Zevki Sultan

~ Chapter 4 ~

We spent weeks floating aboard a ritchety ship, nothing to do, terrible food, and being forced to clean the decks every day. My royal title no longer accounted for anything anymore. Princess Francesca Fortuna, treated like a slave.

One morning, I woke up after a night filled with nightmares. What if I didn't ever see my family again? What if I was tortured to death? What if my family forgot about me? The last one was the saddest. My family forgetting me, and then I'd never return home. Now, even though I wasn't head over heels for him, I'd rather have the wedding with Duke of Aragon. Oh, and of course my sister Isabella probably jinxed it, or something of the sort!

The boat was rocking all night harder then usual, so it was rather obvious that I wouldn't sleep too well. And from what I saw, neither did the other dozen captured girls. Obviously out of all of them, I couldn't see anyone who was a...

I look around and spotted her. Duchess Lucia de Mendoza, a young noblewoman from our very court, ragged as I, whimpering and crying in a corner of the ship. Corny. That's all I thought. I don't know how she could even have maintained such a high position on the Spanish Court. But, I have to deal with what I have here, since now we were a captured by the Ottomans.

I got up and began making my way over to her. My soggy hair was in no condition to be seen, but I was kind of getting desperate. 

Standing in front of her, I waited for a reaction. She kept making weird sounds as she cried. Pathetic, but I understood.

"Did you not see me come here? Get up woman!" Lucia made no reaction to my remark. "Soy princesa Francesca Fortuna!"

I was getting mad. Besides the obviously terrible dreams I had last night, I needed to ally myself with someone of high rank to escape, and obviously this woman was committing treason by not obeying or giving me the respect I deserved as a Princess. I am the daughter of King Charles of the great Spanish Empire, not some low life 2 by 2, like France or Holland.

I kicked her in the leg to get a reaction, albeit it was very hard.

"AHHHHHHHH!! OWHHHHHHH!!!" Lucia screamed as she gripped her leg tight. The men who commandeered the ship came down to see what was happening. She kept screaming so hard the Ottomans covered their ears and spit on her.

"Ay hatun, what is going on?!" The barbarians demanded as Lucia choked and, pointing at me, then replied,

"She kickeddddddd meeeeeeee!!" She stressed the words. I crossed my arms.

"I am Spanish Princess Francesca Fortuna. That woman," I pointed at Lucia, "Disrespected me by not acknowledging my presence and therefore treason to our dyn-"

I was interrupted by a tall man grabbing my rags and pulling me closer to him. I wrinkled my nose at the disgusting, putrid smell coming from his mouth. Ottomans need better hygiene.

"Listen woman, I don't know who you think you are, but the moment we set foot on Ottoman soil, you become nothing of your past. You are no princess anymore, you are a slave to the Ottoman Sultan Süleyman Han Hazretdleri and his family. He is the only one who can decide your fate and fortune."

My mouth dropped open.

"That's not fair, because I'm-" I protested but I was simply shoved over. I screamed at them as they left, but it was as though I was invisible, or a speck of dirt off the bottom of their boots. All the other girls watched in fear as not to be beaten or anything.

I took a seat on a dirty cot alone and began crying. The moment we set foot on Ottoman soil, my old life would be over. Is it too late to throw myself out into the ocean? No, because 'he [the sultan] is the only one who could decide your fate and fortune'. Besides, I needed a way to let my family know I'm alive, and to get me rescued. 

I can't escape this ship, but I can plan for the future. I am to live in the Topkapi Palace, so I must start gaining knowledge and skills for survival, to someday get out and back to Spain. I'm barely 20, but it feels as though a lifetime has passed between my being a princess and my uncertain fate in the Ottoman Empire.

I turned to look at the dozen or so girls, young, afraid, and from all over Europe I suppose. I would need to help them too in some way. The girl closest to me was curled up and seemed to be a bit cold. She also seemed several years younger than me, probably an early teenager of 14 or 15 years.

I got up and moved to the cot where she was sitting on.

"Hola," I greeted her. She nodded but gave no word response. "Where are you from?"

"Holy...Roman...Empire," She shuddered as she pronounced every word carefully. Not too far from Spain, but also a disappointing fate to go from there to here. Like everyone else.

"My name is Francesca Fortuna, and I'm a princess of Spain." The girl's eyes widened when I said that. It's the reaction I expected, I suppose.

"Wow! The Princess of Spain captured by the Ottomans... At least you'll probably be rescued. I'm Elisabeth, by the way." I felt a pang in my heart after what Elisabeth said. Unlike Isabella, I wasn't selfish. I know that I'll probably be saved. But Elisabeth was clearly not royalty, so she'd likely never be saved.

Elisabeth was really pretty, with flowy brown hair, and she was relatively tall too- but not that much. I resolved that I want to be friends with her. Maybe we could get out of this Ottoman hell together.

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A/N: Thank you so much for reading Zevki Sultan! Don't forget to like, comment, share the story if you can, and please follow!