I was 16 years old on that fateful day in 1534 when pirates kidnapped me to sell me into slavery. Although I tried to hide as best I could, one of the pirates caught me and dragged me by my hair while throwing a bag of coins in my mother's face, hitting her in the face and leaving her bleeding. That image of my poor mother terrifies me and haunts my nightmares to this day. The pirate who caught me dragged me to the ship where they were holding other unfortunate Venetian and Greek girls of my own age who were in the same situation as me. I remember that they threatened to kill my brother and mother in my presence if I did not cooperate. Faced with the threat and crying in terror, I preferred to cooperate with the pirates rather than have them harm my family. Even though I am a grown woman by now, I still have nightmares about my parents and brother screaming and crying, helplessly calling me by my old name and trying to help me without success.

Although I managed to survive, the guilt ate at me every day for quite some time because that day was the last time I saw my parents and my brother alive. But at some point I had to resign myself to the idea that I would never see them again and when I accepted my reality, I decided that I was going to live whatever fate had in store for me, there was no turning back. At a slave market in Constantinople, I called Mustafa's sister to attention and she paid a good amount of money to the seller to take me to the harem in Manisa. Even though the situation was extremely degrading in itself, by this point I had already resigned myself. Although Yahya and Sultana Mihrisah were very correct and respectful people, for a moment the idea of ​​escaping crossed my mind, but I was extremely tired and did not have the heart to do so. I went in silence all the way to Manisa and they respected my wish not to want to talk on the way.

Upon arriving at Manisa Palace, I was met by Yusuf, the eunuch in charge of the harem, and Fidan, the maid of Sultana Mahidevran, Mustafa's mother and head of the harem at Manisa Palace. Sultana Mihrisah gave them orders to bathe me, change my clothes, and then take me to the palace doctor for a series of medical examinations. Once they found out that I was healthy and presentable enough, Fidan sent me straight to Sultana Mahidevran, the mother of Mustafa and Mihrisah.

This is where my story begins and how I stopped being Eirene to become Melek, Haseki of Sultan Mustafa I.

***

"Sultana Mihrisah, this letter has reached you from the capital," one of the maids informed her, handing Mihrisah a roll of paper. Mahidevran looked at his daughter expectantly, waiting for her to open the letter.

"You may leave, thank you very much," Mihrisah thanked her as the maid gave her a final bow before leaving Mahidevran's chambers.

"Open the letter, daughter. Allah willing, I hope it is good news," Mahidevran said anxiously after the maid had closed the door.

Mihrisah opened the scroll containing the letter and read it carefully. It was from the Sultan. She thought for a moment, trying to process the information contained in the letter. It was not very long, but in a nutshell, the Sultan wanted Mihrisah to return to the capital to take charge of the harem after he had dismissed Hürrem from her post.

—Mother, the Sultan wants me to return to the capital because... —Mihrisah spoke seriously, looking first at the letter and then at her mother. —He dismissed Hürrem from the management of the harem. He didn't give me many details but he wants me to be the one in charge.

Mahidevran was unable to hide her joy at the news. The fact that the Sultan had appointed Mihrisah over Hürrem to take charge of the administration of the harem must have been a very hard blow for the redhead. She would have paid anything to be in the capital seeing how mortified Hürrem would be right now.

"Blessed be Allah, Mihrisah," Mahidevran thanked, overjoyed at the good news in contrast to Mihrisah's caution. "I can only imagine how that Russian viper must be writhing in rage..."

"Well, mother, then I must leave for the capital as soon as possible," Mihrisah spoke again as she mentally prepared herself for the long journey to Constantinople and what she might encounter when she saw her father at Topkapi Palace.

"Child, stay with me for a little while longer. I will tell the maids to prepare whatever you will need on your journey." Mahidevran asked his daughter affectionately. "Fidan, please make sure the maids prepare everything Mihrisah might need on her journey to the capital." Mahidevran ordered his maid before turning his attention to his daughter as Fidan nodded before giving the order to the maids.

"Mother, I have a feeling that something very serious must have happened in the capital for Hürrem to be fired and for my father to call me to manage the Harem. It is certainly something I did not expect." Mihrisah mused thoughtfully. "We must continue doing things right, Mustafa must not get into any more trouble, like that stupid idea he had of wanting to marry Mihrunissa. But there is something else I want to talk to you about before I go."

"What's wrong?" Mahidevran asked.

—Since we can't risk a situation similar to what happened with Mihrunissa... I trained a maid myself in order for her to come to Mustafa's chambers at some point... in the near future —Mihrisah told her mother. —If my plan is successful, perhaps that girl will make Mustafa forget about his affair with Mihrunissa. She crossed a line she knew she shouldn't cross and she should be grateful that I didn't have her killed for being stupid.

