The Red Empress: A Forgotten Tale Of The Ottoman Empire

Chapter Three

Fidan looked at Ayşe slowly before he bowed his head. "Forgive me,for speaking out of turn yesterday,we have to remain cautious",he spoke and she narrowed her eyes at him before shifting and looking away with a sigh. "Forget about it,this is even worse. This is certainly a fate worse than death",she said as she stared off into the unknown and Fidan glanced at her.

"Please,allow me to escort you to the palace",he motioned to the door and she stood rooted there for a second before she walked out of the cell. She was annoyed and her head hurt with the many ways she would inflict harm on the Sultan. The way he had her blood boiling,her liberty and freedom would be stripped because of him. When she stood outside,she saw the Sultan speaking to another person,perhaps one of his other men and as if he sensed her presence,he turned around and smirked when their eyes met.

She walked up to him swiftly and squared her shoulders when the man bowed and walked away,"What sick game are you playing?",she asked without any honorifics. The Sultan raised a brow at her and his jaw shifted with a tick,"I sent for the carriage, I will be hosting you as a guest",his answer was the same and he moved past her and mounted one of the finest looking horses she ever laid eyes upon.

Next to it, stood another with just as much prestige and she eyed it curiously. The Sultan said nothing else and began to strut away with a few of his royal guard. This made her angry and she began breathing heavily. In an instant,she mounted the available horse and clicked her tongue and the horse ran forward toward them leaving Fidan behind. She sped past the Sultan and led her horse to block his way forward. He almost wasn't able to stop his horse but when he did,he glared at her with an unmatched venom but she reciprocated it.

"You expect me to just blindly follow your orders? I'm not one of your subjects,you can't tell me what to do,I can leave right now and you'd have no right to hold me back",it was her turn to smirk this time.

"I think you forget,just who you're talking to,woman. I am the King of Kings. The Caliphate. Padishah. I can do what I want to you and not a single army on earth could attempt to stop me even if they tried. Even if they had to fight me till judgement day came. You are in my mercy,you should be grateful that I let you live till this point because this will be the last time you speak out of turn to me. Now get out of my way before I make you"

She nodded slowly,too slowly before she turned the horse back around and she looked at the Sultan up and down,she found herself next to him facing back towards the direction of where Fidan was,she whispered,"We'll see just how much you can try and make me bend my will to you" and then she raced away,past him,past Fidan and the prison,into the town and as far away as she could.

She would escape and never return. She heard the shouting of men and she saw as they sped up behind her. She was faster,more skilled and none of them would be able to keep up with her. She couldn't return to Crimea even if she wanted to,either way, whether here or there,she was trapped but anywhere is better than here.

She sped through the city with ease and when she turned back,there was no one following her. She smirked and continued on her way. It was easier than she thought,the impact of the horse's hooves became soft as she rode through forestry. The horse neighed and began to breathe heavily. She smirked triumphantly. She would not return,she would live a life in exile in a distant land.

However these dreams that Ayşe was busy thinking of were to be trampled on because not far behind rode the Sultan whose sole purpose now was to capture the woman who'd be made to suffer for her defiant nature.

Ayşe felt the shift,a cloud of gloom enveloped her as she turned around and saw the brooding man and for the first time,she felt a shiver run up her spine and a sense of absolute terror took over her body. Should she stop and leave herself at his mercy and beg for forgiveness or fight till she took her last breath? She felt the shift and she knew which of the options would prompt her to live to her life motto. She tightened her hands on the reins of the horse and she made it go faster.