THE VALIDE SULTAN| MAGNIFICENT CENTURY|

CHAPTER 01

Gevheri leaned down and placed a small and soft kiss on the forehead of the late sultan, the man she loved and gave three children to, Sultan Osman Khan, Sultan of three continents and two seas, the sultan who shook the world.

"Goodbye, my love" Gevheri whispered with tears running down her face. Behind her aghas and maids were running around in a frenzy not knowing what to do with the sudden death of their sultan caused by complications with his stomach.

"Now what, Sultana?" Jawhar Agha asked. He was the head of the harem along with Melek Hatun who was calming down a crying Sayeste Sultan, also the lover of Sultan Osman khan, and the mother of his son Mustafa and daughter Nuricihan Sultan.

"Tell Valide Hatice Sultan, she knows what to do" Gevheri answered wiping her tears away. Gevheri walked over to Sayeste and kneeled down in front of the sobbing mess of a woman.

"Calm down, Sayeste, everything will be alright" Gevheri wrapped the crying woman in her arms. Sayeste held onto her tightly using her to pull herself off the floor. The two women pulled away and looked at each other, expecting enemies, however, in reality, they were friends.

"I promise to protect Beyazid and Mustafa the same" Gevheri whispered so no one would hear. It was a known fact in the Ottoman Empire that whoever ascends the throne had to kill his brothers.

"I promise to do the same" Sayeste didn't hesitate to hug Gevheri tightly again. They pulled away when the doors opened and Hatice Sultan ran in with her daughters Nergissah and Beyhan following behind her.

"My son!" Hatice Sultan wailed running to the bed and throwing herself on the corpse of her son. Osman was young and barely reached the age of fifty before he died however he had four candidates who could inherit his throne, Sehzade Beyazid his eldest son whose mother is Gevheri Sultan who also had his sisters Ferahsah and Sahihuban. The second candidate was the son of Sayeste Sultan, Sehzade Mustafa, full brother of Nuricihan Sultan. The third candidate is Sehzade Mahmud the son of Cihan Sultan, the snake of the Topkapi palace who also had Hümasah Sultan a smaller version of herself. The fourth and last candidate was Sehzade Ahmed who had only traveled to his sanjak two months ago.

All four boys were sent letters telling them to come to the capital as fast as possible however they were late and there was no one who arrived in time for the death of the sultan. Now it was a nerve game for who arrived first and inherits the throne and all three mothers were waiting impatiently for her son praying to be the first to arrive for the mere reason of his survival. Only Sehzade Ahmed would not be missed or so everyone thought, after his mother's death he was taken under Nergissah Sultan's wing and raised by her, he surely will be missed if he were to be killed.

"Whoever arrives first will be the next Sultan," Nergissah Sultan said loudly to the room. Everyone in the room bowed under her order feeling obligated to do what the Ottoman Sultana ordered.

Gevheri watched the palace garden with a lump in her throat as the day turned to night. She perked up when a horse came into view with a carriage following behind it. The man on the horse jumped off of it and stepped over to the agha who greeted him, the man immediately ran into the palace leaving behind his horse and carriage. Gevheri picked up her black mourning dress and sprinted out of her chamber. The maids at the door scrambled to keep up with her as she ran through the harem. She stopped in front of the huge oak doors as the man emerged from the other side also freezing at the sight of her.

"Son" Gevheri's words came out of breath and with relief lacing them. Sehzade Beyazid sprinted into her arms and hugged her tightly. Gevheri sobbed into his chest feeling like she owned the world now that she knew her son will live for sure.

"Is it true? Is father really gone?" Beyazid asked pulling away from his mother. She looked up at him with watery eyes and nodded her head.

"DESTUR, VALIDE HATICE SULTAN" the mother and son pulled away from each other and turned to the grandmother of the Sehzade. The maids who hadn't noticed the arrival of the prince jumped up at the announcement of their sultana's arrival.

"Welcome back, Sehzade or should I say, My Sultan?" Hatice Sultan felt a battle inside of her, should she be mad at the universe for making her witness this pain or happy that she got to see the day her grandson reached the throne?

"I am glad that I saw you healthy, grandmother" Beyazid reached over to his grandmother. Hatice hesitated for a second before she gave him her hand showing her acceptance of his regency and his future reign.

"No!" They all looked up at the sound of the scream to find Cihan Sultan standing on the balcony overlooking the harem. She sprinted down the stairs over to the three royalty.

"No! No! You can't become the sultan. My dear Mahmud! I will not allow his death" Cihan screamed. Beyazid stopped the aghas from stopping her as she attacked his chest with punches. She was crying and sobbing, and Gevheri felt bad for her for the first time in her life.

"Calm down Sultana. I will not hurt my brothers" Beyazid held her arms stopping her from hitting him anymore. Cihan looked at him shocked and confused. Gevheri snapped her neck to look at her son, she would understand if he didn't hurt Mustafa and Ahmed however she knew he almost hated Mahmud for giving him a hard time and making his life harder while they both still lived in the Topkapi Palace.

"What are you saying?" Hatice Sultan asked shocked. The harem went into chaos and the concubines started whispering to one another over the sudden decision.

"Granny!" Gevheri looked behind her son at the small body of her grandson who ran with open arms. She crouched down and hugged him tightly welcoming him with open arms. The arrival of the Sehzade and the favorites of Beyazid froze all whispering and discussions.

"Welcome to Topkapi Palace, ladies" Gevheri stood back up and looked behind her son at his favorites and three other children, all daughters, Mihrimah, Hatice, and Rabia Sultanas.

"Sultanim" Gülbahar was the first out of the two to step forward and kiss the robes of Hatice Sultan. She turned to Gevheri sultan and did the same. Cihansah followed the steps of Gülbahar and kissed the robes of the two sultanas before moving back to stand with her daughters.

Gülbahar and Cihansah both were looking around them at the palace they'd never been to before in their lives. Gevheri turned to her son not knowing if she felt proud that he was stopping the bloodshed between brothers or afraid and horrified by his decision.