"I want to know who she is before I send her to your brother's chambers. I don't want another situation like Efsun's either," Mahidevran requested, turning serious.

"Her name is Eirene, she was brought from Kefalonia and has been in this harem for about three months," Mihrisah replied. "I want you to meet her and see if she is suitable to be sent to Mustafa's chambers. I asked her to come and she should be here soon."

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Mahidevran said, asking Eirene to open the door.

"Sit down, my dear," Mahidevran invited her, pointing to one of the armchairs in the chambers. "What is your name?" Mahidevran asked, trying to start a conversation.

"My name is Eirene. I come from the island of Kefalonia," the Greek woman answered in very rudimentary Ottoman Turkish, her head bowed and shy.

Mahidevran looked into her eyes and studied her for a while before continuing the conversation. He was going to trust Mihrisah's good judgment, apparently, as his daughter had told him, the girl had potential.

"And how old are you?" Mahidevran asked again.

—I'm 16 years old, Sultana, I'll be 17 in May. —the girl answered again with the same shyness.

"Well Eirene, if you are going to live in my son's harem, I must warn you of a few things you should know before you enter here." Mahidevran spoke with authority, in a tone in which it was best not to interrupt her. "You should know that my son, Mustafa, is the crown prince and is the future heir of his father, Sultan Suleyman, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. No one and nothing can interfere in that event, because I myself am willing to die and go to hell for my son's happiness."

"Mustafa is my beloved son, everything I did, do and will do until my last breath is to ensure his safety and happiness, because his happiness is also mine," Mahidevran continued in the same tone while Eirene continued listening attentively. "At 19 years old, my son rules the province of Manisa and it is my duty as his mother to guide him so that he does his job well and to ensure that he fulfills his duties as crown prince. I lead this harem and if I see that you make my Mustafa happy, I myself will take care of you as if you were my own daughter. But if I see that you try to harm him and that you do not wish him well from your heart, I will have no mercy on you and I will kill you, if Mihrisah does not do it first. Is that clear to you, Eirene?"

—Yes, my sultana. —Eirene answered cautiously.

—Fidan, come here for a moment please. —Eirene heard Mahidevran calling her most loyal maid to her chambers while the sultana continued to stare at the Greek girl with her green eyes. —Fidan, I want you to take this girl, show her where she will stay and teach her how the harem works in this palace. I will trust Mihrisah's good judgment but I do not want any mistakes.

"As my sultana commands," Fidan replied obediently to Mahidevran's orders as she bowed and gestured for Eirene to follow her.

***

Even though Fidan was very harsh at times, I also understood why she had to maintain such an authoritarian attitude within the harem. Keeping a prince's harem full of young girls just as impulsive, rebellious and ambitious as me, who were willing to stab each other at any opportunity to impress the prince, is no easy task. But I did my best to pay attention to her lessons and remain prudent so as not to cross the lines. Every mistake cost dearly and I had seen with my own eyes how many girls were mercilessly dismissed from the harem by the sultana for doing really stupid things that could have been prevented with a little more self-control.

—Eirene, there are three basic things you must understand in order to survive in this harem. First, —Fidan began to explain to her in a rather firm tone the basics of the harem. —you must be very clear that, if you enter this harem, you cannot leave again. Don't even dream about it. Second, always know your limits and never think of crossing them. If you are cunning and intelligent enough, you might be able to catch the prince's attention and with that, you can go very far and stop being a mere harem servant. Finally, I must tell you something very important, never, ever think of lying to me, much less to the Sultanas or the Prince. Now, I am going to give you a series of tasks to keep you busy.

And so, every day Fidan religiously gave me a series of tasks every morning just like the rest of the maids to maintain order in the harem.

***

It had been a few months since Sultana Mihrisah and Yahya brought me from Topkapi Palace to Manisa. My stay in the harem was relatively fruitful, even though there was always a lot of work to do. I had improved my language skills, both in speaking and writing, and Sultana Mihrisah helped me a lot by getting me the best teachers. But my favorite classes were dancing. At that time, I also converted to Islam, and when I converted, I was suggested to take the name Melek, which meant "angel."

Soon the first test came. Sultana Mahidevran wanted to organize a welcome banquet because the Prince was returning to Manisa from a successful campaign in which he had participated with his father. So she asked Fidan to find the best maids in the harem so that they could attend to and entertain the Prince during the celebration. Shortly before the celebration began, Fidan arrived with Sultana Mahidevran to look for us, to make sure that we were ready and without problems to go to the celebration.

—Come on girls, the celebration will start in a few minutes. —Fidan spoke in a firm tone to hurry up the last details of the maids who were going to participate in the celebration in honor of the prince. —Sultana, if there is no detail, I will take the maids to the celebration.

"Take them away, it's going to start in a few minutes and I don't want anything to go wrong," Mahidevran ordered.