Captured

They had been preparing for an attack ever since they made the sultanate their home, but not for the sudden attack when half of the men were wasted already.

"Ishmael, move the women and the children to the safe house we arranged. Let ten soldiers guard them. Muhammad, escort Roksolana and Abaan to the seaside where the emergency boat is located. Toyeeb, gather the men for battles. Quadri, get me my weapon." The Sultan barked out commands which everyone scurried to obey.

"Muhammad, take Abaan away. Make sure you guard him with your life. I'm staying here to fight with my Abu," Roksolana told the young man who looked at the Sultan for approval. The Sultan nodded his head in affirmation.

Muhammad took Abaan by the arm and led him out. The men were already moving out to the battleground. Asleem rushed in the door, clothed in his battle attire. There were a few soldiers with him.

"You have to leave Sultan. You too, Roksolana. It's not safe here, we've already lost half of our men." Asleem told them.

"I think it's too late for that." A voice said from the doorway.

Roksolana looked at the owner of the voice. He was a very handsome man to look at, but she wasn't impressed. The man was here to destroy her tribe, her sultanate. She'll make sure he suffered a terrible death because of that. The man chuckled as if he could hear her thoughts.

Asleem and his armies stood protectively in front of the Selim family. Their swords held out to stop any bypasser.

"Leave. Now," Asleem yelled, just before attacking.

"These are my people, Roksolana. I have to protect them. We'll buy you some time to leave." Her father told her, just before he joined the battle.

Roksolana watched as her father and Asleem fought vigorously against the intruders, but it was clear that they were outnumbered. Most of the soldiers were down too. Without hesitation, Roksolana joined the combat, taking down two opponents in rapid succession.

"Roksolana. I told you to leave." Her father shouted.

"I'm not leaving you, Abu. I must protect you as my Sultan." She told him, taking down a man who wanted to attack her father from behind.

"Listen to your father, my lady," Asleem said.

"Then, what is the essence of learning combat skills and swordsmanship if I can't even use it to protect the people I love?" She asked.

Aamil Jamal watched the battle before him with surprise. It was the first time in all his 26 years of existence to see a Muslim woman wearing male attire. Not just that, her head wasn't covered. And, she can fight too and that too, excellently. What sort of Sultan ruled these people for their women to do as they wished?

He was still lost in this thought when the gleaming of a sword caught his attention, he quickly moved out of the way of the sword. He was surprised to see it was the woman who was challenging him. His fury grew and he drew his sword.

"How dare you fight a mere woman point sword at me?" He asked, enraged.

But Roksolana wasn't interested in answering questions and attacked him. Jamal blocked her moves effectively. Each time one of them attacked, the other would block the moves. Jamal hadn't expected the woman to be that good. Whoever had taught her, had taught her well.

Roksolana soon studied his sword pattern and noticed a flaw that wasn't obvious. But she had been trained by a man who had taught her to always watch out for flaws. The man she was battling with would leave himself open on a side while attacking from an angle. Roksolana moved her sword up like she was going to attack his neck, Jamal moved to block her attacks. She withdrew at the last minute and drove the sword into his left side stomach instead.

Jamal looked shocked at the strategy she had used. Worse, she smiled at him and pushed the sword even deeper. Jamal held the sword and kicked Roksolana away with his leg with as much strength as he could manage. The Sultan moved closer to defend his daughter, while Asleem moved to kill Jamal.

"Stop or he dies." A voice appeared while holding a knife to Abaan's throat. Asleem froze.

"Drop your weapons." The man holding Abaan commanded. Asleem and the Sultan quickly dropped their weapons, and the soldiers took them away from their reach. They tied all three of them with ropes.

Jamal grunted as he forced the sword out of his side and threw it to the floor. He sat on one of the seats, holding pressure on his injury. An injury inflicted on him by a mere woman. He hissed at her as he remembered. Roksolana simply grinned.

The man holding Abaan proceeded to tie him too, but Jamal stopped the man.

"Leave him. He's just a child."

