Kelebek Sultan | {SULEIMAN} Magnificent Century

v ~ the sultan's dance

The direction of her gaze gave her a perfect view of the favour that fell to the floor in front of her, just before the Sultan's hand curled under her chin and pulled her gaze up to meet his.

"Your Majesty," Ivona greeted lowly, staring at him with a tentative gaze.

Sultan Suleiman smiled widely at her, muttering something in Turkish that she had not yet learned when Ivona smiled back at him.

Then, he walked away from her, with one last look back at Alexandra, and left the harem.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Though Mahidevran had been the name on everyone's lips yesterday, since the next morning there were two others instead: Alexandra and Ivona.

Some comments were gushing, some were spiteful, but Ivona was unbothered by them all.

She was succeeding.

Desperately, the Croatian attempted to hide her joy. Nothing good could come from celebrating an early victory. After all, she had not won this war - nor gained her vengeance - until her son sat on the throne with her as his main advisor.

No, she had not won yet.

But that wasn't what the others thought.

"You danced so beautifully, Ivona! I wish I could have done something like that!" Suncana gushed, practically bouncing on the balls of her toes, "you genuinely looked like... like... an Angel!"

Ivona offered the younger girl as large a smile as she could manage.

As Suncana was also Croatian, Ivona could keep up with the other girl's excited rambling. And, if Ivona must truly admit it, the younger girl's excitement was infectious.

"Could I hold the favour for a minute?" Suncana asked cautiously, the duo having overheard an Agha and Nigar Kalfa tell Alexandra that this was her golden ticket and to keep a tight hold upon it.

Carefully, Ivona passed it to the younger girl, whose eyes went wide at its soft and rich feel. Soon enough, however, she hurriedly passed it back.

"It's beautiful," Suncana said.

"Perhaps you shall have one of your own one day," Ivona told her, her hands playing with the hem of the material. She didn't like the idea of little Suncana becoming someone she needed to watch out for, "and then you may hold one as much as you like."

The younger girl offered her a small, slightly tense smile. But, before Ivona could question it, Daye Hatun snapped at them both to stop speaking in Croatian.

That was one of the things Ivona hated the most about the harem; that the overseers tried so hard to strip the girls' previous identities from them.

They couldn't speak their own languages; they couldn't keep the clothing they had been brought in (even though it was disgusting and ruin, the scraps of cloths still held sentimental value to some); they even changed their names.

I will always be Ivona, the blonde told herself resolutely, her hand clenching around the soft cloth, daughter of Ana and sister of Leon. No change in language, clothes or name would take that from her.