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                          ꧁ ☪ *ೃ༄꧂

              
                               R A B I A

As soon as I entered the Harem, all the girls came running and gathered around looking at me intensely like they were waiting for me to say something. 

One of the girls came forward with a smirk on her face. "Hünkarım didn't even touch you, did he?" Nazlı asked arrogantly, like being touched by the Sultan was the most prestigious thing. 

I scowled at her. "Why would I let him touch me?" I questioned earning a mocking laugh from a bunch of them. Nazlı turned back to face the girls, still laughing. "Listen here girls, the Sultan didn't touch her so to save her pride she's trying to bring up the lamest excuse."

"Hayır," I protested. "Why would I!?"

"Why would I?" She mimicked and they laughed more, triggering my anger. 

"Kızlar, what's going on here!?" Nigar Kalfa yelled as she came closer pushing the girls out of her way. She froze when she saw me. "Rabia? What are you doing here?"

"Look at what this girl is saying Nigar Kalfa." Nazlı said in a mocking tone as she pointed her fingers at me. "The Sultan didn't touch her so she's making up excuses to save her face. Pathetic. Isn't it?" She said with a fake laugh and the others joined her. 

"And who are you to say that?" A loud voice came from behind me and everyone froze before bowing their heads. I turn back to see the Sultan standing near the Harem door with his hands behind his back. He has changed his clothes. 

He stepped forward until he was beside me. "How do you know I didn't touch her?" He asked Nazlı who was trembling in fear. 

"Bağışla Hünkarım," She said, trembling in fear. "She, herself said it. I didn't mean to offend His Majesty. Please forgive me."

"I thought Cihan Sultan made it clear." Sultan said as he took a threatening step towards her. "About her position here in the Harem."

"You have mocked my favourite," He said. "You have mocked me and you'll receive your punishment." 

Nazlı cried out as she fell on his feet, crying and begging him to forgive her but he didn't show a bit of sympathy. Nobody dared to even speak up. 

"Ağlar, tie her up and put her in a sack before throwing her into the Bosphorus." He ordered, making me gasp while the others trembled in fear but didn't dare to even make a small noise. This is too much. Nazlı was wrong, she made fun of me but this punishment is too much. 

"Enough!" I said, ignoring the glare from Nigar Kalfa and Afife Hatun who just came. Sultan Murad turned to me with his eyebrows arched. 

I gulped and spoke up, despite knowing well what it meant to challenge his authority. "She has insulted me, not you."

"And?" He asked with an evil smirk playing on his lips. 

"I didn't ask you to punish her." I said. 

"Hatun!" Afife Hatun hissed at me. "Bu ne cüret! Who are you to address His Majesty as ‘you’. How dare you!?"

Sultan Murad raised his hand telling her to silently shut up as she should. 

"I'm not doing it for you, Alexandra." He said. This was the first time he has addressed me by my name and also the first time in weeks that someone addressed me by my real name. I feel both relieved and annoyed, hearing my name from his mouth. 

"Insulting the favourite of the Sultan means indirectly insulting the Sultan." He reasoned. "She not only insulted you but she has insulted me. And I won't tolerate this."

"But that's not fair!" I said. "Where is the justice there! She didn't insult you, Padişah. She insulted me and I should be the one to punish her, not you!"

He stare at me for some moment before nodding. "Alright." He said, making the others stare at him in shock. "She's yours to punish. But if you don't give her the punishment befitting her actions, I might as well do worse than the punishment I declared earlier."

He'll feed both of you to the lions. 

I nodded. "I'm just a mere girl like you all in this Harem. We are all equal here hence my punishment for you is you will apologize to me."

Nazlı immediately fell to my feet and started apologizing. "Forgive me, Rabia Hatun. I will never do it again, you are a woman with a big heart. Please forgive me."

"I forgive you." I answered before turning to the Sultan who was watching the scene in front of him intensely. 

"Violence is not the answer to everything. Sometimes it is better to forgive someone who did you wrong than to punish them, you might change their perspective and make them see how wrong they were."

                   ‧͙⁺˚*・༓☾ ⋇⋆✦⋆⋇ ☽༓・*˚⁺‧͙

                              M U R A D 

Her words kept echoing in my head. I couldn't stop thinking about what she said last night. 

