Despina Hatun

A moonless night in the year 1389 on the foothills of Bursa’s Friar
Mountains. The apricot-colored verandah juts out of a mansion that was carved
in the rock like an eagle’s nest. A passionate sky, pregnant with a multitude
of bright stars, lights the countryside softly in blue. There are
intoxicating perfumes emanating from the stillness of the night as a
nightingale sings its melodious trills from deep inside the woods accompanied
by the croaks of frogs from the swamp to the side near the river. It is a
view of raw nature to inspire free spirits. Despina leans on the veranda’s
wooden railing, propped on bare arms. She peruses the woods, her glances
darting from one footpath to the other. As if she’s waiting for someone. Her
jet black hair is scattered by the spring wind. The sleeve-less red-velvet
caftan with the vividly embroidered carnations shows off her elegant body
perfectly. Despina Sultana, the violet-eyed daughter of Serbia’s King Lazar
is only nineteen but she is madly in love with Sultan Beyazid, the fourth
Ottoman Emperor, who is known as Yildirim (the Lightning). Her heart is
filled with passion, but also with fear. She crosses herself and lays her
palm across her chest praying to Jesus. Protect him, my Lord! Please keep him
safe for me! With all her heart, with all her being, she wishes him to return
home from the war… In a few minutes her attendant rushes to her in tears of
joy. “Our munificent Sultan, your beloved husband Yildirim is returning
victorious from the war!”