Roksolana looked at Lady Miriam feeling confused. She looked around the hall and saw the rest of the women having the same confused looks.
"I said which one of you stole it?" She asked again. This time, her voice was a little raised than proper.
"What is that, Lady Miriam?" One of the concubines asked.
"My golden bracelet. The one the Sultan gave me himself." She answered with a loud voice.
"What's going on here?" The Sultan's voice sounded at the door.
Roksolana looked as Lady Miriam ran to the Sultan's side. She began to explain with tears how someone had stolen her bracelet. Roksolana wondered why the woman was always dramatic in everything she did
Princess Azeezat saw the Sultan staring at Roksolana, who refused to acknowledge him or his presence. Lady Miriam walked to Roksolana and tried to make her get up, but the Sultan stopped her by saying it was okay. Roksolana stood up, took the chest of ornaments, and took it to the Sultan. Without a word, she dropped it at his feet and turned back to lay In the bed."You rude maid. Do not forget that it was the Sultan that made you a Lady." Lady Miriam said to Roksolana, who didn't even respond.Jamal cleared his throat and everywhere became silent. He stared at the chest which Aabdeen now carries in his hands and wondered if he hadn't made a mistake by ordering the beating. Roksolana never wears ornaments. It was even because he forced her that made her start wearing ladies' clothing. But still, he wasn't going to apologize to her. H
Sultan Jamal looked as his janissaries all took their seats except for general Sodeeq who wasn't around. Other prominent people of his sultanate were also in their seats. Some of Roksolana's people were there too, all tied with ropes and some guards stood behind them watching to make sure none of them tried to rebel. He also saw Roksolana's friends among the serving maids and smiled, knowing that they had come to cheer their friends on in their little ways. A guard announced Lady Miriam's presence and Jamal watched as she walked in, swaying her hips gently. And as usual, she was dressed extravagantly. The other ladies in the harem followed after her all in a single line, each bowing before him before moving to their positions. Jamal felt a bit angry when he saw that Roksolana was absent despite his threat. Does it mean that she thought he wouldn't go through with the threat?"Flog that man. A
Roksolana walked out of the hall in anger. She wasn't just angry at the Sultan and his obvious partiality, she was jealous as well. She was jealous of Lady Miriam. She was jealous of her being the Sultan's favorite. Roksolana couldn't help but think of how Lady Miriam would gloat at her when they were back to the harem. Even much more than that, she was worried about how the lady would treat her and the rest of the women of the harem.If Roksolana didn't know any better, she might be thinking that she was a little bit afraid of Lady Miriam. And why not? Every time the woman and Roksolana had had arguments, the Sultan was always on the harem leader's side. Today was like breaking the camel's back for Roksolana though, she had enough of the Sultan and his woman. Roksolana turned back as someone touched her by the arm. She saw a man who looked to be in his sixty years standing behind her.
Roksolana ran back to the harem and heaved a sigh of relief when she saw that none of the ladies were back. She walked into her room and stopped short. Roksolana took a step back and stared at the door to be sure she was in the right now. Sure she hadn't made a mistake, she looked into the room again. Her window was opened and everywhere was scattered. All her clothes were on the floor, scattered across the room. Her drawers were opened and all its contents were lying on the floor. Roksolana looked around trying to see if anything was missing. Nothing looked missing to her. At least, not something she recognized.Someone had come for her while she was in the hall. But who was it? And what had they wanted? Roksolana knew for sure that it wasn't Asleem this time since he had been tied up in the hall too. Unless he had instructed his men to carry out the mission when he had been held captive. Or
Roksolana looked up and saw a man bowing slightly before her. She thought that the man looked a little familiar, but she couldn't place his face. That was her major flaw, she hadn't remembered people's faces unless they left a huge impression on her. When the man saw her looking at him inquisitively, he blushed."I'm Hassan. The second in command of the army. You saved my life before, my lady." The man explained himself.Roksolana remembered that he had once approached her before when she was still a maid."I remember you now, Hassan. Why were you looking for me though?" Roksolana asked him."I just wanted to say thank you for saving me, and for being a good friend to my sister," Hassan said.
