Captured For The Sultan’s Pleasure

Roksolana’s stomach grumbled loudly and she remembered that she hadn’t eaten anything in three days. Looking back now, she realized the people on the ship must have starved her on purpose because the sultan must have given the order to them. While she had doubted the odds before, it was suddenly making sense. Roksolana thanked her luck that she hadn’t given in to his atrocious request of being one of his concubines.

“I’ll get you something to eat.” The maid told Roksolana before disappearing out of her sight.

Roksolana was left to herself for no more than ten minutes before the maid was back. The maid sprayed the food she had brought in front of Roksolana who didn’t bother to check what they were before devouring them. After she ate to her heart’s content, she looked at the maid and smiled.

“What’s your name?” Roksolana asked the maid.

“Seyiddah.” The maid replied.

“Thank you Seyiddah but I think you should go back now to avoid getting in trouble,” Roksolana told her.

“Alright. I’ll leave the medicine box with you. I’ll also try to come to check on you each day,” Seyiddah told Roksolana, then turned out.

As soon as Seyiddah was gone, Roksolana slept flat on her chest. She was awoken by a knock sounding rudely on the door. She was stunned to find everywhere dark, which meant she had slept for hours already. The knock sounded again, this time a little louder than the previous ones. With what little strength she could summon, she stood up and opened the door. She was surprised to find a maid on the other side of the door holding a lamp.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“Lady Miriam asked you to come immediately.” The maid told her before scrambling off.

Roksolana followed the direction the maid took off to. Soon, she found herself standing in front of the door of her new mistress. Knocking as lightly as she could, she hoped whatever she was required to do wouldn’t take much time as she needed to rest her aching back.

“Whichever fool is there can come in.” Roksolana heard Lady Miriam say.

Opening the door as lightly as she could, Roksolana walked in. She saw a nervous lady Miriam going to and fro instead of the calm lady. As she stood in front of her mistress, Roksolana heard and felt a slap across her face.

“You were supposed to be here immediately I called.” Lady Miriam said.

“But you…” Roksolana started, only to be cut off by another slap.

“You don’t talk back at me. And my orders need to be followed immediately.”

Roksolana felt the stinging pain on her cheek and held the place. She felt wrongly accused, knowing that Lady Miriam had given her the go-ahead to recuperate first. She had also tried her best to look for the way on her own since no one deemed it fit to guide her around the new house she had come to be in. The woman hadn’t even considered the fact that she was already injured. Roksolana felt angry and looked at Lady Miriam in the eyes with a murdering gaze.

“How dare you look at me like that?” Her mistress asked.

Roksolana didn’t answer. She merely kept staring at the woman. Lady Miriam walked towards her and pushed her hard. Before Roksolana could react, she hit the ground with her already injured buttocks. Hot tears slid down Roksolana’s face, which she couldn’t control. At that moment, she wished her father was there to protect her. She wished she was back at her sultanate where she could tease her brother, Abaan, and practice fighting with Asleem. The tears kept pouring. And although Roksolana hated herself for being vulnerable at a time when she shouldn’t, she couldn’t do anything to stop what she was feeling.

“Now, that’s more like it. Slaves should know their place.” Lady Miriam’s voice penetrated Roksolana’s head.

Roksolana was about to answer Lady Miriam back on how she felt about the other woman’s character when a man’s voice stopped her. She hadn’t expected to hear that voice and that froze her temporarily.

“What’s going on here?” Jamal asked, walking into the room.

Jamal looked from one woman to the other, taking in their positions. He realized that Roksolana must have proved stubborn and Lady Miriam must have put her in her place. Jamal looked closely at Roksolana and realized that she was crying. His heart did a backflip about what she must have gone through for her to cry. Jamal had never seen her cry before, not even when she heard that her family was going to be killed. True she had pleaded, but she hadn’t cried. What exactly had Lady Miriam done to her?

Jamal realized he might have made a hasty decision when he had made Roksolana a servant to his favorite concubine. At the moment he had made that decision, he had thought Lady Miriam was the only one who could control Roksolana. He had forgotten about the cruel ways she handled people. He had nearly taken back his order after he realized his errors but he had altered his ways too much for her sake already and he feared the people of his sultanate might start disobeying him if he kept doing that.

“Well, it was just my slave proving stubborn and I already put her in her place.” Lady Miriam answered.

Jamal schooled his features, hardening his face like he didn’t care. She had brought it all upon herself anyway. If she had just accepted to be his lover, she would be living a life of luxury rather than suffer the fate she was suffering now. He cleared his throat before answering his concubine.

“She was disrespectful?” He asked her.

“Yes.” The mistress answered, pouting her mouth.

“You,” Jamal started, pointing at Roksolana who was still at the same spot. “No food for you for the next two days. That should teach you how to bow.” He finished.

“Now, get lost. I want to be alone with the Sultan.” Lady Miriam told Roksolana.

Without a word, Roksolana got up and walked to the door as fast as she could. She was just about to open the door when Lady Miriam’s voice stopped her.

“Express your gratitude to the sultan and me.” She commanded.

“It’s okay. Just let her go, so we can spend time together,” Jamal told his mistress. “Disappear.” He told Roksolana, who promptly obeyed the order.

As she got to her new prison in form of a room, Roksolana examined her buttocks and saw that she was bleeding from there. She quickly pulled the dress away from the injury site and applied fresh medicine to it. Lying on her chest, she closed her eyes to get whatever sleep and strength she could. She knew she would need it for the next two days since there would be no food for her.