The other woman

an eventful dinner

" sofia sultan welcome " a kalfa says as we walk in. the girls quickly notice our arrival and bow. i smile and we go to sit with some of the girls. " how are you sultana?" meleka hatun asks. " very good a bit tired maybe you girls can help i cant decide what to wear tonight, green or purple" i ask as  we settle in. " you would look lovey in either colour sultana " another girls calls out. " thank you" i say smiling." well i think you should wear purple sultana you look lovely in green but purple would make your hair look gold " a girl says. the other girls jump in with their opinions.  i finally decide on purple because i love green but i knew that mahideveran favourite dress was her green one. and hurrem would possibly wear it as well. " how is the baby doing sultana ?" " well growing as fast as it can, I'm not that far along but i do have a small bump, the child might be big" i say patting my stomach. " maybe there is more then one baby in there?" another girl asked. " maybe but i don't think so, my family didn't have any twins that we knew of , i think its just a big baby" i say smiling. i wasn't very far along a month maybe two.  " well sultana another baby means another prince" a girl said smiling " yes like hurrem sultana, you will have two princes there is no doubt about it, my grandmother was a midwife and she always said big baby are princes" Katherine hatun said. " we will see i want another son for dans sake" i say smiling. " Allah will prevail sultana" another voice said. " amen " i say smiling. we stayed with the girls for a while. as time went on it became late so i knew it was time to get ready. we headed back to my chamber to get me ready." sultana you look beautiful" aya says as she places my veil on my head. " thank you say, you will put dan to bed early please " i ask. " of course sultana " she says. a knock on the door to my chamber revels a aga " sultana the carriages are ready and they will be setting out soon" he says . i nod and make my way to the carriages. i see valide and mahideveran have also already arrived to leave.i bow and go to my carriage. valide would ride on her own but gulfem hatun had already left, and mahideveran would go with me. hurrem and his majesty would soon follow after us.  i smiled as i came up to the carriage . a aga helps me into the carriage and i settle in. soon mahideveran follows and comes and gets in the carriage and sits across from me. she smiles at me and looks content for once in a while. suddenly the carriage moves and off we go. the ride isn't very long as the palace is close by. when we arrive we are ushered into the palace. its beautiful i haven't been there since the wedding and it was absolutely beautiful. The walls had been painted with beautiful paintings that reminded me of England. The couches has been redone in the best of silks and beautiful pots for decorations with flowers. As we entered more into the main living chamber there was a large dining table. It was similar to the one from home, I could tell it was in Venice or Italy becuase of the decor of the legs. It was beautiful it brought back memories of sitting at the table with mama and papa, eating dinner and having fun. I smile at pasha and he winks at me in unsderstanding. There was probably not another one of these tables in all of Turkey. Even the chairs were finely done as well. Maybe I could ask his majesty for a table like this as a Present one day. I may be Turkish but I still want my children to grow up English traditions.
Traditionally in the harems we ate from our table and pillows on the floor, as did most of Turkey. So to be able to eat at a table with chairs was lovely. Valide sultan was welcomed by hatice and Ibrahim with kisses of the hand and on the bottom of her robe. Me, mahideveran , and gulfem all bowed. Valide and hatice talk for a bit before valide notices the table. It also catches mahideverans eye as well. " have you ever seen such a thing before ?" She whispers to me. I nod " yes this style of table in throughout the world most eat from them unlike us" I say back. " really? They eat from this ?" She asks. " yes it's like our regular way of eating we just sit on chairs, it's like his majesty desk in the privy chamber, before I can here that type of dining is all I knew " I say. " interesting it will a enjoyable evening " she says stepping forward to look around more. THe dining table was very western styled but in time this could the normal way of eating around the world. The whole palace had little accents of western palaces. It truly did represent hatice and Ibrahim's marriage.the other thing that had surprised me is that mahideveran had never seen a table like this. I knew some slaves came from countries near and far, it had been around for centuries, but it also depended on ones origins. Hurrem had come from Ruthenia, so she would have seen this before, but for others like aya who had come from Who knows where she had only known the floor way of eating. Finally valide sultan speaks up " are we eating here ?". Hatice replies " yes mother". Gulfem states she likes the European way of eating. Valide looks at her like she has two heads surprised at such a thing. " is his majesty coming ,mother ?" Hatice asks breaking the tension. Ibrahim speaks up " you can sit right here, mother, his majesty should be