Being the sultan's daughter made everything easy to Nafize. But when she came of age marriage was a must and her parents chose the most unexpected person for her.
Malkoçoglu Bali Bey, was a military commander who was one of the most loyal men of th...
"Have you got everything, sultana?" Nur asked bouncing Suleiman so he would stop fuzzing and settle down. I looked up at her and nodded in no mood to talk at all. I went and told my father that I forgave Mihrimah, she was my sister after all.
"Where is Bali Bey?" I asked buttoning my coat to keep myself warm from the harsh winter air. It's been months since the incident happened and it was winter now. I ordered the maids to wrap the children with as many furs as possible and keep them warm from the harsh winter we are encountering.
"The carriage is waiting for you, sultana" Esma said picking up Mustafa who is able to walk now after turning two years old. I sighed and looked one last time around the room that was my own for the past four years after marrying Bali Bey.
I will never forget our first night here as a wedded couple or the nights after that. I will never forget when I had a miscarriage and woke up in so much pain with blood everywhere. I will never forget the horror in Bali's eyes as he saw the blood and how much I was in, which I will never recover from the trauma. I will never forget the birth of my Mustafa in this room or the birth of my precious Suleiman who was soon turning one. I will never forget the fights or the love-filled moments, I will never forget the confessions.
The past couple of months passed by quickly but that doesn't they were any less memorable. These months were filled with decisions and heartbreak as me and Bali Bey took our choice to leave for Amasya to stay by my brother's side. Mustafa prepared one of the castles there for us to live in so we won't all be in the same castle and it gets crowded.
"Tell your Bey that we are leaving soon" I ordered one of the new maids I added to my serves since Nur and Esma were busy with the kids now. Her name was Ayse and she was really young not over fifteen years old. She bowed before leaving the room to inform Bali Bey and the rest of the guard party.
"Let's go" I walked out of my room stopping at the door for one last look before continuing down the corridor and out to the garden where the carriages were waiting with the maids that were still walking out.
I stopped beside Bali Bey and turned around to look at the castle that has been our home for years now, where most of my memories together laid along with our beginning. I had a bad feeling about the upcoming years but I never told anyone how I felt not wanting to worry anyone.
"I will miss this place," I said turning my gaze to my husband who too looked at me with a sad smile on his face.
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"Me too, darling" He took my hand into his and walked me over to my carriage and helped me up the steps before walking over to his horse and started riding forward leading the party on. I sighed sadly and looked out of the window pushing the tears back wanting nothing more than to order them to stop the carriage and go back into my safe heaven and never leave ever in my life.
The trip to Amasya was long and very tiring, it took us almost a week to reach my brother's castle where we will be staying until our castle was ready to welcome us. The weather was no help to our traveling and was a huge obstacle causing us to be really late.
I stuck my hand out and placed it in the outstretched one of my husband before getting out carefully and stepping down the steps as carefully as possible so I won't fall. I looked at my mother who was looking at me with a huge smile on her face which widened when the maid with the children were helped out by harem aghas. She's been nagging me to move to Amasya since I got married, she wanted her children and grandchildren near her.
I looked at the cloudy sky that was promising rain soon. I looked at the beautiful fields that stretched in front of me around the castle, this place was beautiful and peaceful. I walked over to my brother who stood beside our mother and the judge in charge of Amasya who was also the past governor of Amasya until it was given to Mustafa. I took my brother's hand into mine and kissed the back of it making him smile down at me.
"Welcome to Amasya, Nafize," He said sweetly making me smile for the first time in a while. He pulled me in for a hug making all of the slaves around us look down to give us privacy.
"Thank you" I kissed his cheek before moving over to my mother and kissed the back of her hand before she pulled me in for a hug too.
"I'm glad you finally took the right choice and came here," She said excitedly before moving to the maids that were holding the children and picked up Mustafa who remembered her and started squealing happily as she kissed his cheeks before moving over to Suleiman.
Life here will be hard but much more relaxing than in Istanbul, no more crazy stepmothers or half-sisters. No more fighting and traps at least not for a while as they took me moving as a victory and they will take their time to cherish this time but I swear to god I will not let them breathe for a second.
My gaze moved to my maids to the very last row where one of them stood with a shawl covering her face but that didn't help hide the horrible scars over her face. She pulled down her shawl to show the rest of her face with a wicked smile on her face, the smile of a broken woman. Her face was filled with scars from her attempted suicide. My mother gasped when she saw her and handed Suleiman back to the maid and stepped back to beside me with her eyes wide and her mouth open, her face was filled with horror. Mustafa frowned as he looked at the woman that didn't look human anymore.
