The marble corridors of the palace were cold, even with the midday sun beating down on the domed roofs of the capital. Sultan Selim stood by the arched window of his private chambers, his gaze fixed on the Bosphorus. In the file of his mind—much like the data in —the events of the past few months were organized into sharp, painful clarity.
"Only to say your name, Sultan. He carried your childhood wooden sword to the end." SultanP01E0320221080pmkv
He turned away from the window, the heavy silk of his robes sweeping against the stone. The episode of his grief was over; the season of his absolute rule had begun. He sat at his desk and dipped his quill into the ink, ready to write the next chapter of an empire that would remember him as "The Magnificent," never knowing the cost of the ink he used. The marble corridors of the palace were cold,
Selim didn’t turn. He knew what "done" meant. In the third act of his reign, he had been forced to choose between his blood and his empire. A rebellion, whispered in the markets and funded by old rivals, had been traced back to his own brother’s household. "Did he speak?" Selim asked, his voice a low rasp. "Only to say your name, Sultan