Captured For The Sultan’s Pleasure

Roksolana strode into the kitchen casually as if she had never left in the first place. She saw the kitchen head giving instructions to some of the kitchen maids and ran to hug her. In dealing with her affairs, she had almost forgotten about the woman and the trouble she went through because of her. Roksolana held the woman tightly but was surprised when the woman pushed her back a little bit. Was the kitchen head still angry at her? Roksolana knew that she owed her an apology. Roksolana was even more surprised when the woman bowed to her.

“Lady Roksolana.” She said, loud enough to get the attention of the other maids in the kitchen. Roksolana watched in horror as every maid in the kitchen left their chores and bowed to her.

“Greetings, Lady Roksolana.” They chorused.

Roksolana was perplexed by the action and didn’t know what to do. She had come over because she thought that she could find solace with them as old friends. She hadn’t realized that the position the Sultan had saddled her with would obstruct her even here.

“How may we help you, Lady Roksolana?” The kitchen head asked, jostling Roksolana out of her thoughts.

Roksolana held the two hands of the kitchen head in her own hands before replying.

“Please, do not push me away like a stranger,” Roksolana told the woman, who bowed once again before she lifted her head and smiled at her. Roksolana turned to the other maids. “Please, everyone rise. Continue your work.” Everyone chorused a thank you and promptly returned to their work.

Roksolana apologized to the kitchen head about her disappearance the other day. She stuck to the same story she had fed Seyiddah and the rest about how she lost her way under the cover of the night, hit her head on a stone, and lost consciousness. The woman patted Roksolana’s hand, told her that she already heard about what happened from Seyiddah, and assured her that she wasn’t angry at her. Roksolana smiled her thanks at the kitchen head.

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Roksolana looked up to see who was so excited to see her and saw Seyiddah walking towards her. Roksolana stood up and walked to her friend. They met in the middle and hugged each other. Roksolana felt secured in the arms of her friend and let out the tears she had been holding in since last night. Seyiddah patted Roksolana’s back to comfort her. The method worked and Roksolana calmed down after a while, she let go of Seyiddah and smiled at her shyly. The other woman tapped her cheek lightly to show her that she doesn’t mind.

Roksolana’s stomach rumbled loudly, reminding Roksolana that she hadn’t had any meal for the day. Seyiddah laughed at Roksolana as she held her stomach to suppress the sound. Seyiddah held her hand and walked her to a seat. She let go of her hand and patted the seat, then walked away. Roksolana got the message and sat down on the chair. Seyiddah came back with a tray of food in her hand which she set in front of Roksolana. Roksolana began to eat greedily, almost choking on the food. She was still eating when Aabdeen walked in. The look of surprise on his face made Roksolana suspend the spoon in her hand mid-air. Aabdeen frowned at Roksolana before he walked straight to her.

“Lady Roksolana, you can’t be here,” Aabdeen said.

“Why not?” Roksolana heard Seyiddah ask Aabdeen.

“Because she’s a lady. Not someone of your class,” Aabdeen said.

“And how do you know what my class is?” Seyiddah asked angrily.

“Well, you are a maid. That should speak for itself,” Aabdeen replied to her.

Seyiddah gasped audibly. She pointed an accusing finger at Aabdeen before dropping the finger. Roksolana watched helplessly as Seyiddah walked around helplessly, breathing in and out loudly. Roksolana guessed that she was trying to keep calm since a lady wasn’t supposed to talk rudely. Seyiddah stopped suddenly and Roksolana got up to stop the looming disaster she could smell coming on.

“Seyiddah…” Roksolana tried to discourage her. Seyiddah raised her hand to stop the word, stopped moving and faced Aabdeen.

“I tried really hard to not stoop low to your level, but you know what? I can’t keep mute. You said I was a maid? Then what are you? A mere errand man for the Sultan,” Seyiddah said.

Aabdeen narrowed his eyes at Seyiddah but didn’t reply to her despite the gasps that resounded in the room. Why are the women in this sultanate always talking back to their men? And he had thought that their Sultan was strict? He took a deep breath in and out to control his anger and impulse. If this argument had happened in his sultanate, the woman would have paid for her words. But, he couldn’t do anything here. He shouldn’t even have argued with her at all. It was below his position as a Sultan or even as the Sultan’s errand boy as she put it. He would make sure she paid for insulting him someday when he was back in power. He would make sure that he made her grovel at his feet begging for mercy. For now, he had to leave. Aabdeen looked at the infuriating woman who raised her chin at him, daring him to say anything to her. He moved closer to her, bent to her height, and spoke.

