The Red Empress: A Forgotten Tale Of The Ottoman Empire

Chapter Six

The Sultan and Ayşe strolled through the vast forestry of the royal garden, Ayşe's hand looped through his in a comfortable manner,one of affection as they spoke. She knew the risk of being seen but their confessions gave her a sense of security and made her braver if even possible.

"So much for my training,"she spoke in a hushed tone, sweeping a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she smiled sheepishly. The Sultan chuckled,the sound vibrating and captivating her in the process.

"There will be many chances for us to train but we couldn't continue after having such a heartfelt conversation. At least it felt right not to," The Sultan spoke as they continued walking,his hand slipping lower and intertwining their fingers and holding her hand firmly,his thumb rubbing comforting circles on her skin.

Her heart skipped a beat and they came to a halt under a large oak tree littered with carnations and her eyes sparkled. "They're beautiful," she said and bent down to touch one. The Sultan cocked a brow as he examined her curious stance. "Would you like one?," the Sultan asked and Ayşe stood and turned to look at him,their hands never leaving each other.

"I'd rather it not shrivel up and die in my possession. As they say,if you see a beautiful flower,do not pluck it but simply water it," she said with such a fixation,the Sultan had no idea if she was still speaking about the flower still or something else.

"You are wise, Ayşe. More than anyone could give you praise for. Not even myself," she smiled at him and he watched her with a soft gaze and a small smile of pride on his face. "There is meaning in everything,Murad," she said and her eyes traced to the carnation flowerbed and the Sultan's eyes followed. "It's peculiar that we ended up here, amongst such flowers, carnations," she giggled with her eyes never wavering.

"How so?," the Sultan watched her now and she smiled graciously. "The meaning of the carnation means love,desire and devotion depending on the colours."

She pointed to them,"That is emphasised by the red and orange ones you see here but if they were two toned. They would mean a parting,a good bye. Farwell." her voice seemed to shake a little before she looked at him again,"There aren't any of that here though but when I look at them,I would think of you,Murad. After all,they represent your name. Desired, wanted and wished for" she spoke with so much calm and the Sultan felt a chill overcome him and shake him to his core.

"Carnations," he smiled even though he thought how useless it was to know anything about such things and he lifted her hand to his mouth and placed a chaste kiss to her knuckles and she looked at him with an amused look. "Yet the flower I gaze upon is all I could ever truly wish for,desire and be wanted by," he stared at her intensely as he recited her words back to her.

A smug look overcame her,"There are plenty of flowers within your sight," the Sultan caught the hidden meaning behind her words and stood up and smirked at her and yanked her towards him,her body colliding with his,his free hand wrapped around her waist and he still held her other hand.  "And yet,the Noor(light) of the one before me has me captured like a prisoner after a constant nightmare engulfed by darkness. The one before me drowns out the sound of disoriented voices with a melody so sweet,to be void of it would be a crime in itself," he smirked as she averted her gaze and he tilted his head to get into her field of vision again.

"So many flowers in my sight but only one I truly see just as she does with me," he spoke and her gaze lifted to his and smiled.

"I never thought of you as one for words coated with sweetness,Murad," she said mockingly. He scoffed before returning to smile at her playfully. "It seems love can turn the ruler into the ruled. The warrior into a poet. The wealthy into a beggar. The teacher into the student. The poison into a cure. The master into the enslaved. All I know is that it is genuine with you, Ayşe. Everything is natural. You make it such," he said and she giggled.