Being the sultan's daughter made everything easy to Nafize. But when she came of age marriage was a must and her parents chose the most unexpected person for her.
Malkoçoglu Bali Bey, was a military commander who was one of the most loyal men of th...
"May Allah grant him a place in paradise" Yet another pasha's wife said to me feigning her sorrow. I nodded my head emotionlessly at her. The thing is that I may not have loved Bali Bey truly from my heart especially after his affair but I respected him and wished him well still.
"I feel exhausted, excuse me" I whispered to Hürrem sultan who nodded her head. I stood up from the floor in the harem and walked out. The entire harem stood up along with Hürrem sultan and bowed to me. I and Mihrimah had the most power now but Mihrimah's mother controlled her and had power over her while I was free.
"Nafize" I stopped in my tracks and turned around to find my mother standing with Saliha beside her. Behind my mother stood my niece Nergissah along with her mother Ayse. Saliha was holding her son Mehmed's hand and she had her daughter Sahihuban while her other son Orhan held on to her dress.
"May Allah give you strength Sultanim," Saliha said bowing to me. With the speed, they had reached the capital I can only imagine my mother forcing them to leave in a matter of hours after receiving the news.
"May Allah add his left years to you, Sultanim" Ayse Hatun said behind my mother. I nodded at my brother's favorites before my eyes trailed to my mother.
"Oh, my darling" she whispered walking over to me and pulling me in for a hug.
"Mother" I acknowledged patting her back. She pulled away and smiled up at me sympathetically.
"Aunt Nafize" Nergissah stepped forward and bowed to me. I opened my arms smiling as she wrapped her own around me in a tight hug. I ran my fingers through her chestnut-colored hair.
"I'm glad you came with them, darling," I said to my niece as we pulled away.
"Me too, I missed you and my cousins," she said grinning at me. She was almost nineteen and surprisingly my father hasn't forced her to marry yet but I know he will soon.
"How about you all go rest and we'll meet tomorrow for breakfast?" I suggested. Saliha and Ayse immediately nodded in agreement both obviously exhausted.
"Alright, my darling" my mother mumbled before she stepped away from me following by the others. I let out an exhausted sigh before also continuing on my way to my chamber. I walked into the empty room and sat down on my bed.
My hands trailed under my dress until my fingers touched the piece of paper, the letter my father sent along with Bali Bey's head. I pulled the paper out from under the dress and rolled it open. In the past two days that had passed, I hadn't opened it in fear of what it contained.
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"My darling Hürrem
I am sending you this letter with an explanation of my actions against my favorite son-in-law or least favorite now.
During the campaign, I had received a letter stating how my son Mustafa was in contact with the Sah Tahmasp and that he was planning a rebellion against me. So I called Mustafa to my tent to punish him but instead, Bali Bey ran in and begged me for forgiveness. After interrogating Bali Bey I had found out that he was in contact with the Safavids in the name of my Sehzade and was planning a rebellion in my name thinking I wouldn't punish anyone if those letters were found in the name of my only surviving son Mustafa who is in good shape to rule.
