Roksolana woke up feeling disoriented. The light in the room felt like it could blind her and she closed it back, opening them slowly to adjust her eyes.
When she was finally able to focus, she looked around at her surroundings. The room she was in seemed strange to her but she also felt like she had been in here before. How had she gotten to a room anyway? The last thing she remembered was her still tied to the board and a man standing close to her, looking at her with pity and shame in his eyes. Roksolana felt the man was familiar, she shook her head trying to remember what the man looked like. She gasped loudly and sat up straight in bed. The sudden movement made her head throb and she fell back to the bed.
"Asleem." She said, a single tear sliding down her face.
Ja
Roksolana regretted not eating first before she opened her mouth to decline the Sultan's offer. She felt so hungry and even her stomach protested by grumbling.When they arrived at the kitchen, the guards dumped her in the hands of the kitchen head and disappeared without a word. She figured that they must have done that a lot of times that no explanation was needed between them anymore.Roksolana stood still as the woman examined her from head to toe and prayed that she wouldn't deem her unfit for the job. True, she doesn't know how to cook or do anything in the kitchen but she was willing to learn rather than going back to Lady Miriam or the Sultan. She sighed out loud when the woman smiled at her."It's late already. Go and clean up, then get something to eat.
Jamal picked up the bottle of alcohol he had ordered one of his men to get for him and stared at it. He opened it up and drank a large quantity of the drink, wishing his trouble would disappear as the alcohol burned his throat and lungs. He couldn't stop thinking about Roksolana and her rejection of him. Jamal wondered what exactly she hated about him. He took another gulp and sighed.Even if he had killed her family, it was a normal occurrence during the war. Besides, the number of injuries he had gotten from her was enough to kill a man. Especially the wound she gave him in his left stomach. The injury had nearly gotten infected if it wasn't for his royal physician. So why was that not enough as payback for her? Deciding that he had had enough from her, Jamal emptied the rest of the content in the bottle into his mouth and walked out.
Roksolana woke up and felt someone beside her, she became afraid. As she opened her mouth to shout, she felt a hand clasp her mouth shut. The figure moved over her, holding her in place with his body. She hit the person in the face and heard him grunt as he moved away from her immediately.Roksolana moved up quickly and gave the person three rapid punches in the face. One on the cheek, the other on the forehead, and the last one on the nose. The man let out a soft yelp. Roksolana was about to hit the man again when he spoke."It's me, my lady."The man spoke so softly Roksolana almost didn't hear him. She was sure either her ears had heard the wrong voice or her mind was playing another dirty trick on her. There was no way the voice could belong to who she was thinking
Jamal woke up with his head pounding. He felt like heavy stones were placed on his neck rather than his normal head. He got up and grunted from the pain he felt for doing such a simple task.Looking around, the surroundings felt strange yet familiar to him. Where was he? And why wasn't he in his house? He looked around once again and saw that he was in Lady Miriam's house. What was he doing there? The last thing he remembered was him drinking alcohol in his house. He tried to crack his brain but couldn't remember anything else.He felt someone moaning softly in pain beside him and looked at the person. He was surprised to see Lady Miriam looking like she was in so much pain but was trying really hard to hide it and turned to her immediately."Are you okay?" Jamal
Roksolana looked at the dough and flour one of the maids had given to her and wondered what she was supposed to do with it. When she saw another maid pour her potion of flour into the bowl containing the dough and mixed them together, Roksolana decided that must be what was required of her. She poured her portion into the dough too and began to mix, noticing how strong it was. She was still battling with the dough when a figure fell upon her and she looked up. Roksolana saw a woman looking at her with a frown on her face."What do you think you are doing?" The woman asked.Roksolana felt embarrassed as the woman laughed at her when she had explained. She felt even worse when the woman had called the other maids to come and see what Roksolana had done.Tired and angry,
Jamal felt afraid and vulnerable and got angry at the feelings and the man who had fueled such emotions in him. He needed assurance and comfort from someone. He just walked on without thinking about his destination and became angry when he saw himself standing in front of the kitchen. Why was he here? The woman in there was the last person who would even think about alleviating his worries. As he turned to leave, he saw the kitchen head running towards him and realized that he couldn't leave anymore."Sultan." The woman bowed to him when she got to where he stood. "To what do we owe such a visit? Did we do something wrong?" The woman asked, shivering and fear reflecting in her voice.Jamal thought she might faint if she continued that way. Was he always inflicting fears even in the heart of the women? How can he get out of the place
Roksolana wished she could kill the man in that instance as she looked around and saw everyone staring at her, jealousy reflecting in their gaze. All except Seyiddah and Khadijat who both looked happy for her.She knew that the Sultan had just given her more trouble than she could bear. They already hated her, even when she had done nothing wrong. Getting chosen to be the Sultan's maid seemed like a big deal to the kitchen maids and Jamal had chosen her, putting her in an even bigger mess. What had she ever done to deserve all the trouble and pains?"Okay, everybody. Go back to work. The meals won't cook themselves." The kitchen head said, dismissing everyone.Afterward, she called Roksolana to the side and explained her job as the Sultan's maid. Some of which includes
Jamal fingered his clean-shaven mustache and regretted letting Roksolana get away from him. After all, he had gone through all the trouble because of her. How did she fail to see his handsome look? He wondered as he looked into the vanity resting on a table beside his bed, smiling.She probably hadn't noticed because she was busy trying to swallow the salty rice she had brought for him, Jamal thought smiling. He wondered if he had been too hard on her earlier, but he shook his head against it, reminding himself that he could have been crueler than that. His whole thought was already centered on her and he wondered if he would be able to get any sleep at all. Jamal's body screamed at the feelings he was arousing in them.Roksolana got back to the kitchen and hurriedly dropped the food into the waste bin, not wanting the kitchen