on his way " leading her to the sofas. We all follow them and settle in. We all begin to talk waiting for his majesty and hurrem to arrive. Finally I hear the carriage and I knew they had arrive. The eunuch announces there arrival and hatice and Ibrahim go to greet them. THe rest of us expect valide stand and bow. His majesty looks around then looks at the table, he questions where it comes from and Ibrahim tells him it's from the Venetians, his majesty dates that they are trying to deceive him through presents "those infidels keep coming up with silly things" valide pipes in. His majesty continues to inspects the palace " mother , this palace looks like a European palace " his majesty states. He continues to look around I see his eyes land on sadika, when I see this I can't help but become angry. I'd never trusted her and I don't think I ever Will. After a while it's time for dinner and we begun to eat. My child in my belly was most hungry so I ate quite a bit. After a while his majesty wanted to meet the painter of the palace and Ibrahim pasha goes and gets him. When he comes back a man a little older then me maybe hurrems age appears in his country clothes with his head down, the pasha brings him closer to the table. When he comes to the table I see hurrems eye swell up like they had seen a ghost, she stares at the man with a gaze that was full of fear. His majesty talked to the man and complimented his skills. The man thanks his majesty for his kind words. His majesty then looks to hurrem who is breathing very hard she then begins to cough very hard like she may have choked on her food. His majesty tries to calm her as well as gulfem hatun. They ask if she is alright at this point we are all staring. She finally gets a hold of her self stating she is fine though she is full of fear in her eyes. Valide yells for some water for her to drink to help calm down hurrem. Hurrem explains her heart throbbed leaving her with out breath. His majesty asks the pasha for a physician to come. But hurrem tells him not to call one that she is fine and it will go away. I stare at her for a moment unsure if I should believe that, she looks very much shaken. " was it something you ate?" Valide asks. " I don't know, I'll wash my face ,by your leave " hurrem says excusing herself from the table. She walks away to was her face. After she is gone hatice speask up "valide, if you'll excuse me I should take care of hurrem " . Valide nods and hatice leaves to take care of hurrem. After this Valide turns to me. " how is everything dear, we didn't get to talk much today " . " I am wonderful Valide, the physician came today she thinks it's gonna be a big baby, one of the girls in the harems think it's a boy becuase of it's size" I reply. " wonderful, just wonderful you will give us another boy no doubt, just as handsome as the dan is" she says patting my hand. Mahideveran turns to me " the girls think is a prince ?" She ask smiling for the first time all evening. " yes one hatun's grandmother was a midwife and taught her the signs, she said a big baby means a big boy another prince " I say smiling. She smiles and pats my hand then squeezed my hand. The men begin to discuss Leo and his work, after a while mahideveran decides to go and check on the two other women as they were taking along time. I continue to eat my supper as the doctor said since the baby is big I should eat more. I don't know about that but I will obey her recommendation no matter. Soon we all continue to eat after a while mahideveran and hatice return without hurrem. She arrives shortly after and we continue our evening. After a while we leave with our belly's full and our hearts happy. THe newlyweds are happy and we all happy for them. As soon as we return I bow to valide sultan and go to my room. Aya greets me immediately when I return. " welcome back sultana , how was everything?" ." Very good the palace is a dream remind me of England I'll take you next time I go hatice enjoys your company as much as I do " I say smiling. " aya can you help me remove my jewelry please " I ask rubbing my temples. She nods and comes behind me removing my necklace while I take out my earrings. She then takes off my tiara and veil. " ah much better " I say. I then proceeded to take of my bracelets and ring. And take off my outer vest that covered my dress. " good " she says smiling. I sit down on the pillow in front of my fireplace and aya comes behinds me massaging my temples. " how was everything ?" I ask shutting my eyes, " very good dan was a bit fussy but he went to sleep fine" she said smiling. " good I'm glad" I say motioning for her to stop and sit next to me.she stops and sits down. " you look at peace that's good the baby can feel it " she says. " I am at peace I have a family and I am happy " I say. "Come let's get you ready for bed you need your beauty rest" she say helping me up. " me need beauty rest ? How so ?" I ask smiling as she goes and gets my night gown. "You know what I mean his majesty may request to see you and you need to be beautiful " she saying undoing my gown and helping me into my nightgown. I blush at her comment. "You know I'm right now off to bed with you" she say helping me into my bed and pulling the sheets up to my neck. I don't argue with her becuase as soon as my head hits the pillow I'm out like a night dreaming sweet dreams.