Devlet Sultan
Devlet Sultana, beautiful as a ripe rose, wakes up suddenly from a
nightmare in the most splendid bedroom of Bursa Palace. She is shaking with
fear, her breast heaving, her eyes awash in tears. It’s a hot summer night.
She walks to the window and throws open the velvet curtains. She trains her
blue eyes on the trees, then raises her gaze to the sky. A myriad stars
appear to be embossed on the dark firmament as if fixed with golden nails.
They are a random scattering of joyful flickers, forming a background for one
very bright star that burns orange as if about to explode... The year is
1389, and Sultan Bayezid is poised in front of the fortifications of Niğbolu
city. The sky is pitch black. The Sultan, who is the only lover Devlet has
ever known, is refusing to listen to his advisers. He mounts his horse in
fury and rushes the castle singlehandedly. The enemy army is all around him,
but he is like a thunderbolt. He finds a breach in the battlements and
penetrates the castle. He stands tall on the ramparts. The enemy soldiers are
dumbfounded. They await his next move. A brave voice resounds from the
battlefield below the walls. “Bayezid, hey Bayezid!’ The Sultan is astonished
that anyone should address him thus. He peers down and demands the speaker show
himself. A rider slowly appears from the shadows, but he is covered head to
toe in long flowing robes. The Sultan does not recognise him. “I am here to
encourage you to persevere, to be patient. Victory is within your grasp!” And
he rides away into the forrest... The Sultana, strokes her long golden hair,
and a smile crosses her lips. She decides that it was not a nightmare, but
actually a vision, a very good dream with a positive omen. Her husband is
safe. He has won the war. It makes her happy to believe this. She returns to
her silk bed, but she cannot fall asleep. In her heart she is still afraid.
To her great relief, the morning brings excellent news. Two white
carrier-pigeons land in the palace garden at dawn, with a message from the
Sultan: he’s indeed victorious, and on his way back to her.