Roksolana looked as Jamal watched her with an angry face, and began to think if she hadn't made a mistake in coming over to warn him about the danger to his life. His expression was that of someone who was capable of killing a man if he was given the chance. Why had she thought he would believe her in the first place? She hadn't believed her then about Lady Miriam's pregnancy, so it was less likely he would believe her now, especially when she had been treated unjustly just hours ago.Roksolana saw him look at her in disdain and bit her lower lip in indecision. For some reason, she felt afraid of him and she began to breathe anxiously. Perhaps, she should go away from here before he decided that she was good as an experiment in practicing killing. She turned around and made for the door."Stop right there," Jamal ordered.
Roksolana walked gently back to the harem, careful not to let anyone see her. Her legs wobbled each time she moved due to the pain she felt. Her first thought as she left the house had been to go to the kitchen so that she could go to Seyiddah for comfort. But she knew that the Sultan would come there to look for her if he couldn't find her in the harem. She wanted to avoid putting the people in the kitchen and her friends in danger of his wrath. As the building of the harem loomed in front of her, she looked around from the shadows. When she was sure that there was no one outside, she dashed into the house. Luckily for her, the hall was silent. She made her way to her room and rushed into the bathing room to clean up. The water made her feel better and lighter.She got back to the room and met Azeezat sitting on her bed, patiently waiting for her. Roksolana wished she knew ways she could mak
Roksolana stood up and looked the woman straight in the eyes. She lifted her right hand and would have retaliated if princess Azeezat hadn't stopped her by holding her hand. She struggled against the princess's hold on her but the other woman held on tight. She looked at the princess who shook her head before releasing Roksolana's hand. She was tired. Tired of everything and everyone trying to dictate her life for her. She was tired of people telling her which way to live her life. The entire sultanate seemed to suffocate her and her very existence. She stared at the harem's leader for one long minute before walking away. At the door, she saw the Sultan walking in with Aabdeen. Without stopping in her tracks, she hissed at the two of them.Jamal looked at Roksolana in amazement. Had she just hissed at him? He knew she was angry at him, but that doesn't give her the right to disrespect h
Jamal released his hold on her and he looked into her eyes intently."I believe you, Dawn. I agreed that I might not have believed you at first but that was because you were so full of vengeance that I couldn't trust you. If you had told me about what you learned later, I would have believed you completely without a doubt," he explained to her."I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Sultan," she apologized too."I think I like it better when you call me Jamal," he told her."Or you mean you like it better when I yelled your name?" she asked and chuckled.He chuckled too and held her hair to play with them.
As Jamal kept running with an unconscious Roksolana in his arms, he kept praying to Allah that she had merely fainted because of either fright or how she had witnessed the death of her captor and not because Aamil had done something wrong to her before his arrival at the scene. When he heard Roksolana whimpering a little as he kept running, he slowed down in his run.He still blamed himself for the torture she went through. If he had noticed that she was missing all those times that she had been gone, then he would have looked for her everywhere. If he had listened to her and reasons about why she kept asking those weird questions about Sodeeq, then he would have guessed that something was fishy somewhere. If he had searched for her a little harder all through the night, then he might have been able to find her a lot sooner than he did.And to think that he wanted to turn away from the building because he had been suspecting the wrong person makes him want to s
Jamal took a step backward when he heard the name that the man had used. There was only one person who called him such a name in the entire sultanate. From what he also knew of the person, he was already dead. How possible was it for a dead person to be alive again? When Jamal looked at the man again, he saw his eyes flashing fire and dagger at him."But…" Jamal started but couldn't find a way to express his thoughts.He could remember that day quite well. Jamal and his brother, along with their mother, and Sodeeq and Sodeeq's brother had all gone into the building to play hide and seek. Aamil, Sodeeq's brother, had been the one seeking while the rest had gone into hiding. Jamal and Sodeeq had hidden together since the two were inseparable friends while Jamal's brother had gone with their mother to hide. They had been so engro
