Kelebek Sultan | {SULEIMAN} Magnificent Century

ix ~ my sultan

{mentions of sexual activity (nothing graphic) but please be aware depending on your age}

Istanbul, Turkey

In all honestly, Ivona expected that the golden road would be a little bit more... gold.

She had thought she had missed the grandure last time because it had been night, but, while the hallways of the palace were still as beautiful as ever, they did not shine she had expected.

The girl could not help but wring her hands together, nerves making her stomach feel discomfortingly tight, as she walked the familiar path out of the harem and towards the Sultan's chambers.

Remember everything Liljana said, she reminded herself, desperately trying to recall the slightly older girl's every movement, and remember to be charming and elegant and become with child and-

They stopped in front of his chamber door.

Ivona swallowed tightly.

She barely noticed as the guard from the other night shot her a frustrated look, his companion not there this time but replaced by someone unfamiliar.

Still, they dutifully opened the doors to the chambers for her, leaving her to enter alone.

Ivona did not allow herself to hesitate as she took several strides in, the bottom of her dress billowing out around her.

The Croatian made sure she lowered her eyes as the door slammed shut behind her.

It was torture to wait, listening out desperately for any sign of whereabouts the Sultan was. At long last, his location was betrayed by the flutter of the curtain that led to the balcony, before heavy footsteps sounded against the hard floor.

Ivona went to kneel and kiss his robe, just as Sümbül Agha had taught her, but the Sultan caught her chin before she could do so. He brought her darker eyes up to meet his own, muttering, "melek."

She did not know what that meant yet; she would make a point to discover it when she returned to the harem.

"My Sultan," she murmured, offering him her usual, perfected smile.

He smiled back at her, before bringing his arm back to gesture to where two cushions had been set up along with foods no doubt far richer than the ones Ivona had eaten in the harem so far.

"I had a meal prepared for us," he said smoothly in his native Turkish, "as a thanks for your assistance."

The Sultan held out his hand to her and Ivona accepted it, following him over to the cushions. The smell was simply fabulous.

When she was finally seated upon one of the cushions, she could barely refrain herself from reaching out to try some of the food. But, she doubted it would be polite to start before the Sultan.

"Is Hürrem Hatun alright?" Ivona asked, her voice soft, when the Sultan did not move to eat or speak.

"She is well, thanks to you," he responded, now moving to help himself to some kind of meat dish and gesturing for her to also eat, "why did you choose to help her? I witnessed many harem rivalries during my time as a Shezade, and I doubt any other woman would have helped a favourite."