Captured For The Sultan’s Pleasure

Roksolana woke up feeling cold and hungry. Even more, she felt afraid. She had been left alone for more than three hours since Jamal had left abruptly and if she was to guess correctly, she would say that it was already the middle of the night given how dark it was in the room already. No one had even thought about coming in to check on her or even to light the room. Did the Sultan plan to punish her by making her feel anxious? If that was his plan, he was doing a good job already. Her stomach grumbled in protest of being neglected and she clasped her hands on it. By the time her stomach protested the third time, Roksolana decided that she couldn’t hold on anymore and stood up to go to the door.

She was halfway through the door when she thought she heard footsteps sounding in the dark and paused. Has the Sultan finally arrived? It can’t be the sultan. He wouldn’t be sneaking about in his own house. Besides, the arrogant man would come in through the door. If Roksolana’s feelings were right, then someone had just broken in through the door.

The thoughts were immediately confirmed when she heard the sound of a sword being drawn out of its shield. The gleaming light from the sword gave away the location of the intruder. Roksolana knew whoever it was hadn’t broken in by mistake. His target was either the Sultan or Roksolana herself. Knowing that she couldn’t wait unprepared to confirm if the intruder was here for her, she drew out the small knife she had stolen from the Sultan earlier and waited.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Roksolana followed the gleaming of the sword and saw it disappearing upstairs. She calmed down when she realized that the Sultan was the target of whoever the sword belonged to and returned the small knife to her socks. The Sultan deserves to die. Roksolana was sure he had done something bad to the man who wanted to assassinate him. It was a pity the intruder had come in when Jamal wasn’t in.

Thinking that if she was smart enough, she could make it to the door without alerting the intruder, Roksolana tiptoed to the door. She was almost there when her leg hit something, giving her away. She turned and saw the intruder looking around for the location of the sound. His face was covered with a mask, which means he was an inside person. Roksolana knew she had to protect her identity also. So she took off her hijab, covered the lower part of her face with it, making sure her hair was tightened behind firmly. When she looked up again, she saw the intruder moving towards her and she stilled.

Sudden light blinded Roksolana for a moment. When she adjusted her eyes, she saw that the intruder had flicked on some sort of light and pointed it towards her on purpose. She shielded her eyes from the light with the back of her hand and looked at the assassin. The only thing visible about the man was his blue eyes, clear as the ocean itself.

Good thing I disguised my look. Roksolana thought just as she dodged the first swipe of the blade.

The assassin plunged forward again and Roksolana rolled over, the sword embedded itself in one of the chairs. Before the assassin could take it out, Roksolana hit his hand away with her leg. The assassin turned to her and frowned in such a menacing way that made her shivered. Roksolana thought she would never forget about the frown. The assassin punched her in the stomach when he saw she was lost, she doubled over. She got back up and got closer to the assassin. As she moved her legs up to kick him, she stepped on her skirt and fell.

Damn dress. Roksolana thought.

When she saw him rushing over, she pretended she was still in pain to distract him. As soon as the assassin got closer to her, she brought out the small knife she had stolen from Jamal earlier and stabbed him hard in his left arm. The assassin let out a pained howl, then grabbed Roksolana by the neck, choking her. Roksolana slapped the man’s arm while gasping for air. When that didn’t work, she pushed the knife further in. The man let out another shout, letting go of Roksolana. The man yanked out the knife. He was about to stab Roksolana with it when two guards rushed inside. As soon as the man saw them, he pulled out his sword and jumped out of the house through the creaking window.

The two guards pointed their swords to Roksolana who was still gasping for air. She realized they couldn’t recognize her with the disguise she had on and took off the hijab covering her lower face. She heard them exclaim just before they rushed over to her and helped her to a seat. She was still breathing more air into her lungs when the door opened abruptly and Roksolana saw Jamal come in looking very angry.

“How dare you two leave your post?” He asked the guards. Without waiting for an answer, he spoke again. “Go and stand guard at the forest road. Without my permission, you two are not allowed to change, eat or leave the post.”

Roksolana watched as the two men walked away immediately. She didn’t fail to see the look of fear that came upon them at the mention of the forest road. Judging by the look, Roksopana could tell that the place they were guarding wasn’t a pleasant one. Yet, the Sultan had told them they weren’t allowed to leave or eat. Which was like killing them without using the sword or his favorite punishment, beatings. She wondered how long he would starve them. Perhaps, it was a punishment meant just for two days at most. But, judging by the Sultan’s previous acts, he might as well have been telling them to go and die in the forest without alerting anyone.

“They didn’t leave on purpose. Something happened,” Roksolana tried to tell him.

“I can see that.” The Sultan answered, looking at the state the room was in.

“I can explain,” Roksolana tried again.

“No need to. You have the nerve to lie to me and then damage my properties?” Jamal asked, furious.

To think that he had wanted to come in here and asked her why she lied to him. He had wanted to ask her if she had been that jealous of Miriam because the woman was his favorite mistress that she had lied to gain his attention away from her. He had wanted to give her another chance to be his mistress. Only for him to come in and see that she had damaged his properties. Half of the furniture in the room was destroyed and some of the floorboards were pulled out of their positions.

He was also sure she had injured one of his men, judging by the bloodstained knife across the floor. She had lied to him intentionally, wanting to make him bitter towards Miriam and kill her in anger. She must have decided to damage his things because her plan hadn’t worked out. He would make her pay for everything that she had done.

“Guards.” He shouted. Three guards rushed in at once. “Take her to the punishment squad and have her tied up to the sunniest area. Without my permission, no one is allowed to go near her. Neither is anyone allowed to give her anything to drink or eat,” Jamal commanded them.

“What do you mean by that?” Roksolana asked, suddenly afraid.

“I just discovered that you lied about Lady Miriam to me. Then you destroyed my properties?”

“I didn’t lie about her. And I can explain how the room became like this,” Roksolana told him.

Jamal hardened his face. “What are you waiting for? Take her away.” He told the guards.

“You just wait and see if I don’t kill you by myself, you stupid Sultan,” Roksolana shouted as the guards dragged her away.

Jamal sat down on the only chair in the room that wasn’t damaged. Now, he had to think about a way to get back in the good grace of Miriam. It was a good thing he hadn’t given away his purpose earlier or he would have damaged the relationship beyond repair. Plus, the lady didn’t seem to mind his recent aloofness towards her. Perhaps, there was still hope.

I’ll take breakfast to her personally. Jamal thought.