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                        ꧁ ☪ *ೃ༄꧂,

                            R A B I A

"Where do you think you are going!" İbrahim hissed at me as he roughly pulled me closer by my arms.

"Away from here, obviously!" I hissed back at him, making him glare at me harder. He narrowed his eyes at me as he scanned my body and his gaze stopped at my feet. That's when I realised I was barefoot.

"You could have at least worn your shoes when you were escaping. Especially when you were definitely going to escape through the forest route." He said and I snort at him. Does he really think I'm stupid enough to go around looking for a pair of shoes when I have got little to no time to escape?

"Ağlar." He shouted and some guards came and bowed to him. He whispered something into their ear and they nodded to whatever he was saying.

"Listen, Hatun. You try to escape next time and I won't be this nice to you." He said in a dangerously low tone and I gulped. "I won't hesitate to hurt you if you pull off stunts like this in the future. I'll have your foot whipped."

I hated how weak I felt In front of him. He sure was a man of higher authority who demands absolute submission but I wasn't someone who would be controlled. The more he tries to control me, the fiercer I get.

"I will." I replied. "I will keep trying until I finally escape from here. To hell with your power and authority."

He didn't say anything but instead kept glaring hard at me. If looks could kill, I could've been six feet under.

"Take her away and bring me Sumbul and Nigar." İbrahim hissed and the guards dragged me away as I yelled and cursed at them.

They dragged me back to the chamber that was prepared for me and pushed me in before locking the door.

"What did I do to deserve this life!" I screamed as tears roll down my eyes. My life was so peaceful back at my village. I was supposed to marry Theo and start a family with him. We were to grow old together and raise our kids and watch them raise their kids. The life I dreamed of with him was now nothing but a memory.

"My father served you, loved you and was loyal to you his whole life and you rewarded him by giving him a brutal death?" I cried to God in heaven who seemed to have forgotten me and discarded me. The whole universe seemed to have turned their eyes away from me.

I wiped my tears. "Sultan Murad." Even his name felt bitter in my tongue. That vicious, murderous, cold hearted, selfish bastard was going to regret the day he thought of abducting me. I'm going to make sure of it.

I stood up and faced the mirror that was kept in the corner of the chamber that reflected my pitiful self. "I will make you pay for every single tear, Sultan Murad. I curse the day you were born. I pity the mother from who's womb you came from, I pity her for giving birth to a monster like you."

"You don't deserve anything. And I'll make sure I snatch all your peace and happiness away from you like you killed mine." I promised myself.

Nigar Kalfa barged into the chamber with Sumbul agha and Leyla. Anger, frustration and panic, that is all I saw in their faces. Nigar's frustrated face, Sumbul's anger and Leyla's panic.

"Hatun, seems like you didn't quite understand what I told you earlier." Nigar yelled at my face, making me scowl at her.

"You don't have to say anything anymore." I replied flatly. "I'm pretty sure İbrahim made it clear to me earlier."

Sumbul gasped at me like I swore at him. "You are calling His Highness, the Grand Vizier by his name. Where are your manners, you insolent woman!" He yelled at me

I left it back at my village.

I wanted to yell that at his stupid face but bite my tongue back.

"Nigar Kalfa, arrange a good teacher for this woman to educate her separately." Sumbul ordered and Nigar nodded silently. "And you Hatun." He pointed at me. "If you try to run away again, I'll break your legs." Then he left with a scowl on his face.

"Rabia Hatun," Great. Another session of useless advice and lecture. "Sit." She said as she sat me down on the bed and settled herself beside me. "Leyla, go and get her dinner." She said and Leyla nodded before leaving us alone.

"Listen to me carefully now, there is no going back. You cannot escape here. Whether you want it or not, this is your new home. Forgot about your life back there, back then you were Alexandra now you are Rabia." She said and I gave her a ridiculous look. How can I simply forget about my life back in my village after they forcefully changed my name? Does everyone in this palace suffer from some mental illness?

