4-3. A letter from the Sultan
The Valide's suite is more crowded than usual for her morning audience. Hatice, Mahidevran, Gülfem and Hürrem are all in attendance. Hürrem and the sultanas sit on cushions laid out in a semi-circle, with the Valide's low couch positioned at the apex. Daye Hatun and Fahriye stand immediately behind the Valide. Sümbul Aga stands beside me on the periphery of the gathering, next to the other maids and servants accompanying the sultanas.
"I have received wonderful news from my lion," begins the Valide. She often refers to Sultan Suleiman as 'my lion' when she is meeting with the sultanas. I suppose every mother has a pet name for her child.
"The Ottoman army has been victorious and the Hungarian king has sued for peace. The war is over. If all goes well, our men will be home before the first snows of winter."
There is a buzz of excitement from the sultanas and I can see Hürrem is delighted. Sümbul Aga expresses his happiness at the news, but I and the rest of the maids and servants stay quiet. We are not considered to be part of this gathering, so must remain silent and invisible until our services are required.
"Hürrem!" continues the Valide. "His Majesty has sent a letter addressed to you. Daye. Be so good as to read it to us all."
The Valide hands the letter to Daye Hatun. It's a clear reminder of Hürrem's lowly status at this gathering. The Valide must be annoyed that her son has written to one of his lower ranked slave girls, while sending nothing to Hatice or Mahidevran. The Valide is not even going to allow Hürrem the courtesy of reading the sultan's letter herself.
"Valide!" calls Hürrem before Daye Hatun can break the seal on the letter. "Sultan Suleiman Khan has sent his letter to me. He would not be pleased if you interfere with his private correspondence."
The room goes silent. Hürrem's words are a blatant challenge to the Valide's authority. Hürrem may not be able to prevent the Valide having the letter read to everyone present, but she clearly intends to let the sultan know what has happened when he returns to the palace. None of us know what his likely reaction may be, but Hürrem shows sufficient confidence in her challenge to make the Valide rethink her order. The look of glee on the faces of Mahidevran and Gülsah suggests they believe Hürrem has overstepped the mark and that she will be severely punishment for her outburst … possibly banishment to some remote region of the empire until her baby is born.
"Remember your position in this harem, Hürrem Hatun," warns Daye Hatun while the flabbergasted Valide is struggling for a response. "The Valide merely wants to help you understand what His Majesty has written. Your ability to read Turkish is still in need of improvement."
Daye Hatun is obviously trying to avert a pending crisis by offering the Valide a means of modifying her order without serious loss of face. Nobody in the room believes Daye Hatun is correct in what she says, but should the Valide accept this excuse then nobody will openly dispute the Valide's statement. Should the Valide stand her ground and have the letter read to everyone here, then she faces the possible wrath of her son on his return. With Hürrem expecting Sultan Suleiman's child, there is no way she can prevent the sultan and Hürrem from meeting.
"Yes, Daye," says the Valide. "That is precisely what I was meaning. Perhaps Hürrem is right. She and I should read my lion's words in private. No doubt Hürrem will wish to share the contents of the letter with everyone at a later time."
It's not a total surrender, but an offer of a compromise that Hürrem would do well to consider. Unfortunately I know from experience that Hürrem is headstrong and she is just as likely to refuse.
"Very well, my Valide," says Hürrem. "Perhaps when this audience is over, you will read Sultan Suleiman's letter to me in private."
I'm pleased that Hürrem has shown some sense and not continued to challenge the Valide. Hürrem has gained a victory of sorts, but she risks alienating the most powerful person in the harem if she continues to openly defy the Valide's orders. Hürrem would need someone to read the sultan's letter to her in any case. Daye Hatun is right about Hürrem's limited skills at reading Turkish, and my reading skills aren't much better.
The audience concludes a short while later, and everyone departs except for Hürrem and I. The Valide allows Daye Hatun to depart and attend to her duties, leaving the Valide, Hürrem, Fahriye and I alone. The Valide invites Hürrem to sit next to her and she breaks the seal on the letter. She reads it aloud before handing it to Hürrem. It's not a long letter and most of it is a love poem the sultan must have composed for Hürrem. There is one passage in the letter which tells Hürrem how pleased he is to hear about her pregnancy and that he wishes her well.
"How did my lion know about your pregnancy, Hürrem?" asks the Valide. "I was saving that news until he returned. I didn't want him being distracted with thoughts of another child while he was in the middle of a war."
"I sent a letter to Sultan Suleiman," says Hürrem, seeing no point in denying her actions.
"You did what!" exclaims the Valide. "Who authorised you to do that?"
"There is no rule forbidding the writing of letters," replies Hürrem. "I wanted to share my happiness with Sultan Suleiman."
"Who wrote the letter for you?" asks the Valide.
"I wrote it myself," replies Hürrem. "My Turkish may not be perfect, but I managed to write my thoughts onto paper."
"And who delivered your letter?" persists the Valide.
"I believe it was included with one of your regular dispatches to His Majesty."
"Without my knowledge!" says the Valide. "How did you manage to do that?"
"I wasn't aware that was the case," replies Hürrem. "I merely asked one of the agas to arrange for my letter to be delivered."
