Kelebek Sultan | {SULEIMAN} Magnificent Century

iii ~ the first day

Istanbul, Turkey

The first night had felt strange.

All of them had slept, side by side, in flimsy white nightgowns in small, single beds upon the cold floor.

Ivona was situated between the red head, who had thrown her nightgown on the floor before she had been coerced into wearing it, and the dark-haired girl she had spoken to earlier.

She doubted many of them slept well; certainly, Ivona opted to stare up at the ceiling, her mind thinking over her new resolve.

To be able to take everything from the Sultan, she would need to achieve three main goals: learning Turkish, seducing the Sultan and having at least two sons.

She would also need to deal with any and all competitors to said sons, ensuring that it was them - and not any other progeny of the Sultan - who would gain the throne.

Then, with her blood seated on the throne, blood whom she would influence, Ivona will have taken everything from the Sultan. His power would become hers upon his death.

And, if there was a way to speed along said death for her reign of power to begin... Then perhaps that may be acted upon.

"You're a spiteful little thing, aren't you?" She could recall her step-father saying once. Kata had pulled a particularly cruel prank on little Leon, locking him in a dark room for nearly a whole day when he was terrified of the dark, simply because he had frustrated her.

Ivona could still remember the then three-year-old's desperate cries and pounding on the door.

In retribution, Ivona had used her step-sister's fear of mice against her. The blonde had created a mouse trap and spent months amassing a large collection of them, before setting seventy-two free in Kata's room at night.

Her screeches, unlike Leon's, had given Ivona great pleasure.

A time after that, Kata had torn all of Ivona's clothes apart. In return, Ivona had cut a large hole in the back of all of her skirts, leading Kata into great scandal and humiliation when the merchant's daughter went outside with her underclothes showing.

In her pitiful life, cold vengeance was one of the only things that had given Ivona purpose; vengeance for her mother, for Leon, for herself.

She had no doubt that would continue now.

Looking to her side, to where the dark-haired girl slept soundly, Ivona began to come up with a plan to succeed in the second of her goals.

When the blonde did fall asleep, it was with hope and revenge in her heart.

~•~•~•~•~•~

The first two weeks worth of lessons went steadily.

Ivona, who only knew how to say hello and thank you in the Ottoman's language, improved quickly in both writing and reading. Her pronunciation, however, was severely lacking.

She comforted herself with the fact that that would soon be rectified, after all, she was living in a palace surrounded by people who spoke Turkish so she was sure she would pick it up.