"With your new name comes a new responsibility." She said, "You are lucky that our Sultan chose you. He is not like the previous ones and surely you will be his only woman."

"If you please the Sultan and give him an heir, you'll be bestowed with the Sultan title. You'll be the Haseki Sultan and will rule the world. And if your son becomes the Sultan in the near future, you will be the Valide Sultan, the highest and the most prestigious title. So use your brain Rabia and listen to our advice." She said and an idea popped into my head.

"What happens to the women of the Sultan when he dies?" I asked.

"Ya Allah, women, what are you even asking? Yasak. Allah forbids." She hissed in a low tone. "Don't you ever dare say something like that. If the members of the Royal Family hear it, they'll have your tongue cut."

"I was just curious."

"Your curiosity will kill you one day." She said, "All the Harem of the late Sultan will be sent away to the old palace where some might be married off or in some cases, the Sultanler releases some slaves and sends them back to their hometown."

I nodded as I took in the information.

So the key to my freedom is the death of Sultan Murad.

I need to be close to Cihan Sultan, she might come handy in the near future.

"I hope you understand me now." Nigar said and I nodded. "So study hard and learn the manners of the Harem."

She left soon and Leyla came back with some guards carrying a large platter of food and placed it on the table. I sat down on the pillow in front of the table and started eating.

"You won't eat?" I asked Leyla who was standing in front of me.

"I've eaten and who am I to eat with the favourite of the Sultan? I'm not even worthy to sit with you." She said and I scowled at her.

"Leyla, I don't care about the rules of this damned place. You are free to do anything when you are with me." I said and invited her to sit with me. After a lot of hesitation she finally sat down but refused to eat anything so I didn't force her.

"Favourite of the Sultan huh? How does one suddenly become the favourite of the Sultan? Does the Sultan make any concubine that he sets his eyes on as his favourite?" I asked.

"No no. One has to visit the Sultan and if the Sultan is pleased with her, he bestow her the title of favourite." She explained. "But in your case, it's different. The Sultan hasn't asked for any women since the day of his coronation. Everyone was worried and some pashas even dared to request the Sultan to call back the exiled Şehzadeler which ended them up with losing their heads."

"Şehzadeler? What is that?" I asked.

"Hmm how do I say this?" She thought for a moment before speaking. "I think you call it prince in your tongue."

Oh.

"The exiled princes?" I asked and she nodded. "Why were the princes exiled in the first place?"

"I'm also new here. I have been here only for about 7 months now, so I don't really know but from what I have heard, the Sultan didn't want to kill his brothers or lock them up in the Kafes but he also didn't trust them enough so he exiled them."

"Kafes?"

"Yes, it's a place made for the şehzades who weren't killed and are the possible heir to the throne in case anything happens to the Sultan who has no heir to succeed him. You can see the Kafes from the courtyard." She explained.

"But why would the Sultans kill their brothers?" I asked, thinking of the monstrous act. Who does that?

"For power and safety of their throne, Rabia Hatun." She replied. Of course, power was what corrupted people's minds and turned them into something frightful. The throne was enough for the cruel Sultans to kill their own blood.

"But people say that it's better to be executed than to be locked up in the Kafes." She continued.

"Why?" I asked, confused.

"They say, a long time ago, there was this Sultan who locked his half brother in the Kafe, not having the heart to kill him, but the inside of the Kafe was so horrifying and looks haunted that the Şehzade was driven crazy. He would scream and shout until his throat bled until one day he killed himself by swallowing his ring that his Sultan brother gave him."

The story was horrifying enough to make me shudder. It sent chills down my spine as I thought of the unfortunate prince whose only fault was that he was born into the Ottoman dynasty as a prince.

I bet there are more stories like this of all the unfortunate princes whose stories are locked away in the walls of this palace. Unheard and forgotten.

                         ꧁ ☪ *ೃ༄꧂,


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