We arrived at a large market in Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, along with the rest of the slave girls and men who had bought us from our countries.

They took us all out of the carriages and led us into the market, where the alleys were filled with crowds and disturbing sounds. The air was filled with different smells, from the smell of spices and perfumes to the smell of sweat and dirt. The sounds danced in my ears, between the screams of sellers and buyers and the screams of slaves sometimes trying to rebel against their bitter fates.

I was trying with all my might to remain calm, but the horrific sight and harsh reality were shocking me. I tried not to get carried away by my emotions, because I was here for something important, that required courage and cruelty, and most importantly, I had to focus well at this moment.

"Stand here, come on!" One of the men shouted and we all stood against a wall and he started displaying us like merchandise and my heartbeat started racing as my fate and the fate of my loved ones depended on this moment.

"How much?" said an old man who looked rich through his clothes, he stood in front of one of the girls, a blonde with green eyes, examining her with his eyes without respect.

"A small bag of gold" replied one of the men who were guarding us.

"That's a lot!" The rich man raised his eyebrow and his facial features changed as he looked annoyed.

"She's from Armenia, she's only 15 years old and still a virgin" he said trying to convince the man to buy her and he succeeded.

"Well she looks good" replied the rich man then he motioned for his servant to pay for her.

I felt disgusted by this scene, but I tried to ignore their conversation and looks as I focused on the men moving in front of us, if I delayed I would find myself in the hands of a disgusting old man.

'A tall man with black hair and thick eyebrows will be waiting for me at the slave market. He will be wearing a large ring with a black stone and all his clothes will be black except for his shoes which will be brown.' That's what they told me before I came here. He is the man who is supposed to recognize me through my specifications and the letter they gave me. He will buy me and a few other girls so that no one will suspect anything and will take us to the palace of the Sultan, the ruler of the Ottoman Empire.

Minutes began to pass and the girls were being sold. I was trying not to attract attention so as not to ruin my plan. Finally, a man started moving in front of me. He seemed to have all the conditions. He also exchanged glances with me without anyone noticing. It seemed that he recognized me. I put my hand in my dress and took out the letter quietly. After a few moments, a fight began between two passersby, which attracted everyone's attention. Therefore, the man approached me and quickly took the letter from my hand.

He disappeared for a short time, it seemed that he was checking the content of the letter and the stamp it carried to make sure that I was the girl they told him about, and that is what happened, he came back with two men behind him and stood in front of us while he was checking all the girls.

"Choose what you want" said the guard who was standing next to me.

"This is what I'm doing" he spoke in a calm voice and after a few seconds of thinking he pointed to a girl with dark skin, then me, then another white girl with long black hair, and finally a girl who looked young, she must be nine or ten years old "I will buy them"

After negotiating and finishing the buying and selling process, we walked behind the man and his men guarding us from behind, we reached a carriage and the four of us got in, then they closed the door and the carriage started to move.

With darkness falling, we had reached a very large door, we were taken out of the carriage and we saw that there were some men waiting for us wearing strange clothes but they did not seem to be valuable and from what they told me they must be the servants and aghas of the palace. The tall man I gave the letter to, approached me and began to speak in a low voice so that no one would hear us.

"My first mission is over here, you must follow the plan" He lowered his voice even more as he said "I will be waiting for the letters that I will send to Britain"

"Okay I will try" I said with tension covering my tone.

"It's not about trying, you are forced to succeed in this plan" He said stressing his words and also took my hand in a strong grip as a form of threat.

"Okay, okay I will finish my mission as soon as possible" I moved my hand as I said "Leave me my hand hurts"

After he let go of my hand I joined the rest of the girls who were standing next to the servants and guards and after we were searched well we were brought into the palace as new concubines, a gift from a rich men to the royal family.

I found myself in a place called the Harem, the maid stopped me and the other girls in front of the door where we were watching the girls inside of different ages and nationalities getting ready for bed, wearing similar white dresses.

"It's late, you're going to the hammam then you can sleep there" said one of the maids then started screaming for us to follow her although I didn't understand her language well but I was able to understand her movements.

We entered a large place that seemed to be the bathroom where the floor was full of water and there were taps. We took off our dirty clothes and put on towels covering our chests and private areas. I started pouring water on my hair and when I took the soap I didn't like its smell so I called one of the maids and said

"Isn't there another soap? I like it with the scent of jasmine" I spoke slowly, maybe she could understand me and as I expected she understood my language but she was so rude.

