It was hard to find peace in the harem, it was something Mihrimah had learned to accept. Something she had learned to cope with, she liked to think she handled the stress well. She was Mihrimah Sultan, daughter of the Sultan and Hurrem Sultana, nothing could stop her. Nothing could scare her. She faced every trial with dignity and wisdom.

It's just...

Today she felt a little less confident. And a little more like a fraud.

So here she was in the garden, the cool grass brushing up against her bare feet shoes long abandoned by the path. She needed peace, she needed to think and this was the only way she knew how to achieve that goal. "Mihrimah?" She stopped in her track and turned around, Esmahan stood there, a smug smile on her face. "I had been looking for you." Her forced smile only widened and she approached her.

"I was told you were in the palace today," came her response. She turned her shoulder to Esmahan and continued to walk, not fazed by the mud. "I figured this was the best way to avoid you." She forced an exaggerated sigh, "Seems I was wrong."

Esmahan by now had caught up to her and her smile faded, "You are in such a lovely mood today." Sarcasm dripped off her words, and her smile had been replaced by a scowl. "I come in peace Mihrimah."

The grip on her dress tightened and she pulled it up slightly as she stepped into a patch of mud, she stopped walking and turned to Esmahan, the fabric falling back down to the ground. She couldn't be bothered by the mud it was now brushing up against, "Have you?" She highly doubted it, Esmahan had shown her true colors just like her Mother, Sah Sultana.

Esmahan nodded, "I came to congratulate you on your engagement to Rustem Pasha," she replied, the sly smile forming once again on her face.

She felt her throat tighten, "I must say it's admirable how quickly you got over Bali Bey. You're truly a strong Sultana. Heartbreak is very serious-"

"Esmahan," Mihrimah said through her clenched teeth.

She opened her mouth to reply but instead let out a disgusted sound when her shoe had gotten stuck in the mud and her barefoot was now a mess. "Watch your step, it's been raining."

Esmahan grumbled something under her breath How do you walk barefoot in this mess?" She asked, hiking her dress up to avoid getting any messier. "My valide says it's unladylike to go without shoes."

She ignored her and slowly walked up to the pond and stepped in, the water only up to her ankles now. They stopped filling it all the way when Mehmed fell in as an infant, "I find it peaceful," she finally said after a few moments in silence. "I do this when I wish to think."

Esmahan slowly made her way to the pond and stood at the edge, nose scrunched in disgust.

"While your Valide may see this as unladylike, my Valide isn't afraid of mud, and neither am I."

She'd grown up doing this, she remembered when she'd go on walks with her Valide and she'd watch her mother hand off her shoes and run barefoot through the grass patches, laughing. She always looked so at peace, carefree, and any bit of stress lifted from her shoulders.

She had asked her once why she did this, and her response had always been a vivid memory.

"My Valide," she knelt down and gently cupped Mihrimah's rosy cheeks. "Walk barefoot on the earth and it shall take away all your troubles and sorrows," her voice was soft, "the earth shall give you happiness and joy." She stood back up, "Now come on my darling, join me. Feel the earth under your feet, the peace, let it run through you."

And she did.

It was a constant source of peace, one she'd never give up no matter how unladylike it may seem to others. "Come on Esmahan, try it, you look like you need some peace." And without another word, she stepped out of the water and walked off.

She'd turn to this until the day she died.

For she was her Mother's Daughter.