REIGN OF THE SULTANAS

CHAPTER 1

Hoşyar Sultan

My name is Hoşyar, Hoşyar Sultan. I was born 18 years ago in Istanbul, as daughter of Sultan Mehmed Khan and his beloved consort Handan Sultan. I was born as twin sister of Hatice Esmahan, and even though we were twins, we were nothing alike. I also had an elder sister, Ayse, and younger brother Ahmed.

I lived my beautiful life during reign of my grandfather Sultan Murad Khan, and our lives turned even into better ones when my father ascended the Ottoman throne. He became Sultan.

Things seemed to be perfect, my family was always together and we were enjoying our happiness. Until the moment my life turned upside down. There were rebel attacks in Egypt, and to make peace, the leader of the rebels named Bayezid, asked my father the hand of one of his daughters. My mother was devastated, but the father let her make the decision. Ayse was elder than Esmahan and me, and everything seemed like they would chose her. But I still remember the day when she said to me: "Bayezid Bey has saw you and asked for your hand, you will be the one who will marry him."

I cried, I begged, but she didn't let me destroy the peace threat. She didn't want to listen to my tears and always complained to me. I was just 15 years old, and I had to marry with someone who threated my father they would attack and conquer his lands if he doesn't give them one of their daughters.

The day of my wedding, felt like the day of my funeral. They married me off to a man who I was scared of only by the stories. I was constantly worried who is he and how does he looks. Will he threat me bad? How will my life be?

Mother sent me to him without even letting a tear for me. Father felt wrong for not being able to make another way of peace, and he promised me that if I would ever feel bad or he would behave wrong to me, I could always return home. But I knew things weren't like this.

I sat in the carriage which would take me to Marmara Palace my father gifted us, until the preparations for our trip to Egypt would have been done. I opened the doors of the chambers and saw a man who was not many years elder than me, and didn't seem to be so scary like I thought he would be.

"Sultanim, it's my honour to meet you finally. I am Bayezid Bey," he said bowing to me and I walked closer to see him. I didn't believe a man not much over my age could trick my father like this who was 20 years elder than him and force him on something like this.

"Why did you chose me? Between my sisters, why me?" I asked him as I kept standing there seriously. My heart was breaking into million pieces knowing I will have to move away with man I didn't even know to a land that is so far from my birth place.

"I didn't chose you, Sultanım, your mother has decided for you," he said and I felt even worse. She lied to me, just to protect other daughters. She lied because she wanted to send me, because I was the only one who didn't listen to her orders.

I couldn't say anything bad about Bayezid Bey. He didn't force me on anything, he said he understood me and that he would wait for me until I am ready. We spent time around the palace enjoying the time, and I wasn't actually really disappointed in this choice, until we arrived to Egypt.

Then, I felt like this is totally another person. He was aggressive, angry and was always yelling on me. Even if I would look at him the wrong way, he would raise his hand on me. I suffered constant abuse from him and I've spent my days crying in the chambers and praying that the letters I've sent to my family arrived. But I've never got any response.

I lived two years in this toxic environment where I was always afraid for my life. Bayezid was angry on me because we couldn't get a child, he called me not worthy woman, but little much he knew I drank pills not to stay pregnant because I didn't want to have child with this monster of a man.