Roksolana woke up feeling disoriented. When she looked at the room where she was, she couldn't remember where she was or how she had gotten to the place. She tried to look around some more to study her surroundings but her head felt like ten building blocks had been placed on it. When she tried to touch the place that hurt, she saw that she was tied to a chair and she winced. She whipped her head slightly to remember exactly how she had gotten into the predicament she was in but nothing appeared in her brain or even tried to appear. She was blank like she had suffered a memory loss.She was still trying not to panic while trying to remember how she got to being tied to a chair in what seemed like a half-burnt room with all the blackness that even years of abandonment has not been able to erase away completely. One thing she knew was the fact that even though she couldn't remember how she got
As Jamal and his entourage marched on to the locations, fear was already radiating on the Sultan's face. Beads of sweat had already adorned his forehead, showing that he was not just afraid internally but also externally. For all that he cared about, the general could have killed Roksolana by now, and yet, they were still walking instead of racing to the location. If he hadn't killed her yet, the man could be molesting her or beating her up to punish her.He couldn't understand what exactly was the grudge between the general and his woman. Where it was, it had to be a lot for the general to have kidnapped Roksolana and held her captive. Or maybe Asleem was right in his observations and words and the generous was truly an enemy instead of the best friend Jamal thought that he was. But why would the general be trying to kill him? What could he have done to the general to warranty him trying to
Jamal stretched on his bed to relax his strained muscles and body. After Roksolana had left him and Aabdeen in the morning to discuss, Aabdeen had come clean with him and told him about who he truly was and why he had done everything he did. Of course, Jamal had been very furious with the other man and had even sent him away from his sight but he could understand the other Sultan now that he was alone. The man had just wanted to protect his people and everything else in his sultanate.But it still hurt him that the man had lied to him. During the period when he had met the man he thought was simply a physician, Jamal had grown fond of the man to the extent that he thinks of him as a friend instead of the mere physician that the man was supposed to be. So, finding out that the man had lied made him feel a little betrayed. Yet, Jamal found out that his thought was not centered on punishin
After they got away from the fighting ring, Jamal stopped dragging her along with him at a fast pace and just walked slowly but he still didn't let go of her hand that he held on to. Roksolana didn't mind how fast or slow they walked because her mind was centered on the burnt scar she had seen and not on the speed of their walking pace. Each time she tried to erase the doubt in her mind that the scar wasn't the same as that of the assassin, her head kept reminding her that she was just trying to cover up for the general.As soon as they got into the mansion that the Sultan lives in, Roksolana saw Jamal looking at her in an odd manner and she wondered what was going on in his mind. Could he be angry because she had gone to the ring without informing him first? Although she did get permission from him to train, she realized that she should have still let him know when she was going. If sh
Next? Roksolana thought. She was right about Lady Miriam since she had just heard about what she was doing next."We kill the king. This time, he won't be able to escape since I already got everything into place." The strange yet familiar voice Roksolana always heard from Lady Miriam's room responded."Are you sure it will work this time?" Lady Miriam's weak voice said to her lover."Very sure. The Sultan would be breathing his last before a week from now," the man answered.Roksolana got angry. At first, she wanted to open the door and confront the two lovers but she decided against it instantly. She knew that her confrontation would only stop the attack temporarily and Jamal's life would still be in danger. If she
She pointed to Aabdeen next. "This means that you are the Sultan of Jedi? Why then did you disguise yourself? And you were both going to kidnap me? Why?" Roksolana asked with a surprised tone.Aabdeen sighed and rose from his seating position beside his sister. He knew that he had only two choices and that was either to kidnap the Sultan's favorite mistress or tell the harem leader the truth. He decided to just kidnap her but his sister spoke up before him."Yes, we are from the Jedi sultanate and he is my brother. It's also true we wanted to kidnap you but it was because we had no other choice and that was why we did everything that we did," she explained."You had better start explaining yourselves before I let the Sultan know about your true identities," Roksolana told them in an angry tone. She felt betrayed by the people she thought were a friend to her and Jamal because they turned out to be a charade.Princess Azeezat took her time