The sun glared at the two determined people below it. The gentle blow of the breeze could not lessen the sweat dropping from both chins. Heavy breathing was exchanged instead of words and two pairs of eyes were sizing one another. The clanking sounds vibrated the air around the two silhouettes at the very center of the arena. Gone were the Jannisaries who was supposed to be the one training replaced by Kosem Fahrettin and the leader of Grand Vizier's Jannisaries, Arslan Tolga.
Torah, though her fists were clenched, remained calm upon witnessing the fourth day of her young mistress's sword training. This reaction was relatively peaceful compared to her first reaction upon hearing her young hanim begging for a sword master's class from the Grand Vizier Esad Fahrettin himself. Torah could vividly remember that day.
FLASHBACK (Five Days Ago)
Standing before Torah, the squared shoulders of her young hanim was the center of her concentration who was now facing the Grand Vizier after she requested an audience. The silence within the room was like a crushing stone that was weighing Torah down. A cold sweat trickled at the back of her neck, and her gaze remained transfixed at her mistress - not daring to look at the Grand Vizier who went silent after hearing the words that Kosem hanim spewed.
"I believe this Grandfather mishears my lovely young granddaughter, am I right Kosem?" Though his words were friendly, the edge in his tone could not be mistaken. Torah's hands started to tremble, she was too afraid that her young mistress had offended the Grand Vizier.
'Kosem hanim, please take back what you said.' Torah plead in her thought as she clenched her hands together o not minding the sweat accumulated.
But her pleas went on deaf ears after hearing what her young hanim replied. "You did not hear it wrong, Grandfather. This granddaughter begs to train in swordsmanship and battle strategy class rather than entering the Topkapi Palace," Kosem said in a determined tone.
"You will throw your chance to enter the Sultan's harem for swordsmanship and battle strategy class? Are you destroying the prestige of the Fahrettin Household, Kosem?" The mockery and warning combined in his words dripped from the Grand Vizier's mouth.
Torah's trembling hands worsened as she witnessed the favorability of her young mistress drop.
But Kosem was steadfast and unwavering as she answered her adoptive grandfather. "I do not wish to bring the Fahrettin Household into an uncertain future. To be selected in a harem meant being a possible choice to carry the next sultan. However, with the animosity between Sultan Hazeyn Suleiman and my grandfather, it is very unlikely that he will choose me. At best, he will use this chance to restrain the Fahrettin Household by leaving me to rot at the corner of the Topkapi Palace. As a member of the prestigious Fahrettin Household, I must know when to choose my battles and Topkapi Palace is something not for me."
Kosem's blue and golden eyes met his cobalt ones. The conviction did not waver even under the scrutinizing eyes of the man that was once responsible for her death and her beloved. Being a woman, Kosem knew that the only route for her to be of use to the Grand Vizier was to be the birth mother of the next sultan - something Kosem pledged not to do anymore. After all, she chose a path that she would be hated by Hazeyn.
The Topkapi Palace was getting girls with beautiful looks and a great genetic pool to create the next sultan. All the women who would be taken to the Topkapi Palace would be kept there and would not be able to set foot outside the premises of the place until they grew. The women in the harem lived a lavish life that was totally out of poverty outside the luxurious walls. Mostly, young maidens were taken there no matter what lineage they came from as long as they were good-looking or they possessed a great gene.
The teaching of manners would ensue inside the palace. Wealth would be second to none inside the Topkapi Palace since it was forbidden to talk about the woman's outside life. The only connection they would have would be the large window panes overviewing the seaport. Completely isolated with only the other members of the harem and the women scholars as their teachers, the women in the harem would be given black-skinned eunuchs as the women's slaves for the entirety of their stay.
And when the handmaidens reached their maturity or they would be able to conceive a child, they would be selected one by one to take a bath at the special bathing area located just below the sultan's chambers. This was designed for the convenience of the sultan to choose his concubine. When a concubine would be selected by the sultan after displaying their beauty, they would be thoroughly cleaned before being presented outside the sultan's chambers. Lavish foods would be prepared while a musician would play a sensual song outside the sultan's chamber for the entire night - all of these were to ensure the entertainment of the sultan.
And Kosem knew all of this because, in her past, there was one red-haired woman who caught Hazeyn's eyes aside from Kosem. She knew that that curiosity would bloom into something more if Kosem was not there. And now, remembering the bald Ottoman Turk, a red-haired beauty was recently sold. Somehow, Kosem knew that it would be the concubine Hurrem - the prettiest woman in the empire.
With Hurrem entering the scene, Kosem's resolve strengthened. She realized that it would be advantageous for her to make use of Hurrem's presence to erase her lingering attachment to Hazeyn. Kosem, after all, chose to be the villain of Hazeyn's life to push him into the corner. This way, she could earn the Grand Vizier's trust while giving Hazeyn time to retaliate against the Fahrettin Household. She would become Hazeyn's spear and shield.
Breaking her train of thought, the Grand Vizier stared at Kosem as if he was trying to read her mind. Gone was the sweet facade of Kosem she first showed to the Grand Vizier replaced with vigorous tenacity that glinted in her peculiar set of eyes. "And what is better than being the sultan's bride?"
Without batting her eyelashes, Kosem answered as if it was already predetermined. "I will become the sultan myself."
From her answer, the Grand Vizier's menacing grin cracked his doting grandfather facade, showing Kosem and Torah the tenacity he truly held. "Then you will indeed need to learn swordsmanship and battle strategies with the ongoing Ottoman-Hungarian war. You need to raise your merits to earn your faction in the bureaucracy pyramid."
Kosem nodded as if she already thought about those things. "Indeed, Grandfather. And I will start it by earning the merit in the campaign to expand the territories."
The booming laughter of the Grand Vizier resonated inside the lavish room.
Torah almost collapsed after hearing the words that would warrant a capital penalty for her young mistress if heard by the loyalists of the sultan. "Kosem hanim" Torah barely whispered.
END OF FLASHBACK
And now, Torah was standing below the podium - patiently waiting to hand over the towel to her young hanim.
'Kosem hanim, please be careful.' Torah prayed to the goddess Kayra.
On the first day and the second day for the young hanim, Torah almost collapsed upon witnessing the frail body of Kosem, wielding a wooden sword. The once smooth palms were bruised and her young mistress' body kept on shaking even after the practice. No amount of bath could soothe Kosem hanim's aching muscles but not once did she hear any complaints from her young mistress. At night, Kosem would read scrolls about battle formations and historical records of the archaic wars of the Byzantine Empire and the Ottoman Empire.
As Torah observed her young mistress, she concluded after the four days of witnessing Kosem hanim's efforts.
'Kosem hanim's actions are like she was being chased by something ominous that she got no choice but to move forward with her frail body.' Torah solemnly thought.
Torah wholeheartedly wished that her young mistress would rely on her more.