Elham Sultan: The Sultanate of Women

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1521, Topkapi Palace

"Sehzade Mustafa! If you permit, that's all for today." One of Sultan Suleiman's grand viziers, Ibrahim Pasha, curtseyed before the overly enthusiastic little prince who insisted on playing sword fights with his favourite person in the palace, Pargali Ibrahim Pasha.

Suleiman had ascended to the throne the previous year, following his father Sultan Selim I's tragic death.

As Suleiman watched his son and grand vizier getting along with a smile on his face, little Elham piped up beside him.

"Your Highness, when would I be able to learn sword fighting like Mustafa?"

Suleiman was quite shocked to hear his little princess talking about swords, it wasn't usually common for Ottoman princesses to take an interest in it. Though, despite being shocked, his smile never left his face as he promised her sword fight lessons in the future.
"If my Elham wishes, why not?" This made Elham forget about her dainty princess-like grace for a moment as she almost jumped for joy.

However, everyone wasn't as happy or easily pleased as the children. Mahidevran watched them from her window up in the palace, sighing heavily.
A new group of concubines had arrived for the Sultan's harem, and although the presence of other concubines never bothered her much, it seemed like one of them had finally gotten on her nerves. It was the Sultan's new favourite, a redhead tall Ruthenian slave.
"Pull yourself together, Mahidevran, you've given birth to two children, and most importantly, an heir." Valide Hafsa Sultan scoffed, who had been observing the expression on Mahidevran's face for a while.

"Valide, I was his majesty's favourite! I don't know how to-" Mahidevran was about to voice her worries but was stopped by an agitated Valide Sultan.
"Don't speak like a child and make me angry, Mahidevran. You know very well that according to law the Sultan is supposed to have several partners to produce more heirs. You can't be the only one." 
Mahidevran murmured an apology to the Valide as she left the room, still glaring at her.

Unnoticed by both of them, little Elham listened to everything, who had come up to the room to talk about her sword fighting lessons with her mother but was faced with a horrible truth instead.
Elham understood a lot of things that other children of her age often didn't, Mustafa, for example. He was blissfully ignorant and oblivious to everything happening, a contrast to Elham who noticed every tiny drop of tear in her mother's eyes.

Her train of thought was soon interrupted as she spotted her aunt Hatice Sultan coming her way, accompanied by a stranger woman who perfectly matched the description of the woman her mother described a few moments ago. However, the woman and Hatice appeared to be in a heated argument.
Hatice held up her hand in dismissal as soon as she spotted Elham standing there and greeted her with a kind smile.
"My princess! How're you this morning?" Hatice kneeled before Elham affectionately.
-"Hatice... who's that?" Elham pointed her finger at the woman, who was still standing.
-"Oh that is....Hurrem. Hurrem Hatun." Hatice's smile disappeared as she spoke her name.

Hurrem Hatun curtseyed before Elham, flashing a sweet smile. In Elham's opinion, she was beautiful, though quite not as much as her mother. Hurrem Hatun was about to say something when Hatice waved a hand in her direction, prompting her to go away. Hurrem Hatun's smile faded immediately as she reluctantly left,  followed by two servants.

"She's not good for us." Elham said immediately after Hurrem's departure, catching Hatice off-guard who wasn't expecting this at all.
-"How did you come to that conclusion, Elham?" Hatice held her little fingers in her hands.
-" She makes my mother unhappy. Nobody does that." Elham's expression changed from angry to stern which made Hatice's smile falter a little.
-"Don't worry about this, my dear, I'll talk to Mahidevran." She smiled reassuringly, getting up.

Elham clenched the hem of her kaftan, murmuring "Nobody makes my mother unhappy" to herself again and again.
*******
Elham's sword-fighting lessons were arranged soon and she couldn't be any happier. Mahidevran wasn't particularly pleased about it, neither was the Valide Sultan but Hatice seemed ecstatic.
"You'll do great, Elham." Hatice grinned encouragingly as she got prepared in proper attire by the servants.
-"Do not encourage her Hatice, this isn't something princesses should be learning!" Hafsa Sultan scoffed.
-"Elham, my beautiful girl, are you sure about this?" Mahidevran asked tentatively.
-"Valide, I've seen Mustafa with swords. One of us has to be good at it, and it's not going to be him." Elham stated casually as she fixed the strands of hair falling on her forehead.
"You've to teach her how to behave, Mahidevran." Hafsa Sultan said disapprovingly and the only one to find Elham's statement amusing in the room was Hatice Sultan.

As Elham entered the royal garden for the sword lessons, Ibrahim Pasha curtseyed before her, followed by Mustafa a young boy a few years older than her. He and Mustafa seemed to be close friends, who was playfully hitting him with a sword.
"My Sultana, we'll start your training shortly. This is Adnan, son of Ayas Mehmed Pasha."
Ayas Mehmed Pasha was a grand vizier and statesman in Sultan Suleiman's court. Adnan curtseyed before Elham as Ibrahim introduced them. His eyes twinkled a little as noticed Elham's attire but lowered his gaze almost immediately.

"Ibrahim Pasha, I don't want Mustafa to be here, his poor skills might influence my performance." Elham said, smirking at Mustafa, who rolled his eyes.

Meanwhile, Hatice and Mahidevran stood nearby, watching them.
"Mahidevran, did you talk about Hurrem openly in front of Elham?" Hatice asked in a hushed voice.
-"No, my Sultana, I'd never!" Mahidevran seemed taken aback at this.
-"Well, I don't know how, but Elham has found out that you're unhappy with Hurrem and His Majesty."
-"Forgive me, my Sultana, but Elham is very-"
-"Observant, I know. Which is why you need to be especially careful around her. Don't let me catch Elham talking about these again, Mahidevran." Hatice said, indicating an end to the conversation.

As Elham watched her brother and Adnan fight, she was increasingly convinced that Adnan was going to be an asset of a warrior in future and that her brother was the absolute worst.

"Mustafa, let me try now." Elham tried to shove a disappointed Mustafa to the side which soon turned into a sibling banter.

Mahidevran chuckled at this, everything was perfect, if only....

She was about to heave a sigh but spotted her daughter waving at her with a small sword in her hand and immediately composed herself.

But nothing escaped Elham's notice. Nothing.

*******
Word meanings:

Valide Sultan~ Queen mother, mother of the reigning ruler

Pasha~ A high ranking officer in the Ottoman Court.