During the reign of Sultan Bayzeid II, you were sent to Topkapı palace in Constantinople in a marriage arrangement between your people and the Ottoman Empire

It was so, that Sultan Bayzeid II decided to reward his most loyal captain; Tarik Barleti, with a wife, something that was very rarely allowed for those who were classed as Janissaries

You eventually met and married Captain of the Janissaries; Tarik Barleti. Tarik was known for his prowess as a leader, his fondness of Prince Sulieman and his distaste of Prince Ahmet

Yet with you he was quiet, stoic, moody, even after the wedding and first night in the marriage bed

Tarik was dedicated to his role as captain of the Janissaries first and foremost, his marriage to you came somewhere at the very bottom of the list, if even on the list at all

After a time of settling into life as a wife in a loveless, barely even amicable marriage, you overheard palace maids discussing your marriage to Tarik

While you didn’t have high hopes in some amazing love story, what small hope you did have at a marriage of mutual understanding, was shattered when you learned that Tarik was in love with a woman named Dilara

Dilara who had been a former concubine in the sultan’s harem, was freed by Tarik, in which he hoped to gain her affections but she never returned his feelings, and what’s more at some capacity the two still kept contact

Why anyone would chase someone who didn’t care for them back you didn’t know. You only understood how much it hurt, even if you didn’t love Tarik Barleti, it felt like a sting of betrayal

But that was life in Topkapı palace, every shadow hid a scheme against the sultan, the princes and the royal family, down to the rats it seemed. Why would Tarik be any different?

So after that revelation, you did your due diligence in this lack lustre marriage. Ticked the boxes so to speak, but you gradually started to feel isolated, lonely. Your marriage; the butt of the joke amongst servants and nobles of the palace, and Tarik wasn’t a man to diffuse or encourage them, he simply did not care

So as it were now, you had nice quarters in the palace, where of course Tarik was needed most. Tarik had left you in charge of managing the household in his absence, essentially you were to do as you wished without causing scandal or headaches for him, exist quietly