Haseki stood with the Valide Sultana, Mahidavran and Suleyman within the ornate Circumcision Pavilion of Topkapi Palace. The Sultan had spent the morning accepting gifts of crystal, Chinese porcelain and fine fabrics from his governors and foreign emissaries, all of which were later inspected by the mothers of the young Osmans to be circumcised that day. Mahidavran stood at the Sultan’s side, in rapturous pride, as their son and heir to the throne, Mustafa, entered the chamber. He was dressed in red satin with white brocade at his collar and cuffs. A red ruby sparkled in his right earlobe; his turban was decorated with heron plumes. He was a handsome boy at fifteen, much to his mother’s palpable joy. Haseki’s eldest sons, Mehmet and Selim, entered next, dressed in the same fashion. She bea
