THRONE OF BLOOD by RR Jones EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Author: RR Jones
- Language: English
- Genre: Medieval Historical Fiction
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2.7 MB
- Price: Free
Edirne Sarayi, November 1444
Here in Edirne and everywhere else in Rumelia’s South-Eastern plains,
the last days of November are losing the battle with winter. The slowmoving Tunca River mirrors the heavy gray sky, and the trees shiver in the
sharp wind, clutching on to their last dying leaves.
Just two weeks ago, the battle of Varna, the Battle of the Two Sultans, as
many call it, saw the Ottoman Army obliterate the Christians’ last crusade.
Hunyadi, Christianity’s White Knight, ran home with his tail between his
legs, leaving behind King Władysław’s headless body. The king’s head,
well-preserved in a casket of honey, now travels from one corner of the
empire to another as proof of the sultans’ victory.
The celebrations were something to behold. Ali had never seen so many
people sharing so much joy, whole flocks of sheep and chicken eaten in one
day, or mountains of sweets as big as a mosque vanish overnight.
But that was then, and this is now. Now, life at the palace is back to normal.
Sort of. And Ali resumed her daily chores.
She rushes out of the steamy palace kitchen, stumbling under the weight of
a silver platter loaded with the best kitchen delights: Amber-like grapes
trapping sweetness in their golden light, blood-red pomegranates bursting
with flavor, wrinkled salt-cured olives, sesame-sprinkled round flat breads,
melty pieces of snow-white feta, and rose water flavored baklava crusted
with green pistachios and dripping with honey.
She moves so fast that her loose blue shalwars and her kaftan flutter behind
her, but her feet, wrapped in soft velvet slippers with upturned noses, make
no noise as she cruises along the white marble hallways to the validé’s
apartment. Hüma Hatun, Sultan Mehmed’s mother, is Ali’s mistress and the
validé, and Ali’s first job is to please her, soothe her, and make her happy.
It’s not an easy job, especially these days.
Hüma was nothing but sunshine when the victorious army returned. She
welcomed home not only her son, young Sultan Mehmed, but also her
husband and master, Sultan Murad the Second, whom she hadn’t seen in
many months. Ever since summer, when he resigned the Imperial throne to
Mehmed and withdrew to the heart of Anatolia, hundreds of miles away, to
live a life of prayer and meditation dedicated to Allah.
That was last week. But now, Hüma’s sunshine faded into a gray winter
storm, just like the heavy sky. A week later, she still hasn’t seen Murad, and
there are rumors he’s about to leave again. And, as she’s locked in the
harem, she can’t just pop by to see how he’s doing. Like all his other
women, she has to wait for his pleasure to see her, and that pleasure has
been lacking.
Ali bows deeply and sets the silver platter loaded with deliciousness on the
Isfahan carpet where exuberant vines, fruits and flowers entangle. She bows
again and turns to the door.
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