Chapter 3

After Asleem had been crowned the winner, they all moved to the shooting ground. Roksolana could hear gasps all around her when two ladies stepped forward as contestants. Roksolana smiled and wondered in her mind how much more surprise the men were in before the competition ended.

One of the ladies came sixth while the other came third. Roksolana could see it was a huge achievement for them as they kept smiling. It was gradually becoming the age of revolution. Who knows? Maybe ladies could hold high positions in the future or even become Sultans.

Next, they were at the seaside for boat racing and fish hunting. Four more ladies joined in the competition. And that was when the men began to murmur. Roksolana could understand that they felt apprehensive about being beaten at what they have done their entire lives by some women who never had formal training. However, they had training. Roksolana had trained them all for a year at every chance they could get.

"Women aren't allowed to participate in anything. All they are good for is cleaning the house and bearing children. Roksolana, we have tolerated your errors enough." Janissary Abdulaziz spoke up.

"The Sultan gave his permission to allow the women to take part in the competitions. Are you questioning his authority?" Roksolana asked the man, who swallowed loudly.

Roksolana smiled to herself. Her words had the impacts she wanted them to. Everyone present there knew that questioning the Sultan was counted as treason, and it was an unforgivable crime no matter your bloodlines or position. You can earn a death sentence for it if care is not taken. From there on, no one else so much as breaths or even made his disagreement known.

The ladies did excellently in the race. One of them came first, while her husband was second, another woman came third. The other two were ahead of their competitors in the fish hunt. Roksolana and the others were surprised when the husband of the woman who came first hugged her.

"You did very well. My efforts and your late-night practice paid off." The man told his wife, smiling.

Roksolana grinned at the scene unfolding in their presence. Here was a man who didn't follow the rules and was showing affection for his wife in public. If Roksolana was to guess, she would say the man had trained his wife personally too. The age of change she envisioned wasn't so far away again.

They all moved back to the Hall of Fame for the celebration that follows the competitions, where Roksolana would dance to entertain the people. She was excited knowing that this year, she wouldn't be doing it alone.

As the women wearing flowing gowns and their nikobs surrounded her, she felt alive more than she ever had. The light tapping of the drums propelled her to move her hips gracefully to the beats. Hands below their hips swayed lightly, the women circled her round and round. Roksolana danced to the music of the drum which had picked up by now using her hands as gestures, her legs moving in the direction she wanted her body to take. Everyone cheered for them, encouraging them to do more.

By the time the dance was over, half of the men were drunk. Roksolana moved to her father's side and sat down beside Abaan who looked like he already had too much to eat but was still not willing to stop.

"Abu. You promised to let me know who you chose for me." She accused her father.

"And I did. Didn't you find out today?" Her father countered.

"From the man himself. Not from you, Abu." She countered back.

"So, you don't like him? I'll cancel the marriage then." The Sultan informed her.

"No, no, no. Don't cancel it, Abu." She said with a bit of enthusiasm.

The truth was she preferred marrying Asleem compared to going out of her tribe to a foreign land. Here, she was given the freedom to choose her path. That was a lot compared to how the Islamic religion worked. She was thankful her father had chosen a friend as her husband, instead of a total stranger.

"You see Roksolana, I have something to tell you…" Her father was cut off by the sound of something chiming loudly.

Everyone stood up and was alerted immediately. It was the sound of the war gong. If they were to go by that sound, then they were under attack. The fear was confirmed to be true when a soldier with an arrow stuck to his chest came in looking half dead.

"Attack…." He didn't finish the statement before collapsing and life was snuffed out of him. But the message had been passed.

They had been preparing for an attack ever since they made the sultanate their home, but not for the sudden attack when half of the men were wasted already.

"Ishmael, move the women and the children to the safe house we arranged. Let ten soldiers guard them. Muhammad, escort Roksolana and Abaan to the seaside where the emergency boat is located. Toyeeb, gather the men for battles. Quadri, get me my weapon." The Sultan barked out commands which everyone scurried to obey.

"Muhammad, take Abaan away. Make sure you guard him with your life. I'm staying here to fight with my Abu," Roksolana told the young man who looked at the Sultan for approval. The Sultan nodded his head in affirmation.

Muhammad took Abaan by the arm and led him out. The men were already moving out to the battleground. Asleem rushed in the door, clothed in his battle attire. There were a few soldiers with him.

"You have to leave Sultan. You too, Roksolana. It's not safe here, we've already lost half of our men." Asleem told them.

"I think it's too late for that." A voice said from the doorway.

Roksolana looked at the owner of the voice. He was a very handsome man to look at, but she wasn't impressed. The man was here to destroy her tribe, her sultanate. She'll make sure he suffered a terrible death because of that. The man chuckled as if he could hear her thoughts.

Asleem and his armies stood protectively in front of the Selim family. Their swords held out to stop any bypasser.

"Leave. Now," Asleem yelled, just before attacking.

"These are my people, Roksolana. I have to protect them. We'll buy you some time to leave." Her father told her, just before he joined the battle.

Roksolana watched as her father and Asleem fought vigorously against the intruders, but it was clear that they were outnumbered. Most of the soldiers were down too. Without hesitation, Roksolana joined the combat, taking down two opponents in rapid succession.

"Roksolana. I told you to leave." Her father shouted.

"I'm not leaving you, Abu. I must protect you as my Sultan." She told him, taking down a man who wanted to attack her father from behind.

"Listen to your father, my lady," Asleem said.

"Then, what is the essence of learning combat skills and swordsmanship if I can't even use it to protect the people I love?" She asked.

Aamil Jamal watched the battle before him with surprise. It was the first time in all his 26 years of existence to see a Muslim woman wearing male attire. Not just that, her head wasn't covered. And, she can fight too and that too, excellently. What sort of Sultan ruled these people for their women to do as they wished?

He was still lost in this thought when the gleaming of a sword caught his attention, he quickly moved out of the way of the sword. He was surprised to see it was the woman who was challenging him. His fury grew and he drew his sword.

"How dare you fight a mere woman point sword at me?" He asked, enraged.

But Roksolana wasn't interested in answering questions and attacked him. Jamal blocked her moves effectively. Each time one of them attacked, the other would block the moves. Jamal hadn't expected the woman to be that good. Whoever had taught her, had taught her well.