Light within the Harem

Introducing Şehzade Osman

The child was utterly perfect, well perfectly healthy, Melekşima loss the amount of times she kissed his tiny fingers- all ten of them, she counted.
He was her pride and joy, that she brought into this world, she barely remembered his birth other than the pain and slight fear that her child would die.

"The girls all cheered when I gave them the news of your son's birth." Eşmahan spoke and there was a wicked glint in her eye. "Hürrem Sultan was also present at that exact moment. You should have seen her face."

Daye Hatun remained as long as she could, holding the baby as Halimë, Eşmahan and Işmilah helped Melekşima change; as soon as her son was back in her arms- she placed him at her breast and he latched on instantly.
Suddenly, Hatice Sultan came through the doors, with Valide Sultan and Gülfem Hatun following behind, Melekşima seemed surprised as she expected Hatice to not leave her own son, Mehmed behind.

"Sultana?"
Hatice gave her a small smile. "I came as soon as I heard of the imminent birth of your baby, another Şehzade for my brother. Congratulations."
Melekşima noticed how Hatice was gushing over the newborn. "Would you like to hold him, Sultana?"
Without missing a beat, Hatice took the baby from Melekşima, as she gushed over the baby again with Gülfem Hatun, and Hatice relinquished the baby to Valide Sultan's arms.

"Praise Allah for this precious gift." Valide Sultan cooed, lightly rocking him to sleep. "Such a strong child too."
Mahidevran Sultan came soon after, displeasure and bitterness on her face, but the Bas Kadin tried to seem pleasant enough.

Melekşima couldn't really blame the Bas Kadin for the emotions she felt, with the birth of Melekşima's son, there was another rival for the Ottoman throne.
The only one missing was the second Kadin, Hürrem, but no one barely acknowledged the Russelana's missing presence as they all cooed over the new life that was recently born.

Soon Hürrem made her appearance in Melekşima's chambers, her bitterness was not cleverly masked as Mahidevran's, it seemed that she was dragged to Melekşima's room unwillingly by an unknown Kalfa.

Işmilah styled Melekşima's hair as Halimë arranged a veil, as Suleiman made his appearance known, Valide handed the baby over to him.
He began to perform the naming ceremony, Melekşima's eyes glanced around the room to those present to witness the Sultan be besotted by the presence of his newborn son.

"Your name is Osman, your name is Osman." Suleiman proclaimed softly but loud for those present to hear, his eyes shone with unshed tears of happiness with each word spoken. "Your name is Osman."

Osman.
Her lion cub.

_____

"What do you know, Halimë?" Melekşima asked, once they were alone, allowing Melekşima to rest and recover from the birth of Osman. "I know you know why Hürrem was dragged here by a Kalfa."
Halimë fluffed up some pillows, laughing at Melekşima, shaking her head as she placed the sleeping Osman in his crandle- he was such a good baby, hardly fussy unless he was hungry.

"From what I found out from the Ayşe Hatun, Hürrem Sultan wanted to hold entertainment for the girls in the main room, mainly for those loyal to her. She claims to the Valide, who was immediately told by Sümbal Agha, that it was a celebration for the birth of your son. Ayşe also claims that someone, she was unclear on who, said something that made Hürrem upset and she insulted Valide Sultan. It was so loud that her insults were witnessed by the girls and most of the Kalfas and Aghas." Halimë took a pause in telling the tale as she handed Melekşima the herbal concoction Gülnihal prescribed to aid with her recovery. "What is even worse for Hürrem is that she done all this in the Sultan's presence, he was on the way here when all of this happened."

Melekşima shook her head. "And?"
"The Sultan is now actively avoiding Hürrem at all cost, but he will not avoid the children he has with her, some of the girls believe that the consequence of Hürrem's actions will be exiled to Eski Palace and stay there."
"I feel for her," Melekşima spoke, sighing. "Whatever or whoever made Hürrem upset used the time of Osman's birth to do so, it was a very calculated move against the Sultana."
"Don't you think she deserves it? After everything she's done?"

Melekşima shook her again. "You misunderstood me, Halimë. I don't condone Hürrem's antics or her actions at all, we always hear about the things she has done, but what of the things that has been done to her? I heard whispers that some of the girls tried to attack Hürrem and even burned her face."

"You are compassionate, Melekşima Hatun." Halimë spoke, sighing. "That is the difference between you and the Kadins."

It took a full week for Melekşima to recover from the birth of her son, she received a letter from Princess Isabella to congratulate her on the birth of Osman, though the woman still insulted Suleiman by calling him a barbarian- the Sultan had released Prince Friedrich, keeping both royals as hostages in his Hunting Lodge.

As a sign of faith and goodwill, Suleiman had given them permission to see each other, naturally supervised by Melęki Hatun and an Agha. That made the Princess less resistant to her situation, though Prince Friedrich was another story- from what Melekşima was told from Sümbal Agha and the Sultan himself, the Prince was a boastful man, always boasting of how big his father's armies were whenever he had the chance to.
The man quickly quieted down whenever the threat of being thrown in prison came into question, which made Melekşima laugh.

It had been several weeks since the birth of Osman, Melekşima was well enough to entertain the Sultan again, but Suleiman was again ignoring the Harem, spending more time focusing on the upcoming campaign. Suleiman had recalled Ibrahim from Anatolia, since the rebellion had died down there, which Melekşima was thankful for; Hatice Sultan seemed more at ease with her husband back in one piece.

Işmilah explained that Eşma, one of Hürrem's concubines let it slip that the second Kadin had met Princess Isabella, it was unclear whether this was true or not as Sümbal Agha was overlooking the responsibilities of the Hunting Lodge household management and Nigar Kalfa was placed in Hatice Sultan's service.

Nilüfer Hatun made it known that Melekşima's position hasn't changed, to Hürrem's entertainment but soon her words were thrown back in her face as Sümbal Agha made his presence known, Hürrem straightened up- pleading with Allah that the Sultan requested her over Melekşima.

"Melekşima Hatun." He called, gaining everyone's attention as the Harem fell silent. "By order of the Sultan, you have given birth to a Şehzade, your status has risen to a Kadin. You will be known from henceforth as Melekşima Sultan."
Sümbal rolled up the Sultan's degree, handing it to Melekşima, who noticed that several Aghas stood by holding chests, she motioned towards Işmilah and Eşmahan to follow them back to her chambers.

"Thank you, Sümbal Agha." She spoke, handing him some gold coins. "I thank the Sultan for this gift as well."
Hürrem's annoyance didn't go unnoticed by the new Kadin as Sümbal Agha gifted Melekşima the fur coat only a Sultana could wear, the Russelana stormed out of the main room, snapping at anyone that got in her way as her small entourage quicken their steps to keep up with their mistress.

Melekşima had wondered what Hürrem's consequence were to be, since her children were no longer in her care, and he was already avoiding her as much as possible. She had shared this concern with Halimë, Işmilah and Eşmahan, that was when she received horrific news.

The Hunting Lodge had caught on fire.