“The Sultan asked me to order some maids to clean up his place. So, maid, I choose you.” He said.

Anger sparked in Seyiddah’s eyes. How could a lowly man be so rude? There was little to no difference in their status and yet, the man kept acting like he was a man of power. She hated men who think that women are nothing compared to them. And even more, she hated people who have no regard for others below them. Perhaps she should shed her maid status down and act like the lady she was. She could have him punished for being disrespectful to her and that should teach him a lesson about looking down on people. Or maybe she should just ask her brother to punish the man on her behalf.

“What are you waiting for, maid?” Seyiddah heard Aabdeen say.

Roksolana had had enough from the two of them. Especially Aabdeen. She had always thought that the man was gentle with the way he always treated her, but now, she wasn’t so sure about his motive. She couldn’t just sit still and watch the man insult her friend because she was the reason for the argument in the first place. Perhaps, it was a good thing she was a lady now. She could command authority.

“Aabdeen, that’s enough. Stop being so rude,” Roksolana told him.

“Sorry, Lady Roksolana,” Aabdeen said and bowed.

“You’re a slave, just as I am,” Seyiddah said, clicked her tongues, and walked away swaying her hips.

Aabdeen looked at her in a deadly manner but didn’t speak.

“Please choose another maid. Seyiddah is busy with me,” Roksolana told Aabdeen who bowed, pointed to two maids to follow him, then went out.

Seyiddah came back after Aabdeen left the kitchen. Toksolana looked at her friend with an accusing look but the other woman merely shrugged her shoulders and Roksolana let the issue go. Khadijat and Sofiat joined them later and they joked about a lot of things. Even the kitchen head later joined them in their talks. The woman even declared a break for everyone and they all gathered around to talk and laugh together. Roksolana knew that the woman had only done it because she was a lady and she knew the enormity of her presence in the kitchen. But Roksolana was grateful to Allah that she could still have a refuge in their midst. She wouldn’t have known what to do if they had turned her out or begun to shiver in her presence because of her title and position.

When it was almost time for lunch, Roksolana bid her friends goodbye and walked back to the harem. She was almost at the door when she saw Jamal walk out of the harem. Roksolana thought about how she had been rude to him in the morning and regretted her action. She walked towards him to apologize, then stopped short when she saw Lady Miriam appear beside him shining in her expensive clothes and gold jewelry. She wondered what they were doing together.

Nevertheless, she still had to apologize and walked to the two of them. The Sultan gave her one look and then promptly ignored her. Lady Miriam chose that moment to tell the Sultan that she was ready to go and together, they walked away from her. Roksolana turned back to see if the Sultan would look at her, but he didn’t.

She walked into the harem, straight into her room ignoring some of the women who were inquiring about where she had gone. She felt sad and thought about how the Sultan had just succeeded in ruining her mood again without much effort. How could the man have sex with her just a day ago and yet, the next day he was already parading another woman in front of her? And it wasn’t just any other woman but the arrogant Lady Miriam.

Roksolana knew that she should be ready for frustration as she would never hear the end of the story. She sat on her bed, thinking about how the Sultan should be seeking her forgiveness. After all, they hadn’t had the sex because she had given in to him. He had forced his way into her body.

Someone knocked on the door of her room and told her that she had a visitor. Roksolana got up and walked out even though she wasn’t expecting any visitors. But it was better than just sitting in her room brooding over the Sultan and getting angry at Lady Miriam. When she got out, she met Hassan standing just a few meters away from the door, kicking his left leg back and forth. Roksolana cleared her throat to announce her presence, and Hassan paused in his action and bowed to her.

Together, they sat down somewhere around the harem and began to talk. Hassan made Roksolana understand the way their culture works. She saw that there were some little differences between this sultanate and her own. Hassan also told her more about each woman of the harem. Each of their strengths and weaknesses. Those that he thought that she should avoid. Roksolana wasn’t even surprised when the man mentioned Lady Miriam. The woman had never had a good reputation anywhere her name was mentioned in Roksolana’s presence.