Captured For The Sultan’s Pleasure

The sight she saw almost made her turn back into the house. What looked like thousands of trees surrounding the house and not a path was clear. Asleem had chosen his hideout well. Roksolana felt that even if all of Jamal’s army looked for him in the whole sultanate after he killed their Sultan, they might never be able to get him because of his hideout location. She wasn’t even sure if they were still in the Wadai’ sultanate or if Asleem had moved them to somewhere else. She was still thinking about how to get away from there before Asleem returned when she heard a loud sound like a whole army cry echoed in the forest. Did the Sultan men find out about the place? Perhaps, they weren’t as bad as she thought. When the sound came again, Roksolana tried to discern the direction it came from. She found footprints while looking around.

She smiled as she began to follow the footprints, thinking that the road probably led to the town. Asleem and his men must have thought that she would never be able to break free from her bondage, hence the reason for their carelessness. Roksolana was surprised when she busted into a clear gathering full of men in black. Each of the men held a sword and was sparring with one another. Thankfully, they were all engrossed in the fights that no one noticed her presence yet. She began to walk away backward, stopping when she collided with a strong body.

“Thinking about running away?”

Roksolana turned so fast that she hit her head against the chest of her adversary. She held her head, pretending to be in pain, and tried to run off when she saw that he wasn’t looking at her again. She grunted as a hand held her clothes by the neck and pulled her back. Roksolana struggled against the hold but couldn’t shake him off.

“Let go of me, Asleem.” She shouted.

Asleem turned her to face him and he stared at her in the face before responding.

“What if I don’t?” He asked.

By now, all the men had stopped training and were focused on their controversy. Roksolana watched as some of them moved towards them and wondered why they weren’t doing anything. Did they belong to the general? Of course, they belonged to Asleem. That’s why none of them had made a move to help her. But, why would they be training in such a place? And that too, in secret. Roksolana’s eyes darted up to Asleem’s as realization hit her. Using all of her strength, she pushed Asleem away from herself. The man wasn’t expecting her to do that, so his grip on her loosened.

“How long have you been lying to me? She asked him.

“About what?” The man said, cocking his eyebrow like he didn’t care.

Roksolana spread her arms out.

“About all these, Asleem. How long have you been trying to kill the Sultan?” She asked him again.

One of the men moved forward.

“But…”

Asleem raised his right hand to stop the man. He moved closer to Roksolana and stared at her in the eyes.

“The man stole everything from us, my lady. So, it’s only fair that we return the favor to him. And you should be seeking revenge for everything he has done to your family, yet, you are trying to get into bed with him.”

Roksolana slapped him hard on the face. All the men moved closer to them and Asleem lifted his hand to stop them once again. Roksolana sighed and moved a bit closer to him. She had to make him see reasonings, to make him know that what he was planning was an attempted suicide.

“Asleem, you can’t do this. He has a large army. What if you get killed?” She tried to persuade him.

“Not if we sneak an attack on them,” Asleem answered.

At that moment, Roksolana saw a ruthless man standing, rather than the jovial man she grew up with. Nevertheless, she tried again.

“But…” She couldn’t finish the statement as she felt something hit her head and she lost consciousness.Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

Roksolana woke up, feeling light. She looked around and saw that she was back in the shabby room. She cursed under her breath, even though she had been taught never to curse as a lady. She should have just left when she had the chance, rather than tried to find out about what was going on. Now, she’s back to her pitiful predicament. How was she supposed to know that the man was plotting treason anyway? She pulled at the rope and nearly cried seeing that it was even tighter than before. Worse, she had lost the knife she used before. Getting out would be harder than before.

For two days after that, no one brought food for Roksolana or visited her. The house also seemed too deserted to Roksolana, with no footsteps echoing around. It was as if they had all left and forgotten about her. Her only companions were the rats and tiny insects patrolling around, looking for what to eat. She was feeling tired already and too hungry to do anything. Was this how her life would end? By the hands of her friend? Where was Asleem himself?

As if her thoughts had brought him, he walked in the door holding a tray of food. Roksolana’s stomach grunted in approval. Asleem set the food down in front of her and began to untie her without a word. When she was free, she picked up the train of food and began to eat. Asleem chuckled a bit and Roksolana watched as his face contorted in pain. What had he been up to? He got up and walked out of the room without speaking a single word to her. She saw another man walk in, checked to see if she was still eating before moving to stand by the door.

This was her chance. Her one chance to be free from their clutches. Still pretending to eat, she untied the rope holding her legs together. When she was done, she moved the rope back in place like she was still bound. After five minutes, she pushed her plate loudly to indicate that she was done. She watched as the man moved to her, picked up the rope, and tried to bind her again. She folded her hands into a fist and hit him hard on both ears, the man passed out cold in front of her. She checked for his pulse and sighed when she saw that he had merely fainted.

She dashed out of the room and when no one stopped her, she sprinted out of the house. She saw two men walking away from the house and followed them stealthily. Every time they stopped or looked back, she would hide behind the shelter of the trees. It was while she was hiding behind one of those trees that she lost the men. Roksolana ran in a direction she thought they must have taken, trying to search for their black attires under the shadow of the moonlight. Her legs got hooked on a rope and she fell, hit her head on a stone, and fainted into nothingness.