Haseki Mihrişah Sultan

New Maid

Last night, I could barely sleep. Finally, luck knocked on my door. I would have my own salary, new clothes, jewels, perfumes, many things. This would help me realize my mission. But what was my mission?

The walls of this palace had made me forget it. Or maybe I didn't have a mission in the first place? A cause or purpose to fight for. Usually, girls or young women of my age find a man, get married, bear him children, and fight for them. Did I want that? No, not this soon. I was still young and had a lot to learn from the world. My heart didn't know what love was. Of course, I had read poems and knew the stories my father and mother told me, but besides that, nothing. I wasn't going to bear the children of no Sultan, I knew that for sure.

But what if I ran away from here? Where would I go? I don't know the language too well, and who would help me anyway? This world is not friendly with girls my age. I could be kidnapped, sold again or worse...raped. No, I've finally decided it. I was going to stay inside these walls.

My life at least had a predicted future. It wasn't much, but I wasn't hopping for much anyway. There was a ceiling upon my head, a shelter, food on my table, delicious food, clothes for summer, and for winter, I hope, a bed to lay on, money to win, and maybe more. Maybe I rise in the ranks of Harem and become someone. Not too important because I don't want to deal with hard work and difficulties since I'm no good at solving or managing them, but someone good enough to have friends who care and enemies who also care.

So last night I didn't sleep happy because another sister of the Sultan had made me her maid, I slept well because I felt so. I felt that I was going to sleep well for more nights to come. After seeing my family and village massacred and burned, a good sleep and a strong faith in God were all I needed.

New days came. New sunny days, even though about a month or a little more summer would come. Her Highness Fatma Sultan was such a nice and noble woman. She was the second oldest sister to the Sultan and the second child of the Queen Mother. With all honesty, I was saddened when I learned that her husband, a minister named Mustafa, had been executed for some action 'contrary to the law of God', by her brother, the Sultan. Anyways, she had managed not to allow desperation to take over her.

It wasn't easy serving to her, I must say. I wasn't one of the main maids she had, but still, it was hard work. Fatma Sultan would go from one place to the other, from one chamber to the other, and it was hard to keep up. Of course, this made me discover new places in the palace, places in which my foot hadn't stepped. Finally, I got out of the Harem. When she went to visit His Majesty, her brother, me, and two other maids of hers accompanied her. The other side of the palace wasn't as beautiful as Harem. The walls were grey, the corridors didn't have much light, and the presence of seriousness was felt in the air.

We did not accompany her inside the Sultan's room, but I understood that the latter had many guards. And they weren't like the guards I was used to seeing that far. No, they were dressed differently, and I could tell that they weren't eunuchs. The ones that guarded his door were dressed in red fabrics with golden embroidery and had a tall red fez with two long black tassels on its sides. A bit further away from where we were standing were two other guards, tall men with beard, dressed in red, white, and brown loose-fitting clothes, but with a tall headgear of a weird shape. They definitely were from the military as they had daggers and swords in the scabbards attached to their belts. In front of them, we had to cover our chest and neck parts with the long veil of our dresses.

Fatma Sultan did spend lots of time in the chamber that for a moment, I thought that I was getting old by standing still. She got out but had a different expression. The smile she had in her face before she got in had faded away. I wanted to ask her, but it wasn't my business. After I accompanied her to her room, I went to the Corridor of Concubines. The girls there were chatting and laughing as always while only a few were cleaning.