is now long past -- only the pain of parting still lingers. I accept my fate, as a daughter must, but it heartens me to know that my father's anger is even greater than my own.

Never will I be a slave, I vow to myself. I am honor bound to obedience, but the granddaughter of royals will not grovel like a common woman. If I please the Sultan as I am, so be it. I will behave with dignity, not servility.

A sheen of tears blurs my eyes as I look at the massive walls of the Seraglio. The huge bronze doors, ornamented with the roaring lions of Osman, swing wide and a brace of men marches forward to escort us into the dark maw of the interior.

Deep breaths, I remind myself. Don't let Father's last sight of his daughter be an unhappy one.

My composure restored, I nod to my three ladies to part the curtains and deliver the daughter of Barates into the hands of destiny.