"Do you think you're a princess to give orders here?" She said mockingly in my language, and from her accent I could tell she was British she must have come here at a young age, I should get to know her.

I had to wash myself with that scentless soap and when we were done a woman came, they said she's a doctor, I didn't understand at first what was going on but then I concluded that she was checking our virginity.

After finishing that horrible experience we went back to the Harem where all the girls were sleeping, the maid showed me the place where I would sleep, I watched the other girls as each one stretched out in her place.

I remained sitting in the dark for a while until I saw someone enter the door, after the picture became clear in front of me I could see a tall girl with long blonde hair, wearing a beautiful blue dress. She quickly passed us and went up the stairs, while I was thinking I heard a girl's voice next to me she must be talking to me.

"It's Eylem she was spending time with Prince Mehmet" she said in a low voice but she seemed excited.

"Is he allowed to spend time with girls?" I asked in surprise.

"Yes, but he is not allowed to have children now." She came a little closer to me and then added "When he is assigned to Manisa, he can have children."

Although I already knew this information, I had to pretend to be stupid, so I said, "And where did she go? Why didn't she sleep here?"

"Favorites don't sleep here, they have their own bedrooms" she said with a smile "I hope to become like them soon."

"Is she the only favorite?" I felt like I was asking too many questions about the prince so I added "Are there other princes or what?"

"Unfortunately all the other princes died and here they call them şehzades not princes, anyway that happened due to bad plots" she made sure everyone was asleep then she said while moving her finger "I will tell you what happened later" she smiled "Anyway, now the Sultan has only one son, Mehmet, that's why they are afraid to send him to Manisa. The Sultan has two wives, the first is Hurrem Sultan and the second is Safiye Sultan, and he no longer spends time with any concubines, as for the şehzade ahmet, he loves talk,blonde girls , he spent some nights with other favorites but the one he spends most of his time with is Eylem so everyone expects her to be the next Sultana, and let's not forget that the şehzade's mother, Hurrem Sultan supports her"

"So he loves tall, blonde girls" I moved my head "Go back to sleep I don't want to disturb you"

"It's okay, I will sleep now but I will tell you about what happened when we have some free time" she said with a smile then she went back to her place and as soon as she stretched out She fell asleep quickly

It seems that this girl loves to chat, and give information easily, I didn't even know her name but I should get close to her a lot because through her I can know a lot of things, I stretched out in my bed to sleep and kept turning for a long time and
when I didn't feel sleepy I stood up and sat by the window feeling sorry for what I had become.

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

In the morning when we finished cleaning, all the girls sat, some chatting and others reading books or writing something. I was holding a book in my hands until the same girl from last night came and sat next to me.

"How are you today?" She asked with a wide smile, this girl amazes me because she seems happy and optimistic all the time.

"I'm fine, and you?" I asked her with a fake smile.

"Me too, you didn't tell me your name even though we became friends" she said as she pulled the book from my hands.

"Friends?" I raised my eyebrows but quickly saved the situation as I put a small smile on my lips while remembering the fake name I will use "Ah, my name is Mary"

"Your name is beautiful, I am also English and my name is Alice" she replied without looking at me as she was reading the first page of the book.

I moved my head then raised my eyes to look at the girls and at that moment I saw Eylem approaching a group and sitting with them, she is really beautiful her features are amazing, but wait, why is she looking at me with that evil look am I just imagining it?

"What's wrong?" Alice asked after putting the book down from her hands.

"That girl Eylem or whoever, why is she looking at me as if I stole something from her" I said in surprise.

"Didn't I tell you yesterday that şehzade Mehmet likes tall, blonde girls!" she replied.

"So? What does this have to do with that?" I looked at her curiously.

"You should use your brain well, you are also blonde and tall and she feels threatened by you, whenever a blonde and tall girl comes here Eylem hates her because she knows they will send her to spend time with the şehzade"

I felt like I got slapped in the face, things became clearer to me, now I know why I am suitable for this mission, they chose me for several reasons. I wish I could escape from here, but I know that I will pay the price, plus what kind of prince is this, he spends his time with so many blondes he must be a failure, and I'm sure he's ugly and stupid.