one that he has made himself. It’s an honour beyond words to receive jewellery made by the sultan’s own hands.

I haven’t heard of what became of Anna von Erdödy. The Ottoman Empire went to war with Hungary again in 1526, which ended in the resounding defeat of the Hungarian army and the death of their king on the battlefield. A new king loyal to the Ottoman dynasty has ruled Hungary since then. The Hungarian hostages remaining in the hunting lodge near Constantinople were released shortly after the war, but Nur obviously didn’t know about Anna’s fate.

The only other incident that relates to this story of my life in the Imperial Harem, is one of those strange coincidences that fate occasionally likes to throw into life’s mix. Just over a year ago I received a visit from the father of one of the scholars at the school where I teach languages. He works for the harbour master down in the dock area. His duties involve checking that ships docking at the wharves pay the proper fees. Salonica sees ships from many nations, and many different languages are usually heard. On that particular day a ship from England had docked. Political relations between the Ottoman Empire and distant England had only recently improved to the extent that Ottoman harbours are open to English vessels. Consequently a visit from an English ship is a rarity, and few people can speak the English language. The man asked me to help translate the ship’s captain’s words.

That’s how I met Captain James Merridew. He’s younger than most sea captains normally seen in Salonica, but he must be a competent sailor to have brought his ship all the way from England. I translate the exchange of formalities that allows the ship to dock and unload its trade goods. I’m about to leave when the captain asks me a question.