Hürrem is being careful not to mention Nilüfer's involvement. Nilüfer's success at getting around the harem rules will surely be drawn the notice of Daye Hatun and the Valide before long. I must warn Nilüfer to be careful.
"Hmmm …," muses the Valide. "In future you must let me know if you wish to send a letter to someone outside of the harem. Only sultanas are allowed the privilege of writing and receiving private correspondence."
"As you command, Valide," says Hürrem, tucking Sultan Suleiman's letter inside her bodice in case the Valide decides to keep it.
The Valide dismisses Hürrem, and I follow her back to the main harem. Morning lessons are still in progress and we go to join our usual class. News of our summons to the Valide's audience this morning has become common knowledge. Hürrem proudly tells the other girls that she has received a letter from Sultan Suleiman addressed to her personally. There are clamours for Hürrem to read the letter to the class, but Hürrem refuses. I don't know if her refusal is because of her doubts about her reading skills, or whether she doesn't want to spark another round of jealousy and factional squabbles.
Mahidevran's return to the Old Palace has ended the truce between the factions in the main harem. Gülsah has obviously been instructed to rebuild Mahidevran's faction with Fidan's help. This time they try bribery rather than intimidation. Mahidevran must have realised her previous mistake and has opened up her purse strings to buy support. As usual, Nilüfer is a good spy and she quickly learns the size and conditions of Mahidevran's generosity. The small bribe may attract a few girls to Mahidevran's side, but I think the risks of being caught causing trouble for Hürrem outweigh the paltry sum offered. Nevertheless Nilüfer, Esme and I will need to keep an eye out for trouble. If Nilüfer is correct, then the three of us are also targets for Mahidevran's trickery.
Over the next few weeks there are a few attempts to discredit Hürrem, and blame her for mishaps which she couldn't possibly have caused. A combination of Nilüfer's skills at subterfuge and Daye Hatun's refusal to involve the Valide in petty harem squabbles means that Hürrem's reputation is undamaged. After a while I realise Fidan and Gülsah must have decided to call a halt to their games since accusations against Hürrem suddenly stop. Perhaps they are waiting for the next batch of new slaves to arrive. With the war over, and the sultan expected to return in a few weeks, there are rumours that the population of the harem will be increased to its pre-war numbers. New arrivals means Fidan and Gülsah will have plenty of possible recruits for their cause.
My duties as Hürrem's aide during her pregnancy give me a legitimate reason to visit Hürrem in her room on the mezzanine. While Ayşe and Hürrem are rivals for Sultan Suleiman's affections, they at least seem to be able to share the same room without coming to blows. It is during one of my visits to the room that Ayşe reminds Hürrem and I of a few basic facts of life in the Imperial Harem.
"The reason Mahidevran has called off her dogs is because she has finally realised that your days as Sultan Suleiman's favourite concubine may be numbered, Hürrem," says Ayşe when she overhears Hürrem and I talking about the sudden halt in the mischief-making against us.
"Why should that be so?" asks Hürrem.
"Because if you give birth to a girl, then the Valide will be able to have you and your daughter sent away from Constantinople to be raised under the supervision of one of Sultan Suleiman's sisters. The Valide won't want to open the Old Palace nursery for the sake of one girl.
"And if you give birth to a new Şehzade, then dynastic tradition prohibits you from having further children. Either way, your intimate relationship with Sultan Suleiman is nearing an end."
"Dynastic tradition hasn't stopped Mahidevran from trying to stake her claim to Suleiman's affections," replies Hürrem. "Besides, I thought Mahidevran also had a daughter living in Manisa. From what I've heard, she is younger than Mustafa."
"Raziye, yes," says Ayşe. "Mahidevran had to leave her in the care of a governess when she came to Constantinople. You are not in the same situation as Mahidevran was when she gave birth to her children. Sultan Suleiman was still a Şehzade when Mustafa and Raziye were born. A concubine of the ruling sultan is not permitted to have her loyalties divided by giving birth to more than one son."
I could point out the obvious anomaly in this so-called tradition. What if Mahidevran had given birth to two sons while Sultan Suleiman was still a Şehzade? Wouldn't Mahidevran then have had her loyalties divided between two heirs to Sultan Suleiman? But like many rules and traditions, they are not always logical or consistent.
"Then tradition will need to be changed," says Hürrem, as though that is the obvious answer.
"The Valide believes strongly in the dynasty's traditions," says Ayşe. "Traditions are what guide her actions in ruling the harem. Hatice believes likewise, and Mahidevran won't do anything that runs against her own interests. You have an uphill battle if you want to change tradition."
"In this matter, it will be Sultan Suleiman who will decide whether tradition is to be followed or changed," says Hürrem with confidence.
The next day we receive word that Sultan Suleiman will be arriving in Constantinople much earlier than the Valide expected. The whole palace immediately turns into a hive of activity. Silk dresses are cleaned and repaired in preparation for the welcome ceremony for Sultan Suleiman. I have to remind Hürrem to sit down and rest several times. She is so excited at the prospect of seeing Sultan Suleiman again that she risks over-exerting herself.
That evening we are preparing for bed when Sümbul Aga comes up to me.
"Get dressed, Gülnihal," says Sümbul Aga. "The Valide has ordered that you and Hürrem prepare yourselves for a journey tonight."