Roxelana & Suleyman

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

The first Oda School of the Itchoglans was not as demanding as Davud had thought it would be. Yes, some of the lead eunuchs were cruel, but he determined that that cruelty had its place in the training and selection of those who would ultimately serve within the personal chambers of the Sultan. The Itchoglans who were slow or reticent in their learning suffered hundreds of blows to the soles of their feet, or were assigned to fasting for days on end. Davud grimaced at the pleasure that some of the overseers took in these actions, but for the most part he found them kind and patient.

The initial lessons were in silence, posture and reverence in the presence of the Sultan, much of which Davud had already learnt as an Agiamoglan.

Only once was he beaten for disobedience. He had been standing in silence with his head bowed and his hands held before him for several hours. The trainee beside him fainted from exhaustion and Davud reached out to stop him cracking his head upon the marble pavement. For this insolence they were manhandled to the Third Courtyard of Topkapi and tied to a large chunk of carved stone. The white eunuchs stood in line to beat the soles of their feet until they were bruised, split and b****y. Neither was able to walk for several days—continuing their lessons hunkered down on their knees.

Davud’s greatest pleasure came from the lessons in reading and writing. He was an avid student and quickly supplemented the training he had already received in Arabian, Persian and Turkish. Within weeks he had mastered several Arabian prayers by heart and was eagerly turning the pages of an Arabian folk story.

One afternoon he sat on the walkway beside the sea wall of the palace, reading one of the books from the library. He marveled at the story of magic lamps and genies in far-off realms. The thoughts of flying carpets filled him with a hope for his own future in this strange land and new life that had somehow evolved around him. As he was deep within the story an Itchoglan came and sat beside him.

“Ah, my friend Talip, this is a magnificent story,” Davud exulted.

Talip smiled half-heartedly, but then his face crumpled into grief.

The Itchoglan’s feet were still black from a beating of a week ago and Davud surmised that they were a major cause of his distress. He pulled the young man’s legs up onto his own and tenderly massaged the bruised skin. Talip winced and so he lightened the touch to a slight caress.

“Do not cry. I will help you through our studies and together we shall serve our Sultan.”

Talip had stopped his whimpering, but still his cheeks were wet with tears. The new skin on his soles was paper-thin. Davud spat into his palms and slowly rubbed the saliva into the bottom of the feet to bring some comfort from the pain.

“Do you really think I can make it?” Talip muttered through gritted teeth.

“Of course, my brother.”

They spent the remainder of the afternoon sitting by the ocean—Davud reading aloud from the thick book in his hands. Talip listened intently until he too was flying through the air on a magic carpet.

When evening came and Davud settled on the divan in the Itchoglan dormitory, he spied his friend Talip on the far side of the room. The later held up his hand and smiled before resting his head on a lumpy cushion. Davud lay his own cheek down and his eyelids fell heavily, but he was suddenly jolted upright by the screams of a woman.

A woman!

The shrieks were horrendous—echoing around the internal courtyards and passageways of the palace. They screeched over the tiled roofs and cut deep into the heart of all who heard them. The Itchoglans ran from their dormitory. Hundreds of Agiamoglans and a score of white eunuchs also ran from their sleeping quarters into the third courtyard. Davud hastily sprinted out to the growing crowd.

The screams and excruciating, unbearably-loud sobbing of the woman continued, bringing dread to all that stood there listening.

“It’s coming across the roofs from the harem,” Davud heard one of the white eunuchs state.

Davud stared up at the high stone walls and red tiled roofs in horror.

“Aleksandra...,” he whispered.