"The boy's a warrior." The man informed Jamal and finished tying him. He dumped him with the rest.

Jamal looked at the man who was the sultan of the sultanate he had attacked.

"Why are children and women warriors in your sultanate?" He asked him.

"Because my Abu is not as backward as the rest of you men who think women are nothing," Roksolana answered instead.

"Shut up, woman. It is not your place to talk," Jamal cautioned her.

"Untie me and see if it is my place or not," Roksolana said, eyeing the wound Jamal was still putting pressure on.

Jamal's face tightened out of anger. He quickly schooled his face when he saw Roksolana watching him intently with a smile on. Did the woman ever stop smiling? He beckoned to his right-hand man, Sodeeq.

"Search the entire area for what we came here for." He instructed the man, who belled out commands to the armies.

For thirty minutes, nobody spoke. Jamal just kept the pressure on his injury. Roksolana hurdled closer to her brother who rested his head on her chest. Asleem looked disappointed at himself for being captured. While the Sultan looked angry he had failed his people.

Roksolana caught the stare of her father and looked at him fully. She noticed that he was trying to say something to her, but she couldn't comprehend what he was saying. The Sultan fixed his eyes on her necklace and mouthed the words again.

"We couldn't find anything, Jamal," Sodeeq told him.

"Nothing at all? Not even among the documents?" Jamal asked.

Sodeeq shook his head negatively. Gesturing with his head towards the captives, he asked Jamal, "what do we do with them?"

Jamal moved towards the people in question. He lowered himself to Roksolana's position, stared at her intently, before replying.

"Kill them all."

Roksolana stared back at him without emotion. She didn't even flinch when she knew she was dying. This made Jamal even angrier than he already was.

"I changed my mind. Do not kill this one, I want her alive. But kill everyone else," Jamal said to his soldiers.

At this, Roksolana's eyes grew daggers which she threw at the man crouching low in front of her. She looked at her father and saw the fight was already out of him. Abaan was already sweating all over. Asleem was trying to look strong but she could tell he was a bit afraid too.

"How dare you touch my family? Don't you dare touch them. I'll gouge out your eyes and them to the eagles." Jamal simply smiled at her threat. "Kill me instead. But let them go, please."

It was Jamal's turn to chuckle. Finally, something broke her spirit, and wiped the smile off her beautiful face.

"Barakallahu feekum roksolana." Her father told her, before closing his eyes.

"Abu, no!" she cried.

"Knock her out." He commanded one of his soldiers.

"I'm going to kill you," Roksolana muttered, just before the light faded into darkness and she lost consciousness.

"Wait," Jamal stopped his men who had their swords drawn already. "Don't kill them."

"But, Jamal. We can't let them live," Sodeeq told him.

"The Sultan has what we need. The young boy and the general are good fighters that can be useful for the army," Jamal explained.

"But...," Sodeeq started.

"Are you questioning my authority?" Jamal asked.

"No, Sultan. I dare not." The man in question answered.

"You are a Sultan? What kind of Sultan went to the battlefield himself?" The captured Sultan asked.

Jamal looked at Sultan Selim straight in the eyes before asking, "What kind of Sultan doesn't care about his life and risked it to fight with his people?". This made Roksolana's father keep quiet.

"Put the men in the cargoes of the ship separately and put the lady in my room," Jamal instructed.

Sodeeq narrowed his eyes but simply replied yes Sultan, which made Jamal smile. Sodeeq was his best friend, and he loathed when Jamal went all out on him using his authority as Sultan.

"What about the women and the children?" One of his men asked.

"Separate them into different ships and make sure our men are with them at all times. Take away any weapon on any of them. We don't know how many of them can fight," Jamal said, eyeing the unconscious Roksolana.

"Yes Sultan," Sodeeq said in a mocking tone.

"Good. Sodeeq, I'm leaving you in charge of everything from now on."

"Yes, Sul..." Sodeeq was cut short as Jamal slowly collapsed to the floor. Sodeeq grabbed him before he could hit the floor. "Jamal... Jamal... " He called but Jamal was already unconscious.