Captured For The Sultan’s Pleasure

The sword dropped with a large clang to the floor. Shocked, Roksolana quickly got up and faced the owner of the voice. She saw Jamal looking at her like he could run a sword through her without any remorse. She knew that nothing she said would make him change his mind. She wouldn’t either if she had met him in such a situation. But, she still had to try to convince him.

“I know what it looks like, but I didn’t do it,” Roksolana told him.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

“Okay. So, who did it? Why were you spared, but they weren’t?” Jamal asked her in a cynical tone.

He looked too formidable to Roksolana at that moment. She didn’t know how to explain without letting him know that she had run away first. She also didn’t want him to find out she had just gone to Lady Miriam’s house without his permission. But Roksolana knew that she had to let him know that his life was in danger. She had to try to make him see reasons about how she had been saying the truth, even if he doesn’t believe her.

“Then explain to me and this time, please say the truth,” Jamal said.

“Your life is in danger. That’s all I can tell you,” Roksolana told him.

Jamal laughed out loud. Roksolana looked at him like he was crazy. She was glad to see his guards looking at him with the same look on their faces, which should be rightly so. How would anybody in his right head laugh when his life was in danger?

“Jamal!” Roksolana called his name, cutting his laughing mood off.

He didn’t bother to look at her or answer her. He simply turned to his men.

“Take the men back to the barracks for treatment. And tell Sodeeq to replace those three. I don’t want to see their incompetent faces again,” Jamal commanded three of the men.

“Look, you have to believe me. I didn’t do it,” Roksolana tried again.

Jamal turned back to look at her with a murderous eye. Roksolana took two steps backward, feeling very much afraid. She had never been afraid of him before, no matter how angry he seems. But not this morning. She was more than afraid of him. She felt like his accusing stares could snuff life out of her. Roksolana became even more afraid when Jamal picked up the ropes and walked towards her. Holding her by the hand, he dragged her to the wooden board and began to tie her himself. She didn’t say anything again and just stayed still until he was done. Jamal moved away from her immediately after he was done.

“I want two guards around her every time. If she breaks free or overpowered any of the two, make sure they don’t show their face to me,” Jamal instructed.

“Jamal, please believe me. I didn’t do it,” Roksolana tried again.

Jamal turned toward her and stared at her right in the eyes.

“You know what I regret the most right now? That’s letting you live.” He told her, then turned and left her alone with two guards.

Tears flowed freely from Roksolana’s face. How could he say such hurtful words to her? How could he still walk away from her without any remorse? How could he think he had done her a favor by letting her live? If he hadn’t invaded their sultanate in the first place, she wouldn’t have been in the middle of the mess of his sultanate. If anybody owes anyone an apology between the two of them, he was the one who needed to apologize to her. Yet, he had made her feel like she was the criminal. She hadn’t done anything wrong. She hadn’t wanted to be here, he had been the one who brought her here to suffer.

“I want to go back to my sultanate,” Roksolana said. The tears still flowing freely.

By the time her tears dried up, Roksolana was feeling weak and hungry. She wondered how she was going to cope with not eating for so many days. She was probably going to die of hunger and thirst. It’s ironic how she had wanted to starve herself to death while on the ship, but the Sultan wouldn’t let her. And now when she wanted to survive to avenge her tribesmen, the Sultan was starving her to death.

She wondered how the women were coping. She wished to see some of them, even if it was just once. She was also scared that she would get attacked again in the night by whoever it was that wanted to kill her. Roksolana was grateful to Jamal for not leaving her defenseless even though it was for his selfish purposes.

By the time the sun rose to its highest peak at noontime, Roksolana felt hot and itchy all over. Her clothes were covered with sweat and clinging to her body, making her feel miserable. The sun burned her face without care. But the worse of it was the fact that she had no means of shielding her face from the harsh sun or cleaning the sweats away from her body. Her throat began to itch because of thirstiness. Now, she knows why the place was called the sun punishment.

People walking around stared at her. Some of them stayed for a while, looking at her with pity in their eyes. Some just shook their heads and walked on immediately. Three people had moved towards her to give her some water to drink, but the guards had turned them away by warning them that she had offended the Sultan himself and she was under punishment. Roksolana had scoffed at that. By evening time, the heat became a bit bearable for her. She spotted three women from her tribe coming towards her and shook her head, telling them not to. She saw a young boy from her sultanate running around with another boy of his age and smiled. She was glad to see that they were adjusting better than she was.

“How dare you smile in the situation you are in?”

Lady Miriam.