Muhtesem Yuzyil Imagines ♡

sᴜʟᴇɪᴍᴀɴ's ᴘʀᴇᴄɪᴏᴜs ɢᴇᴍ - Act 4 (By Seraphis88)

"It made your labor worthwhile, sister," Hatice agreed with her mother as she smiled at her sister-in-law.

"Thank you Valide, sultana," Zeynep said with a tired smile. At her husband's urging, she gave their son over to him so he could begin the ritual. Defne brought over her shawl to cover her hair as the other females in the room did the same.

Holding their son with one hand on his back and one behind his head, Suleiman leaned their heads together as he whispered the Adan in his ears. After a few minutes, he finished and spoke three times, "Your name is Kadir."

Knowing how powerful of a name her new son got, she was proud of him. After Suleiman was done, he handed his son next to his wife on the bed before beginning the prayers to Allah. Everyone held their hands up as they prayed for the newest Şehzade.

"May Allah make him righteous," he spoke.

"Amen," everyone said including Zeynep's two eldest children.

"May Allah make him happy," he continued.

"Amen."

"May Allah bless the Empire with his rule," he finished.

"Amen."

Then everyone rubbed their hands down their face as they finished praying. Suleiman came back to his wife's side and placed his hand on their son's head, smoothing his gentle hair away from his face. Looking into his wife's face with a smile, he was met with one of her own before she looked away and held out her hand for her two eldest children to come closer. As Ahmed and Dilara got closer, Zeynep gave Burcu a look and she took the two-second youngest back to bed in their rooms next door.

"Ahmed, Dilara, meet your new baby brother," their mother told them.

Holding a finger out for her new brother to grab, Dilara smiled at the young baby, "Hello, Kadir, I'm your big sister. I'll do everything to protect you."

Rubbing his brother's head, Ahmed said, "And I'm your big brother, Ahmet. I'll teach you how to fight when you get older."

The newborn gave his siblings a wide-eyed look before settling down, tired already from the events that took place. Understanding that it was time to head to bed, her two eldest gave their parents hugs before joining their other siblings in the next room. Everyone else left the room as well, with the Valide last to give her newest grandson some love.

Once it was just the three of them in the room, Suleiman looked at his wife lovingly, "You have given me another son and made me very happy."

She smiled at him, "And I hope to do so again. I want us to have many children." She looked at her newest son and ran a finger over his head while the baby slept.

Meanwhile, the Valide ordered lohusa sharbat to be prepared and gold and lokma to be distributed in celebration of the birth of Şehzade Kadir. She was so happy for another grandchild that she completely ignored Mahidevran's sulking face. As the food, drink, and gold were handed out to all the women of the harem, the only one not celebrating was Alexandra who was pouting on her bed as she glared at anyone who came close to her.

"Don't blame the Haseki, Alex," Maria begged her friend, not wanting her to get in trouble. "She had no way to know she was going to give birth tonight. I heard the babe is a whole month early."

"I hope they both die," Alex whispered in Russian as glared down at the sharbat forced into her hands.

"Don't say that, Alex! Do you want to lose your head?"

Alexandra ignored her friend and continued to watch the other girls around her. She even saw a few of them looking over at her, laughing at her misfortune. She clenched her hands around her glass before taking a sip of the sweet drink, deciding to bide her time until she could strike at the older woman.

Sultan Suleiman spent his Thursday with his wife and their children, unknown to Mahidevran. The other sultana was getting ready in her room with two other maids when Gülşah walked inside looking panicked. She was adamant that this was going to be her night since she was the only sultana that could entertain him. Her mistress turned around to see her eldest maid standing at the doorway awkwardly.

"Gülşah, where have you been?" Mahidevran asked exasperated at the woman. "I need to prepare for tonight, have you forgotten?" Ignoring the look on the other woman's face, she smiled to herself as she put her earrings in, "I need to be beautiful. Don't go anywhere." Gülşah bowed her head but wouldn't look at her mistress. "What is it? Tell me what's happened."

"My lady, I heard that..." Gülşah paused, not wanting to hurt her sultana but knowing she had to know.

"What did you hear? Come on, tell me," Mahidevran urged her.

"His Majesty is spending the night with Zeynep Sultan in her rooms tonight. He hasn't left her since the birth." Gülşah looked down not wanting to see the hurt look in her mistress' eyes.

Mahidevran dropped the bottle of perfumed oil onto the rug on the floor, heartbreak flooding through her at the thought that he had forgotten her after their time in Manisa. "Get out," she ordered the other maids. "Leave me alone." Closing her box of jewelry, the two maids hurriedly left the room, leaving the sultana and Gülşah. Mahidevran collapsed onto her bed as she started crying, missing the days when they were in Manisa. "How could he do this to me? I was his one true love! How?"

She never figured out that Suleiman never truly loved her, not like he loved Zeynep. He cared about her, yes, but that was the extent of his feelings for her. Her delusions caused her more pain than he ever could. It wasn't until later in life that she finally learned this lesson.

"Please, my sultana. Don't be so hard on yourself," Gülşah implored her mistress. "I wish I hadn't told you what happened."

The door opened to let Hatice inside, and she saw the devastation on the other sultana's face. "Mahidevran?" She rushed over to sit next to the teary-eyed woman. "What happened? Why are you crying?"

"Look what happened, Hatice," Mahidevran said morosely. "Here I am waiting for him tonight and His Majesty is in Zeynep's chambers."

Not knowing the big deal since her sister-in-law had just given birth earlier in the day, Hatice said, "My brother is the padishah. We can't discuss his choices. It is not for us." She held onto her friend's hands, "Mahidevran. You are a sultana. His second favorite woman. Don't act like an inexperienced concubine." She held the crying sultana close to her as she let the other woman continue to air out her grievances.

Laughter could be heard in Zeynep Sultan's chambers as the Sultan played with his children while his wife lay in bed with their newest son. Hakan and Emine were underneath both his arms as he twirled them around with Ahmed and Dilara laughing at their younger siblings. The sultana watched contently until Kadir started making fussy sounds, likely hungry. Pulling her blanket up to cover herself, she lowered the front of her dress and brought her son to her breast, letting him latch onto a nipple to drink to his heart's content.

Looking over at his wife, Suleiman watched as she stared adoringly at their new son as he drank. How lucky was he to have a wonderful wife like her, giving him five children already in seven years? Turning his attention back to his other children, he noticed them rubbing their eyes as exhaustion pulled at them to sleep. Calling Burcu over, he let her guide the four children over to their mother to say goodnight before heading to bed, leaving the three alone for the rest of the night. Dressing down into his nightclothes, he climbed into bed next to his wife as she finished feeding their son before taking him away from her. Holding him up to his shoulder, he gently pats his back to get him to burp before laying him between them. The parents both turned onto their sides facing each other as they quietly went to sleep for the night.