The other woman

Room bound

A few hours after we returned valide sultan came and saw me. " don't get up, lemme see my granddaughter" she says as she sits next to me on the bed. I hand her Ana as I come to call her. I felt a tear fall down my face. " she is beautiful you have done so well a son and daughter , your truly a sultana in my heart your my daughter, may you continue to bring us more blessings" she says smiling at me. " thank you valide " I say as I wipe my tears. She motions to aya to leave, leaving us alone. " what's wrong my dear you can tell me" she says. " oh valide , I feel like such a failure, yes she is perfect but she isn't a son we all thought she was a boy and I love her dearly but she was not was expected, and I also cry as I gained my angel sultana hatice gained an angel in heaven, I feel like I have hurt her so much " I say. She pulls my close like my mother use to and pats my arm. " my darling you haven't disappointed us at all, if hurrem says a word you come to me I'll deal with her, Mihrimah sultan can't be our only girl, our darling Anastasia is a true blessing, hatice..... she will have more children , what happened to her was a tragedy yes and I mourn my grandchild, but she doesn't hate you ,  she knows that god dose things in mysterious ways, she will mourn her child but she will have more I promise you this, now cheer up you have a beautiful baby and are safe " she say kissing the top of my head. I nod and dry my tears and smile. She was right god works in mysterious ways. " you should sleep and rest I will have the hammam made up for you, you need to relax " she says standing up. " thank you valide" I say. " it will be alright I promise you " she says as she turns to leave.as soon as the door closes aya comes out. " you heard all of that didn't you " I say as she comes close. " yes "she says " she's right you know " . " yes i know " I say . " hurrem wouldn't dare, you told me she once hated Mihrimah when she was born she thought her self a failure, but she was just the same and she moved on and became stronger besides you will have more princes" aya says. " your right come let's go to hammam it's late and no one will be there valide will make sure it's perfection " I say. She nods and runs to the back and grabs maya to take care of the children. She returned with my bath rob and towel and my favourite soaps and oils. " we will be back soon, can you order some snacks from the kitchen if they are still there " I ask. Maya nods and motions us to go. When we get there it has been set up and I can see hurrem leaving she turns to stop me " what here to gloat about my daughter ?, how's she not a prince if so save it " I say. "No not at all, I know what it's like to have daughter you were there when she was born, I wanted to congratulate you and tell you, you will have more sons she is a beautiful baby and a blessing, I'm sorry you had to go through what happened , but I'm glad your safe that's all" she says. " truthfully ?" I ask turning to her "truthfully, I know you never meant to hurt me, when I was away you took care of my son, you had no choice nor dose anyone when the sultan choose you, understand I will be the only one in his heart but you may occupy his mind , but I understand you" she says. She walks away and I turn to aya " well I think that was a compliment and a threat all in one " she say as we walk along. We undress and change then walk to the warm marble and I lay down and let them massage me then I let them wash me slowly, letting all my troubles wash away. I spent hours there relaxing but I knew it was time to return. We redressed and slowly walked back to the room. " I thought you two had drowned in there " maya says as we walk in. " all is well is the snacks here ?" Aya asks helping me sit down. " yes lots of sweets and goodies from seker aga" she says. We eat and then go to bed tired from everything we had endured. The next morning I'm awoken my the door being closed harshly. " oh sultana I'm so sorry I was just returning from the hammam" maya says as I sit up. " it's quiet alright, what wrong why do you look upset" I ask as her faced showed a nervousness I had never seen. " sultana it's hurrem sultan....." she ays trailing off I nod and motion to continue. " she's in the harem eating with the girls going on about how you said you would give birth to a son and all you had was a daughter and how she was born on such a upsetting day that maybe she is cursed " she says. I whip off my sheets and put on my robe and head to the harem to find hurrem leaving I immediately pin her to a wall " how dare you speak I'll about my daughter, you have no right after what I went through, you think it's all about having sons eh, look at your self you have a daughter just the same as me I remember you when you had her you didn't even want her, she isn't cursed she is a blessing, if I ever here you say one word against my daughter again I'll make sure you