Captured For The Sultan’s Pleasure

Anger burst forth from Roksolana’s heart itself. What had she done to deserve such ill-treatment from the sultan? All she had done was looked out for the ungrateful man by warning him about his mistress plan. Why had she even bothered in the first place? The man deserves whatever trouble he got from that vicious woman. In fact, they deserve each other given their characters. She should have left him in the trouble, after all, he killed her entire family.

Roksolana stayed calmly as the guards tied her to a standing board with ropes. She didn’t have the energy to argue with them, knowing that they would carry out the order in one way or another. Besides, it wasn’t their fault and she didn’t want any more people to get into trouble with the Sultan because of her. Then, arguing means losing whatever little strength she had left. And if she had heard correctly, the Sultan had instructed them not to give her any meal.

Anger took hold of her again. If she looked at it correctly, she was suffering an injustice. She had been starved for the whole day, locked up in a house all by herself and she had nearly died from fighting with that intruder. All because she had opened her mouth and told the Sultan about what she had seen. What had happened anyway? Why hadn’t the Sultan caught Lady Miriam with her lover? Or the man hadn’t bothered to find out if she was telling the truth? For all Roksolana knew, he could have told Lady Miriam about what she had said. She had to know what happened. She couldn’t take it anymore.

She took hold of one of the guards and pushed him away. The guard hit the floor hard and didn’t get up again. Grabbing the rope behind her, she pulled it away from the guard’s hands which threw him forward. Roksolana grimaced as she saw him hit his head hard on the board. She watched as the only guard left standing debated on whether he should help his comrade or try to stop her. Roksolana didn’t wait for his decision as she freed herself and punched him hard on the nose. She took the rope and tied all three of them together.

“I promise I’ll be back. I just need to find out something. I’ll make sure to be back soon.” She told the only conscious guard among them.

Roksolana ignored the call of the guard for her to come back. She wondered if she should go back to the Sultan and ask him about what had happened. She would also get the chance to tell him that someone had broken into his home while he was away, so he would know he was in danger. Not because she cared if he lived, she just wanted to make sure he died by her sword. Roksolana decided against the idea of going to him. What if he doesn’t believe her about that too? Her best bet was to go over to Lady Miriam and pretend she was back from being punished. Perhaps, the woman would accidentally say something regarding the issue.

Deciding that was her best course of action, she changed direction to Lady Miriam’s house. When she got to the front of the house, she saw Jamal guards stationed everywhere and turned back. What if one of them recognized her and took her back? But she couldn’t leave without her mission being accomplished. It was a good thing she had studied the layout of the house, she thought as she moved around the house. When she found the correct window, she smiled. She was about to open it when she heard voices from the inside. She paused to listen.

“I’m telling you I didn’t know how he found out and no, I didn’t do anything to give myself away.”

She heard a man’s voice. A voice Roksolana was sure belonged to lady Miriam’s lover.

“Good thing we found out faster. But, you shouldn’t have gone there to kill him yourself. What if you gave yourself away.” This time, it was Lady Miriam’s voice.

“How was I supposed to know that he would still be here?” The man said, sounding angry.

“Didn’t we agree on making him the father of our baby, so that the throne would be ours?” Lady Miriam told the man.

So they were doing it all for the throne? Roksolana thought.

“True. But I wondered who the person I fought with was. He was good.” The man said.

A knock sounded on the front door, which made Roksolana gasp softly. She heard the couples inside do the same.

“I have to go.” The man told Lady Miriam.

Roksolana moved away from the window very quickly, hiding behind one of the shrubs. Split seconds later, she saw the man’s figure jumping down from the window she had just left. As she watched the man walk away, she thought the man looked familiar. Where had she met the man before? She knew her memory would never play a trick on her, so she must have met him before. But where was the question? She deliberated about going after the man but decided against it when the morning prayer call sounded. She had to go back to the guards if she didn’t want to put them in trouble. The sultan might decide to check her since it was almost morning or he might send some of his guards to investigate.

Roksolana rushed back to the punishment squadron, thinking about the conversation she had just overheard from Lady Miriam and her mysterious lover. She wondered why she always thought that the man was somewhat familiar to her every time she saw him walk away. She wondered what offense the Sultan must have committed for the man to hate him so much to the point of killing him.

Roksolana stopped short as her eyes fell on the guards she had bundled up before leaving. They were all unconscious and blade cuts were all over their bodies. She looked around but couldn’t find anyone. Were they dead? Oh no. The sultan would think that she did it, she thought as she rushed towards the men.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.