1-3. Odalisques.
"Freedom?" asks Alexandra, suddenly joining our conversation. "How so? I thought we are all slaves for the rest of our lives."
"Our slavery need not be permanent," replies Esme. "In time, many harem slaves are offered their freedom, particularly if the sultan doesn't select you as one of his favourites. Every sultan is different. The last sultan, Sultan Selim, chose only a few girls to be among his favourite concubines, while some of his ancestors had a steady stream of concubines delivered to his room every night. Even if you remain a slave you can live comfortably if you rise high enough in the harem hierarchy."
"So, how does this hierarchy work?" asks Alexandra.
"At the lowest level are the odalisques, like us," continues Esme. "We do all the household chores and menial tasks. Some odalisques, like Nigar Kalfa, are talented enough to become kalfa, the administrators of the harem. The kalfa also train those odalisques who are selected to become concubines. If you successfully complete your training, you become a hatun, and you are elevated above the odalisques in the harem hierarchy. In time a hatun will either be chosen to walk the golden path and become one of the sultan's concubines, or she'll be given her freedom so that she can marry a suitable husband who has done good service for the Empire.
"A concubine who walks the golden path more than once may become one of the sultan's favourites. As soon as the Valide is satisfied that a concubine has found the sultan's favour, then the girl is moved to one of the rooms upstairs to live among the other favourites. If a favourite gives birth to a son, then she will be provided with her own personal maid and be given a chamber in the royal family wing of the harem. She will effectively become part of the Sultan's family. When her son is old enough, it is traditional for mother and son to be sent to another province so the son may learn the necessary skills to rule."
"But why does the Sultan need so many concubines?" I ask. "I thought kings and rulers of Empires married princesses to form political alliances."
"Not in the Ottoman Empire," replies Esme. "The Ottoman dynasty chooses to reproduce itself by serial concubinage with slaves. Slaves don't have ambitious or greedy relations who can cause trouble, and concubines can be more easily manipulated in the interests of the dynasty. The pool of heirs is greatly enlarged in this way. Any son can become the next sultan. That is how His Majesty became sultan upon the death of his father. Did you not know this already? I thought you are all Roxolani."
"Roxolani, yes," I reply. "But Alexandra and my families moved away from our native homeland to the lands ruled by the King of Poland. We were captured inside Polish territory and taken to the Crimea."
We temporarily halt our questioning of Esme while we select clothes from the stack. Like Alexandra, Rebecca and Sarah, my worldly possessions now consist of a white cotton dress, a grey waistcoat, a sleeveless shift, a pair of slippers and a comb.
"You are each provided with one of the chests along the wall over here for your possessions," says Esme once the four of have changed into our new clothes. "Do not take another girls' things without her permission or you will be severely punished."
"How severely?" asks Rebecca.
"Thieves are tied in a large sack and thrown into the river to drown," replies Esme in a very matter of fact tone. "Slaves are easy to replace, so don't expect mercy if you break the harem rules."
The slightly raised areas either side of the central aisle form a huge communal living room which I realise must be converted into a dormitory at night. After a discussion with the girls sitting around us, Esme finds four unused chests for us. Inside each chest is a sheet and a quilt. Esme tells us that the location of the chest marks our allocated sleeping place.
The girls around us are busy embroidering and chatting among themselves. Their curiosity at our arrival has been satisfied for now. I am standing watching their handiwork when one of the girls looks at me and says something to me in Turkish.
"I don't understand what you are saying," I reply in my own language. I look around for Esme so she can translate the girl's words, but Esme is busy with Rebecca at the other end of the room.
"Fatima wishes to know whether you can embroider," says one of girls sat in the group.
"Yes. My mother taught me how to embroider, although I'm not very good."
"Then practise and improve," says the girl who translated Fatima's question. "The Sultanas and favourites may buy your work if it is any good. It is one of the few ways you can earn extra money in this place. Your stipend won't go far."
"Stipend?" I reply, not certain I heard her correctly. "Do we get paid?"
"Yes … but not much. An odalisque receives four aspers a day; six if you impress Sümbul Aga and Daye Hatun. It won't buy much, but in a month or so you may have saved enough to buy some small items of jewellery or a new dress. Nothing fancy, but something of your own choosing. A girl can't attract the eye of the sultan if she's dressed the same as nearly everyone else."