wished you were never born" I say letting her go. She looks scared but then looks mad " if you come near me again I'll kill you " she says. " Enough, both of you up here now " we both look up and see valide at the balcony. We both nod and head up" what were you both thinking and dont even think about lying to me for i saw the whole thing, and i hear everything, hurrem just becuase you have more sons doesn't mean you can slander my granddaughter, Sofia you can not just attack hurrem , in daylight especially outside a harem, you two are sultana mothers of royal children attacking each other in the harem for one doesn't set a good example and it shows how child like you both are, i have enough to deal with , i don't have the patience to deal with you at each other's throat both of you return to your children and don't leave your rooms for the rest of the week now get out " she yells we both nod and return to our rooms quietly. " I am not allowed to leave my room for the week so go get breakfast and have the rest of the meals sent throughout the days if you girls want to go for the day go ahead " I say returning to bed and pulling the covers over my head. " sultana what happened? " aya asked sitting on the bed. " hurrem " i mummble under the sheets. " tell me more " she says. " she was slandering my daughter and i attacked her, valide caught us and scolded us and told us not to leave our rooms, my only problem is hurrem has 2 rooms " i say. " we can have lots of fun here, we will be fine " she says. " yeah while everyone believes my baby is cursed " i say. " she isnt cursed and i would tell anyone off if they dare say so" aya says. " come on i have a surprise for you" she says motion to the back rooms. " i asked your father to send it when he had the chance, sumbul aga came when you were out with it "  she says to me as we walk toward the back to a large crate. ".what is it ?" I ask looking surprised " open and find out" she says. I open the crate and see a large board and pull it out. " it's a chess game, your father said he taught you when he was younger and that your very good, maybe you can teach me to pass the time, he also sent some cards too obviously we can't gamble but you must know lots of game and we can have fun " she says. I start pulling things out and smile at her " your an angel have I told you that before " I say. " no but I'll remind you now and again" she says we gather up everything and take it to the table and set everything up. " now I'm a little rusty so this will go slow"I say. She nods and we start, it's slow at first but once she gets the hand of it we can play easily." You didn't tell me my mind would be working over time " she says as I win " it's all about strategy my friend " I say. " at least I won a few times," she says " you did and once I teach the girls maybe you will beat them" I say. " now let's play some cards now i know gambling isn't allOwed but we can use candy instead " I say. " all right " I say. We move on to the next game and she picks it up much better then the last. We play for a few hours till we are tired. " well I gotta say that was fun though now what will we do" i say. " well it's late now past lunch time so maybe some food I need to feed Dan and you should feed Ana " she says. I nod and pick up my daughter and feed her " I won't let anyone ever say anything bad against you my darling if they do I'll have their heads" I say as she feeds.  " if they do I'll have their head " aya says as she brings out dan with some food.  I looked to her and smiled. "After they are done let's see if Dan wants to hold her with assistance of course " I say. "Oh let's that would be so cute " aya says. Once they are done I bring dan close to me and prop a pillow near his arms so her head is held up and we place her so she won't get hurt. Then we place Ana in his arms I'm sitting right next to the pillow to keep it from moving and aya is on the other side. "Well dan what'd you think " I say to my son.  He babbles excitedly squealing he points to her and smiles. " can you say pretty dan ?" Aya says to him. " say pretty dan " she tries again. "Pretty may be to big of a word maybe we should try mama or baba " I say. Suddenly the door opens and his majesty walks through " BABA ! " he yells as soon as he sees him. " my lion " he says as I move Ana so dan can be picked up . " well your officially his first word " I say carrying Ana over to him. " well I'm glad I am say it again Dan " he says, " baba baba baba " dan says again. " now could you say mama " I ask. He shakes his head and says baba again. "I heard about this morning, I've already talked to hurrem, you will both obey valide punishment but that doesn't mean I can't visit "he says. I nod and he kisses my lips. " come let's sit togeather for a bit, all of us " he say. I nod and we walk to the couch and sit down. He holds dan and smiles at our daughter. I don't know what our future would hold but we would see.