{in case anyone needs reminding - Suncana is now called Banu :) and, by now, Maria has become Gülnihal}
Istanbul, Turkey
Her three weeks, at last, were over. But Kelebek did not bother to leave her chambers. Instead, she remained there, entranced by the beautiful face of her baby daughter as she awaited the Sultan's call.
Tomorrow, she would distribute dresses and money to the women of the harem to celebrate Zeynep's birth. Today, she would spend more time with her daughter.
It was a surprise when her door opened to reveal Liljana Hatun, who had not bothered to seek Kelebek out for at least the past three months.
With a small frown on her face, Banu scowling at her place by the door, Kelebek greeted, "Liljana."
The dark-haired girl flinched slightly at her name on Kelebek's lips. Where has all your fire gone? The blonde found herself wondering, thinking of the woman who had made rude gestures at Kata in her defence.
"It is Aysun now," Liljana informed her, forced confidence clear upon her face.
Kelebek's lips quirked upwards. "Okay then, Aysun, why are you here after so many months?"
"I-," the other girl began, her words becoming tied as she looked at everything but the blonde, "I wanted to say congratulations. On your daughter. I am sure she will be as beautiful as you."
Surprisingly, the other woman's words sounded genuine. But it was not enough to make up for her new alliance with Mahidevran.
"Thank you. You may go, Aysun Hatun," Kelebek said, her gaze moving from her once friend back to her daughter's face.
When the baby's eyes opened, Kelebek cooed at her, kissing the young girl's forehead.
She did not care to listen as the door shut behind Aysun, nor as it opened to admit another who spoke swiftly with Banu before leaving themselves.
"My Sultana," Banu interrupted, having ignored all the times that Kelebek had reminded her that she was not yet a Sultana, "the Sultan has requested your presence tonight."
The blonde looked up at her closest friend, both sharing large smiles.
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
"My Sultan," Kelebek greeted warmly, dressed in a similar white dress to what all the other women had worn but with a light pink headscarf that matched her head chain.
When he turned around to look at her bowed form, the Sultan's eyes darkened heavily.
Clearly, just as she had planned, his desire had burned for her.
"Have you missed me?" The blonde then inquired, advancing upon him.
"Very much so," he admitted, though Kelebek knew better. Until she had sent those girls, his mind had been distracted from her and Zeynep by Hürrem Hatun and other women, "I even have gifts for you, for being one of the great joys of my life and bringing my precious gem into this world."
He moved over towards a medium sized, finely crafted box on the table, which he opened to reveal jewellery fit for a Queen.
It was gorgeous.
"They are beautiful, but they are not all I want from you," Kelebek said, revelling in the way the Sultan's eyes widened. She took one step, two steps forward, her face sultry.
When she was right in front of him, Kelebek ran her hand up the man's chest, leaning in to whisper, "I want your love, my Sultan. Shall I prove how much I want it?"
The Croatian glanced down meaningfully, and the Sultan swallowed.
Kelebek didn't move, her hand remaining on his chest and her breath in his ear until he finally let out, "yes."
She smiled.
~•~•~•~•~•~•~
Kelebek enjoyed entrance to the Sultan's chambers many nights for the next two weeks, her visits going so far as to outnumber Hürrem Hatun's, especially as the other woman grew nearer and nearer to her due date.
But she was not alone.
Not only had Aysun been called to his chamber, but so had Kata. It was as if fate itself was conspiring against her.
Meanwhile, many of the concubines - jealousy colouring their faces - went out of their way to remind Kelebek that her station had not yet risen.
The call of 'Kelebek Hatun' and 'won't you do this for me, Hatun?' haunted her every movement.
If anybody was particularly cruel about it, it was Mahidevran Sultan.
She visited Kelebek's chambers at the end of the week, Mustafa's hand clasped in hers as she proclaimed her son wanted to meet his baby sister.
Kelebek, who was instantly reminded of little Leon, immediately took to the small boy. Carefully, she leant down so that he could see the swaddled baby in her arms.
"What a beautiful girl you have there, Hatun," the Sehzade's mother mocked, a smile playing upon her lips.
"Her name is Zeynep, which means a father's precious jewel," Kelebek told Mustafa delicately, before moving her eyes up to look at Mahidevran, "it's a shame that he does not have more jewels like you and Zeynep."
Mahidevran's eyes coloured in anger at the slight, but the blonde cared little for the woman's reaction. Instead, she watched with joyful eyes as Mustafa reached out a little hand to stroke his baby sister's face.
Then, his little cubby face broke out into a large grin.
"She looks like me!" The little boy proclaimed and Kelebek laughed and agreed.
"I can only hope that our Sultana will turn out to be as lovely a child as you, my Sehzade," Kelebek told him, glancing back down towards her daughter.
When they had both left, Kelebek was left to think about what to do about Kata.
She could try to frame the other girl for stealing something, or even poison her, but that would only destroy the reputation that she had been cultivating with the harem girls and the Sultan's family. She would appear as jealous and petty over the Sultan as Mahidevran and Hürrem.
No, that wouldn't do.
Briefly, she considered harming herself and painting Kata as the perpetrator, but Kelebek had no one close enough to Kata to place her at the right place at the right time or with enough authority to influence others.
First, she would need to network.
"Sevil?" Kelebek inquired, watching as the friend who she had asked the Sultan to take as one of her concubines just yesterday walked over to her, "by any chance do you know where Defne Hatun is right now?"
"I think I saw her in the main harem, with Kata and Anja," Sevil answered, fluffing a pillow upon Kelebek's long, elegant sofa.
"And Sümbül Agha?"
Sevil had to think for a moment, "I didn't see him in the harem. He must be in his rooms."
Defne Hatun. Sümbül Agha. Meltem Kalfa.
Kelebek would not stop until they were hers.
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
Getting up for water late in the evening and walking down the cold halls alone was not something that Kelebek missed.
But, as Sevil had been sleeping so soundly and Banu was gone - presumably in an evening lesson - the blonde had chosen to do so. Should Zeynep cry, Sevil was there.
Encountering someone on her walk would not have been unusual. After all, it mandated for the walker to go near to the Valide's chambers where concubines darted in and out regularly.
However, nobody would expect to find a sobbing Sultana.
"Sultana Hatice?" Kelebek inquired, surprised at the other woman's state. She always appeared so calm, "Sultana Hatice?"
The other woman was walking quickly in the direction of Kelebek and, despite the other woman having called out to her multiple times, soon nearly collided with her.
Her wide, dark eyes darted to Kelebek as she said, "they're going to marry me. They're going to marry me."
She seemed to be talking to herself more than anyone else, but the Croatian woman grabbed onto her shoulders anyway. She hoped the contact would bring the Sultana back to her senses.
"Who's going to marry you?" She asked.
"Not Ibrahim. It won't be Ibrahim," Hatice said, before her eyes filled with horror and she elbowed Kelebek out of the way.
The favourite watched the Sultan's sister's retreating back.
Well, that was one big secret to learn on a Tuesday night.