I look around for Alexandra to share what I have just learned, but she isn't anywhere to be seen. This room is large, but not so large that a girl can just disappear.
"Did you see what happened to my friend, Alexandra?" I ask.
"The loud-mouthed one?" replies the girl who translated Fatima's words. "Sümbul Aga took her away."
"Where have they gone?" I say with alarm.
"We don't get told that sort of information. If an aga orders a girl to follow him, then we have no choice but to obey."
I look around to check if Rebecca and Sarah are still here. They are with Esme talking to a group of girls on the other side of the central aisle. Either they haven't noticed Alexandra has been taken away, or they are unconcerned. I move over to join them so I can ask Esme about Alexandra.
"It's not uncommon for one of the aga's to summon a girl," replies Esme to my question.
"Sümbul Aga won't hurt her, will he?" I ask.
"No," replies Esme. "If she is to be punished, then it will be done in the presence of the entire harem. But I don't think anything like that will happen to your friend."
"It isn't Alexandra being punished by Sümbul Aga that I'm worried about," I say. "He's a man and she's a pretty girl."
During our time in the hands of the Tartars, we all quickly learned what it meant when a man took one of the captive women away from the rest of us. Alexandra and I were fortunate our additional value as maidens saved us from the fate suffered by many of the older women.
"Oh, nothing like that will happen," laughs Esme. "Not only is it forbidden for one of the agas to touch one of us in that way, but the men in the harem are … um … you know."
Esme makes a cutting motion with her hand and the girls near her all giggle. I have heard tales about eunuchs, but I never imagined I would meet one.
"She has probably been taken to the Valide," continues Esme. "Your friend's behaviour when you arrived will not be tolerated. She'll probably be given a stern lecture. If she apologises and mends her ways, then the matter will be forgotten."
Despite Esme's reassuring words I can't help worry about what is happening to Alexandra. I doubt Alexandra will simply apologise and promise to improve her behaviour. I silently breathe a sigh of relief when she eventually returns in the company of Nigar Kalfa and Sümbul Aga. Alexandra's mood doesn't seem to have improved, although neither of her escorts seem concerned. The three of them walk over to where Rebecca, Sarah, Esme and I are sat.
"Esme," says Nigar Kalfa. "Take the four new girls to the kitchens and collect the food for the girls in this room. The Valide has ordered that the new girls be put to work immediately so that they may understand their place here."
Nigar Kalfa doesn't go as far as to say that Rebecca, Sarah and I are being punished for Alexandra's earlier outburst, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks it. Esme gives a quick curtsey to Nigar Kalfa and Sümbul Aga and indicates we should follow her to the kitchens.
When we arrived at the palace we noticed the kitchens in a building adjacent to the harem. The kitchens are huge with a constant buzz of activity. Scores of men are busy cooking and preparing bowls of food. We find some of the other girls who arrived with us already waiting in the kitchens. Like us, they have been sent to collect trays of food for their room, under the supervision of the two younger girls we saw earlier.
We only have a few minutes to talk, but I learn they are staying in a huge room similar to ours, except the mezzanine level of their room doesn't have the lines of rooms for the Sultan's favourites. Instead, the upper level is an extension of the lower-level living area and dormitory. Many more girls are housed there, meaning there must be nearly a hundred girls and young women living in the harem. More if there are other dormitories as well.
"Stop your chatter, girls, and pay attention" snaps one of men as he sorts the various bowls of food onto several trays. "Which of you are from the north wing?"
Not Esme and the four of us, apparently. The other girls are each given a large tray containing three bowls of assorted food. They are promptly escorted back to their room. A few moments later the process is repeated for our room. There are five trays, so Esme takes one of them and leads the way back to our room. We arrive to see everyone is sat around in five groups, including the favourites who have come down from their rooms above. They are easily identified by their beautiful dresses and jewellery. A few of the favourites are sat with the other girls, but most are grouped around a low table which is obviously the exclusive domain of the favourites. Alexandra is last in line and is left having to serve the favourites' table.
She calmly walks over to where the Sultan's favourites are sat. They ignore her as she places the tray on the table. A dark-haired girl dressed in a beautiful blue gown promptly takes a sample from one of the bowls on Alexandra's tray. The favourite pulls a sour face as she tastes the food.
"This food is not good enough," she says to Alexandra in our language. "Take this tray back to the kitchens and tell them to prepare our food the way we like it."