His healer | Magnificent century

Chapter 1

My body is tense and my heart is pounding in my chest. I was on this ship for weeks, but I didn't care for anything anymore. I saw my parents and my sister getting killed by tatars in front of me. I was only 15 yet I was experiencing such thing and was getting sold as a slave to the harem of Sultan Suleiman. What will this Ottoman hell do to me?

"Welcome to the Imperial harem. I am Daye Hatun. Here we will take care of you if you are obedient and follow rules." An old woman, looking as the head of the harem tells us and starts looking at us.

I am lined with some other girls with which we are coming from Russia. I haven't eaten since long time ago but hunger is my last concern.

"Now you will be expected so we can see if you are suitable for the harem." Daye Hatun says as she gives an order with her head to some eunuchs to drag us.

"Let go of me! I am not an animal! I don't want to be here!" I yell in the little Turkish I have learnt as they grab my shoulders and start dragging me.

"Shut up or else I will whip you!" Daye Hatun yelled with an angry tone as I keep struggling against their grip while I am dragged to the hamam where there are physicians.

The other girls are also there as all of us are in nothing but towels and we stand lined up. Some of those girls seem very scared while others calm. So weird! One physician approaches me and starts checking me.

"Good hair, good body, young and perfect for having children." She announces and tries to check me some more as she makes sure once again that I am a virgin.

"Don't touch me, woman!" I yell as I get up and pull away, wrapping the towel harder around my body.

"Stop resisting! Don't you realise your fate is in our hands?!" Daye Hatun snapped and slapped me across the face, making my cheek red from the pain. I squirm but keep quiet and don't show how hard the managed to hit me.

"She's good to go. Make sure she washes herself and doesn't do anything stupid, Nigar." Daye tells to one younger Kalfa as I angrily walk away.

"Ya nadeyus', chto Bog ub'yet vas vsekh i vash Istanbul!" (I hope that God kills you all and your Istanbul) I curse under my breath as I sit on the cold stone and pull water on my hair.

"Don't speak Russian! Everyone should speak Turkish!" Daye Hatun yelled as she obviously didn't understand what I said but the young Kalfa Nigar gives me a scolding look.

"You understand Russian?" I ask with surprise and she simply nods, making me even more shocked as I thought they only know Turkish. Maybe she was from Russia too.

After a few minutes I finish washing myself as me and all the other girls leave the hamam in our towels and make way to the big harem room where on our beds are placed simple blue dresses which we will wear. However since now it's evening, we all put on our night dresses.

"You're so beautiful, both your face and body. I wonder if you will have a future with the sultan." One girl, dressed in a beautiful dress spoke to me, making me turn my head to her.

"I don't care about the sultan! And doesn't he have a wife anyway?" I snap to her as I get dressed and sit down.

"He has a "wife", but that doesn't mean he doesn't have other women.
In the harem, the Sultan can have as many women as he desires. Don't you know the traditions? He can't even marry, it's not accepted." She explains to me with a scolding look.

"Who is she?" I ask curiously as I sit down on my bed more comfortably.

"She is very beautiful. She was taken to the harem a few years ago. Her name is Mahidervan and she even bore the sultan a son- sehzade Mustafa." The dark-haired girl explains to me as I blink a few times.

"What's your name?" I ask.

"Ayse. I am a favourite of the sultan. And your name?" She asks me with a small smile.

" I am Katerina." I reply and give her a small smile back.

"Katerina, that is a beautiful name. Where are you from?" She asks me again and I feel surprised by how nice she is.

"I am from a small town near Moscow, Russia. And you?"

"I'm from Albania. We have a beautiful country. I was kidnapped and brought here 4 years ago. And you? How did you end up here?" She speaks to me with obvious interest.

"Tatars attacked my town and killed my parents. Then kidnapped me and brought me here." I explain as I look away and speak more to myself than her as I add in Russian. "Pust' oni vse sgoryat!" (Let them all burn.)

Ayse doesn't understand Russian, but she can guess from my face that I am cursing those who brought me here.

"I'm sorry about what happened to your family. But you're here now and the harem is your home. You just have to accept your fate like we all did." She tells me and it makes me scoff. I hate the world "accept"! I hate it!

"You're nice and you are a favourite? Does the sultan love you a lot?" I decide to change the topic.

"The sultan has given me more money to wear finer clothes. But he doesn't love me, he hasn't even called me again. The sultan's favourite is a young concubine named Hurrem. She also comes from Russia like you. She's just arrived in the harem, but she's very lucky because she has quickly gained the attention of the Sultan and is now his chosen one." She explains to me with a lowered tone so no one can hear us.

I listen to her gossip with a surprised expression as she tells me so much about this harem and the way it works. I am about to open my mouth until one girl, also dressed in a favourite's dress comes to us.

"Melekiya, come sit with us!" Ayse tells her with a smile as the other curly girl sits down and looks me up and down.

"You're from Russia?" She asks and laughs slightly, I can tell she will be mean to me. "What a cold and empty land. It must have been terrible to live there!"

I roll my eyes as I clench my fists, annoyed by her words as I mumble to myself.

"Chto by ty znala o Rossii, osmanskaya suka..." (What would you know about Russia, Ottoman bitch)

"Watch your tongue, Russian girl. You should speak Ottoman in the harem, the Sultan doesn't like Russian!" She says as she doesn't understand what I told her but she looks like she got the message that I have insulted her.

"But you are not the sultan, are you? Stop messing with me!" I reply as I also raise my head and then decide to not get into an argument as I look away.

"It's hard to talk to a barbarian who is so barbaric herself." She looks over at the door and lowers her voice. "By the way, the Sultan is visiting his favorite Hurrem now. Do I need to explain what they're doing now?"

"Something you want but still aren't able to do?" I ask mockingly as I raise my eyebrow but before she can reply, Nigar Kalfa enters to put us to sleep.

Melekiya's face turns white from anger because she did not expect that. But she can't say anything since she notices Nigar glaring at her disapprovingly.

"Alright, to bed already, don't make me yell at you!" She says and claps her hands as we all go to sleep.

"She is jealous of you. Probably sees you as a competition." Ayse whispers to me with a wink before leaving for the favourites'wing.

That night I slept but only with nightmares in my head. I was constantly seeming the death of my family and I was clenching my little cross in my hand till my hand started bleeding. What am I gonna do in this Ottoman harem?