Zevki Sultan | 𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐍𝐈𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐘

~ Chapter 30 ~

"Francesca, Francesca. What a beautiful name. But you know what would be more beautiful? An Ottoman name for you. But what part of you is of such grace to name? For I know the taste of your lips is true satisfaction and pleasure. Hence your name is Zevki." I mused quietly as I looked over my nails before heading down the hall.

I had stayed with Sultan Süleyman till the morning and we had breakfast, but unfortunately he had state affairs to attend to, so thank you very much Ibrahim for taking my Sultan away from me!

I just knew everybody in the harem would be jealous and wanting to know what good ol' Francesca Hatun did with the Sultan, and I would proudly proclaim, "It's actually Zevki Hatun now."

Francesca did sound pretty stately before, but of the old order of the world. Zevki sounded new and fresh, like the morning breeze from the Bosphorus Sea that engulfed the harem open air halls and balconies every day. It was a chance to reinvent myself, a new identity, something only I could cherish.

When he told me that I would be Zevki, I wanted to jump into the air with joy, though another part of me was disappointed. This is how it would end for Francesca. But I am not her, she is not me. Just like how Hürrem is somebody else than Alex, and Gulnihal is not Maria, and... Nobody here who plans to stay will have the same name.

I twirled around in my pleasant satin dress, which felt light like a breeze as I spun around, thinking of nothing but fun things right as I-

"Owwwie!" I groaned as I came crashing down onto the floor. "What in the...?"

My eyes tried looking left and right but things were blurry so I couldn't really quite capture what was going on until things became dark again. I felt pain in my stomach, but I didn't know what was going on.

~

"Is she alright? What happened to her?" I heard a very firm voice demand, somewhere around me, though I couldn't open my eyes to tell.

"Well, we aren't quite sure yet. We will test her again to see if it's true, but we believe..." Another person trailed off.

I tried to get up, but a pair of hands pushed me back down, whispering "Don't use your energy to get up for now. Save it for someone else."

Someone else? What is wrong with this person? To date, I don't believe any such technological invention could supposedly transfer my strength to get up to someone else... for whatever reason. But this was getting annoying. 

When I no longer felt the grasp of the pair of hands on me, I summoned all my strength and pushed my back and head upwards, feeling a jolting pain in my stomach rise as I came back down. But now, I could open my eyes and see what was going on around me, or even to me as well.

"Well she's fully awake now, Nurse."

Nurse? Where am I?

I looked around and I saw I was laying on a cot of sorts, with a few stout women in veils and holding all sorts of potions or perhaps medicine I realize now, and they seemed to be inspecting me for something.

"Am I sick, or mentally ill?" I managed to get out a few words. 

One nurse laughed, but the other simply shook her head. "Well this is a line I haven't heard yet. Normally it's 'get off me!' or 'who do you think you are to keep me here against me will?'"

I didn't really bother to respond to what she was saying, but rather instead stare intently till I finally made out the words to say,

"So really, what is happening to me? Why did I fall before? Who rescued me?"

The nurses looked at each other, and from the corner of my eye I could see a small smile appear on the face of one of them.

"You are in the hospital right now for a checkup after you fell due to something... We better have the Sultan come as well so we can explain."

The doormen had the Sultan come back inside, whom was apparently intensively pacing outside the hospital room. Sultan Süleyman looked rather nervous now, and my heart beat a little faster as he approached, because I didn't know he cared this much about me. I thought the harem was simply about being a favorite or not, and it wouldn't matter as much to the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. But I guess I was wrong about that too.

"So what happened to Zevki Hatun?" The Sultan pressed. "Tell us now, don't stall about it."

"My Sultan, your favorite Zevki Hatun is carrying your child, an heir to the Ottoman Empire. Congratulations."

My mouth fell open. "Is this true?"

I looked to the Sultan, who at this point has sat beside me on the bed. "Congratulations, my Zevki. Soon we will have a wonderful, handsome heir."

I beamed at him. "Yes, an amazing Shezade or a lovely Sultana will grace the halls of the Harem, and hopefully will help fulfill your ambitions. I am grateful to you my Sultan."

The Sultan nodded and then whispered something that sounded like 'send her many gifts of gold and jewels' and then he left once more. I thought I would get a little break, but now the Valide Sultan came over as well.

"Valide." I bowed my head, because I couldn't quite get up. She gently pushed me a little downwards back.

"Don't force yourself up, make sure to have the strength to keep the child healthy and safe." Valide Sultan smiled at me.

"Good job fulfilling the duty I told you to do. Also, I very much like your new name, Zevki, is it?"

"Yes," I nodded.

"It's a good name, not something obsessive like the other girls like Mahidevran and Hürrem were given..."

Valide trailed off and I wasn't sure what to respond to it, but before I could think of anything, Daye Hatun came over and bowed to the Sultana Mother.

"Daye Hatun," Valide commanded, "We shall throw a party in Zevki Hatun's honor, with sherbet, sweets, and many gifts to celebrate the new baby that will be coming."

I grinned. "Thank you so much, Valide. I am greatly honored by your Majesties doing this for me. I hope I continue to be worthy enough to serve the dynasty as best as I can."

She nodded at my words. "Now have some rest, child, hopefully they let you come out in an hour or two after some more rest, and then you can have a little more fun before focusing on your most important duty once more."

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A/N: Thank you for reading! I can't believe we are on chapter 30 already, it's amazing, and with more than 13k views too. I was working on this for several days and wanted to make it a valentine's day special, but I kind of fell asleep and forgot- so sorry everyone! But at least now it's here. Hope you enjoyed, and the next chapter will be up soon.