aleksandra kozlowski was born in rohatyn, poland, to friends of aleksandra lisovska, or hurrem sultan, and was even named after her. at the age of fifteen, she is captured and sent to the ottoman harem. sumbul sees the red haired concubine and asks...
rohatyn was a small village. everyone knew everyone. which meant if one person knew something, the whole town did. but when the crimeans came to capture the girls to make them slaves, not everyone was lucky. it had happened once before, so long ago. back then, maja czarnecki and her best friend, aleksandra lisovska were just children. the two girls ran for their lives. a boy their age, called ivar, pulled maja into a pit and covered her mouth. ivar rutkowski, maja's longtime admirer, had saved her. sadly, aleksandra wasn't so lucky. she had been taken and most of the village had been slain. few were left. but two of them were ivar and maja. maja came from the most influential family for miles. maja cried for days finding her father slain, along with her mother and aleks' family. but soon, they grew up and got married. they were a rare couple that didn't marry for power or status. they married for pure love. fate always had a laugh, though. so when they gave birth to a girl, they called her "aleksandra" after maja's best friend, who was now a sultana by the name of hurrem sultan. she had done what none other had been able to. so, when slavers once again raided their village, maja prayed. she prayed that her daughter would have the same fate her namesake did. ivar was unable to save his daughter, as he had saved maja all those years ago.
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aleks didn't know how long she had been on the god forsaken boat. a girl, named elzbieta, tried to keep track, but after a few days had lost track. she had tried to get aleks to eat, but aleks refused. if god was on her side, they finally came to a stop. aleksandra could hear the sound of people, of a market. they were purchased right off the ship from a man who introduced himself as "sumbul aga". it was a silly name to aleks, but she kept quiet. on the carriage ride to the palace, they had been told they were now concubines of the sultan and were being taken to the imperial harem. aleks spit on the man and yelled "i am no man's property! i refuse to sleep with the sultan! i am not a slave nor will i ever be!" sumbul was baffled and grew more mad at her presence by the minute. as soon as they arrived, they were brought to the bath house and checked for their virginities. aleks fought it as much as she could, but was finally allowed to get the dirt and grime off of her poreclain skin. the warm water felt better than it ever had. sure, she had warm baths after being out in the crimean winter. but something about the water, in that moment, she felt safe. when she was clean and in new clothes, she rested on her bedroll. sitting up, she saw a kalfa and got up, running over to her. "i need to speak with hurrem sultan." the kalfa laughed loudly, thinking her words silly. "what would a lowly concubine like you have to say to the haseki?!" aleks took a deep breath before saying, "i am from rohatyn, as the sultana is." the kalfa's eyes went wide before walking over and whispering to sumbul. he took turned to her shocked, before giving orders. sumbul left the common area before going to hurrem's rooms. "follow me-" the kalfa said. "i have been ordered to take you to the sultana. but, we must wait for sumbul to speak to her first." aleks nodded softly. "what is your name...?" she asked the kalfa. "i am zuma kalfa. and you are...?" aleks smiled softly before softly announcing, "i am aleksandra rutkowski."
