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Help is coming
Roksolana looked up to see Lady Miriam looking at her with a smug look on her face. Roksolana stared at her, gauging her reactions. Had Lady Miriam found out that she told the Sultan about her and her lover? The Sultan must have told her about it. Was that why she had been so happy to see Roksolana tied to some board and getting roasted by the sun like a sacrificial lamb?
“This is what happens when you make the Sultan’s favorite mistress angry at you. Next time I ask you to fetch me a meal, you will do it right,” Miriam told her.
Roksolana heaved a sigh of relief. Lady Miriam didn’t know anything about what she and the Sultan talked about. The woman was merely angry with Roksolana over her late meal. She watched as Lady Miriam climbed up to the board, standing in front of her. Miriam lowered her head to Roksolana’s ear, then whispered into her eyes in such a low voice that even Roksolana nearly didn’t catch all her words. All she heard was pay, Sultan and me.
Then, Lady Miriam straightened herself up and walked away from Roksolana back to the ground. Lady Miriam motioned for some men to come in and Roksolana wondered what the woman was up to. She watched in horror as the men appeared with whips on their hands, hoping that it wasn’t what she was thinking about. Her fears were confirmed when Lady Miriam ordered that she be whipped twenty times. The men carried out the order immediately, taking turns each to whip her. Each time a new whipping landed on her, it was even more painful than the previous. By the time they were done, Roksolana could barely stay awake.
“This will teach you never to cross my path again.” Lady Miriam told her. Turning to the crowd that was now gathered around them, she addressed them. “Let this serve as a warning to each one of you. I won’t forgive anyone who tries to obstruct me.”
Roksolana watched as Lady Miriam walked away from the place with an evil smile decorating her face. Amidst her pains, she saw the three women she saw earlier, along with nearly all of the women from her sultanate crying their eyes out for her. They must have gone to fetch the others, Roksolana thought. She knew that she had to comfort them even when she was in pain, so she shook her head to try and tell them she was fine. She saw the disbelief in their eyes and smiled at them to emphasize her point to them.
Roksolana watched as a young boy walked to the guards and whispered something to them, at which they let him through. She couldn’t recognize the boy from her sultanate or maybe she was no longer conscious. The young boy pulled at her clothes softly. He spoke when she looked at him.
“He said I should tell you that help is coming tonight. You just have to hold on until midnight.” The boy told her.Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.
Help? What help? From who? Why? Roksolana watched as the young boy disappeared into the crowd, without answering any of her questions. She looked at the women who nodded their heads as if they knew what the boy told her about and was agreeing with him. Slowly, they disappeared also in groups of two and three, leaving Roksolana alone to her pains.