Light within the Harem

Death of Sakida | Victoria

Suleiman was confused as to why his mother's anger was directed towards Melekşima, the aging woman stormed into Melekşima's chambers as soon as Osman was put down for a nap and they were sharing some refreshments before attending prayer.
"Valdie," Suleiman called, rising to his feet. "What is the meaning of this?"

Mahidevran was not far behind. Her eyes instantly fell to the ground, hoping to avoid angering the Sultan further than the Valide had already done.
"There was an unknown woman spotted near the stables. It was known that she resembled Melekşima."

At the mention of her mother, Melekşima rose to her feet and bowed to the Valide. "The Valide is correct. The woman is my mother."
"We have rules set in the Harem for a reason, Melekşima."
"Valide!" Suleiman snapped, taking a step forward to shield his Kadin from his mother's view. "I already knew of the woman, I had arranged it as a surprise for Melekşima."
Mahidevran's eyes widened, and Valide fell to silence as Suleiman continued. "Who told you otherwise?"

Valide Sultan shifted uncomfortably, her eyes glancing at Mahidevran quivering form. "No one. It was a Cariyes."
"You allowed a Cariyes to slander one of my Kadins? A Sultana?!"

Melekşima placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a small squeeze. "My Lord, please do not be angry with the Valide. With Ayşe Hatun's murderer still not being caught, I believe everyone is on edge."
Melekşima's words seemed to have soothed Suleiman's anger slightly. They both shared a small look, noticing that Mahidevran seemed rather flushed and embarrassed of the Sultan's anger towards his mother.

Was Mahidevran the one that actually saw Melekşima's mother and the Valide lied?

If that was true, then the Valide clearly showed which Şehzades's mother she supported, Suleiman dismissed them both with a wave of his hand and turned his back towards the door.

It took a few days for things to settle down, Melekşima paid several new Cariyes and Gözde to blend in with the shadows, be her eyes and ears within the Harem as her days was filled with looking after her Şehzade.
She got word in the middle of the night that Hüsuni Sultan had come down with a fever, Gülfem Hatun was grief stricken as this was the very same sickness her Şehzade died from.

Gülfem Hatun never slept for three whole nights. On the fourth night, Hüsuni's fever broke, and the little Sultana would live. Melekşima and Hürrem were her pillars of strength since Hürrem had suffered several miscarriages and Melekşima was a loyal friend.

The most disappointing one out of all the Kadins, was Mahidevran Sultan, true that Hürrem was happy Gülfem gave birth to a daughter, but Mahidevran made it known of her happiness whenever possible which Suleiman found highly disrespectful.
His disappointment was widely known in the Harem, as he dined with Şehzade Mustafa without Mahidevran that night.

Melekşima decided to cheer Suleiman up by providing entertainment, picking several pretty looking but loyal Cariyes and Gözde, arranging with the Valide and Sümbal Agha to teach them dance moves. Two new concubines stood out the most, a Italian and a Hungarian, Melekşima used her position as Haseki Sultan to arrange for the blonde Hungarian girl go to walk the Golden Path the following night whilst the Italian girl was put into Osman's service with Işmilah and Eşmahan.

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Sakdia watched as the Barbarian Sultan played with his children, holding the young Şehzade Osman and jokingly called for the guards to protect him from Şehzades Mustafa and Mehmed.
She needed to attack soon, hit Suleiman where it hurts the most: his children, Şehzades Mustafa, Mehmed and Osman would be under heavy guard but Mihrimah Sultan and the newly born Hunşi Sultan would not, true they are just girls but they carry the barbarian's bloodline.