"İbrahim," I called out and he hummed from his seat. I've known him since we were kids. I still remember the day my late Valide brought him to the palace with her on her arrival from the old palace. Her first exile. Since then he has been with us until his brother, Ayas Pasha, then a low paid soldier returned from the campaign and took him to look after him. But that didn't stop his visits. My late Valide always considered him as one of her children. 

I have always considered him a brother more than any of my blood brothers. 

"Do you think forgiving someone who did you wrong is better than punishing them? Maybe they might change their perspective and realize their mistake?" I asked. He thought for some moment before turning to me. 

"Do you want me to answer it as your friend or as a Grand Vizier?" He asked and I rolled my eyes at his dramatic question. 

"Ok, tell me as a friend first." I said. 

"I'd say, sometimes it's better to forgive someone and make their guilt eat them up from inside rather than punishing them and fueling the evilness inside them." He said and I nodded. 

"And how about as my Grand Vizier?" I asked. 

"I'd say that's bullshit." He said with an amused face. "If someone does me wrong, death is the only answer to that person's stupidity. He can regret his actions in hell."

I couldn't help but laugh at his answers. He never fails to amuse me with his answers. If he wasn't my Grand Vizier, he'd probably be a comedian. 

"I still can't believe that she stabbed you." He said and I chuckled again as my thoughts wandered back to last night. She stabbed me with her little trembling hands and then started crying and trembling after seeing my blood while I stood there, staring at her with an amused face. 

"She really is weird and she's not afraid to speak her mind." I said thinking about how she dared to speak up when others didn't even dare to look up. 

"And she talks a lot." He added dramatically with a heavy sigh. "Good luck to you with her. I'm telling you my friend, this won't be the last time she tries to escape or stab you. I'm pretty sure she'll do more wonders causing you a headache."

I let a smile settle on my lips. "You should also find a woman, brother."

He scowled at me. "I have no intention of losing my sanity right now. I'm happy being alone and rich."

"I will marry the first woman who manages to slap me." İbrahim declared proudly and I frowned. 

"Why? It doesn't make sense."

"It does if you listen carefully." He wiggled his eyebrows at me annoyingly. "If that woman dares to slap me or act rude to me despite knowing that I'm the Grand Vizier, it will prove that she doesn't care about my title or my money."

"And it also proves that she hates you and you are stupid." I rolled my eyes at his stupidity. But something about his words reminded me of Alexandra or Rabia as my sister calls her. She is rude to me, she doesn't care about the luxurious things that I have given her and she even stabbed me despite knowing that it's the biggest crime. She didn't care that I was the Sultan. 

"In short, what I mean is I want love, Kardeşim," İbrahim said. "I don't want to marry by force. I want to fall in love, be madly in love. So madly that I can die for her. Until I find someone like that, I won't marry."

"I hope you find someone who can die for you too, Kardeşim." I said and he nodded with a smile. 

One of the guards came in and bowed. "Hünkarım, Rukiye Sultan and Atike Sultan have arrived in the capital." He said. 

"Good." I said standing up from my seat. "Inform the Janissary ağlar to bring the Sultana's safe to the palace." He nodded and bowed before leaving. 

I decided to bring my sisters back to the palace. We may be from different mothers but we share the same Osmanlı blood and as the saying goes ‘Blood is thicker than water’. I just hope they don't cause any trouble for me or Cihan.

"Hünkarım, if you don't have any more work, I would leave with your permission." İbrahim said, making me smirk at him. 

"Is it because Rukiye likes you?" I said with a smirk making him scowl at me. 

"I don't think Her Highness likes me anymore. That was years ago and I hope she doesn't." He said and shuddered like it was the worst thing for him. If anyone dared to do that I could've had his head but he was not anyone. He was Ibrahim, my friend, my brother and the most loyal person in the entire Sultanate. 

"Alright alright. You may leave." I said dismissing him and he bowed before leaving. 

I walked towards the balcony that faced the Capital. The sun was about to set, creating some orange and red lines in the sky that made it more breathtaking. 

I took a deep breathe. 

Was I making a mistake by bringing them back? 

Perhaps not. After all, we are all siblings and we share the same blood. 

                           ꧁ ☪ *ೃ༄꧂


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