Istanbul, May 28, 2807. The yeniceris and their yamaks (auxiliaries) are already inside the city, aided by the inaction of the Nizam-I Cedid troops. While the Muggle portions of the city are being looted and pillaged, because, to them, Sihirli Mahalle looked like a decrepit area from the outside, the magical community is spared. At least for now.

  When Mustafa, the rebel leader, arrives at the gates of the Atmeydani (Hippodrome), he makes his demands heard to the Sultan’s emissaries, including Ataullah, the Seyhulislam (religious head), and the two kazaskers, along with their staff. Speaking of which:

  “We demand the following: the abolition of the Nizam-I Cedid reforms, the execution of the following people:”

  Mustafa then lists 11 people, among which are various reformers such as Ahmed, the defterdar of the Irad-I Cedid, and assumed its sole leadership after Nurcan’s flight.

  And the late “British Mahmud”, Ahmed Vasif’s successor as reis-ul Kuttab, who was killed yesterday. (Ahmed Vasif died a month after the retreat from Silivri)

  And, just as Saleh, as vizier of magic, leaves the han on Sogukcesme for an emergency meeting at the palace, a yeniceri wielding a Charleville 1777 pillaged from the Levent armory opens fire on the back of what he assumed was a Muggle reformer.

  But, because of the Charleville 1777’s lack of precision at range, and the firing angle, Saleh is hit from behind, just as the three Divan members return to the palace from the Atmeydani to deliver the messages from the rebel leadership.

  After the hit, Saleh’s wounds start bleeding and another yeniceri draws his yatagan to then cut Saleh’s head off. However, since Saleh isn’t on their target list, his body lies on the ground.

  Selim and what was left of his reformers in the palace remain in his inner sanctum, trembling when they hear gunfire from the palace’s outer perimeter.

  The kazasker for Anatolia delivers the rebel demands, which freeze Selim’s blood as he listens to them.

  Too much blood has already been spilled. Yet, what they’re asking for amount to going back to the way it was pre-1789. They claim that the Nizam-I Cedid and the Irad-I Cedid were bid’ats (unholy innovations) because it resulted in a loss of Muslim identity to some, Selim starts ruminating while his hands start sweating.

  “I guess, I have no choice but to deliver these men if it means further bloodshed can be avoided…” Selim sighs, in front of the kazasker. “And dissolve the Irad-I Cedid while also repealing the Nizam-I Cedid reforms!”

  But what he doesn’t realize yet is that, even though the Vizier of Magic isn’t on the list of 11 dignitaries to be delivered to them, he’s already dead. And other wizards are recovering his body amid the chaos on Sogukcesme.

  As Ahmed leaves the palace, along with Nurcan’s replacement on the Meclis-I Irad-I Cedid, Ibrahim, the two men don’t suspect that yeniceri are after them, despite the Atmeydani being about ten minutes’ walk away from the palace’s main gate.

  When a yeniceri detachment spots them nearby, they start wringing their hands as they attempt to run away from the palace, along with the Valide Sultan’s steward, who’s forcibly brought out of the palace as well.

  However, it’s clear that even irregular heavy infantrymen calling themselves yeniceri, and armed with their iconic yatagan sabers, or a Charleville 1777, are still more than a match for these three men.

  “Surrender! Now!” a yeniceri then threatens the two men by pointing the yatagan. And swinging it menacingly.

  While the two Irad-I Cedid leaders are carried to the Atmeydani, captured by the yeniceri, the mob of angry yeniceri, frustrated by the reforms that threaten their livelihoods, is closing in on the palace.

  Yet, when the three dignitaries arrive at the Atmeydani, the mob of yamaks and yeniceris throws themselves at them, swinging yatagans at them until all their heads are cut off.

  Once these three men have their heads cut off, the rebels stuff these heads with cotton before planting them on pikes next to one of the Atmeydani’s obelisks.

  Yet, at the same time, some of the regular patrons of the han serving as the interface discover, horrified, that the vizier died through Muggle means. Such as Hamza.

  “The Vizier is dead!” Hamza gasps between two gobstone games, upon seeing Saleh’s bloodied corpse.

  The news of the vizier’s death spread across Sihirli Mahalle, and everyone gasps as the body is being circulated all the way to the Bab-I Humayun. Including the Sihirli Gasitesi (the main magical newspaper of the Empire) staffer responsible for covering news from Topkapi, who starts writing a piece about his death.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  What happened? How could Saleh have died at the hands of these… Muggle vermin? Hamza still feels the shock of seeing the vizier’s wounds, clearly bearing the mark of a stray bullet on his back and especially yatagan cuts.

  When the body arrives at the Bab-I Humayun’s headquarters, the employee warns Sevgi, who’s the senior official whose office is closest to the entrance:

  “Madam, the vizier is dead!” the guard announces to the magical defterdar.

  Sevgi starts sweating. “We need to hold an emergency meeting, now!”

  Saleh’s death is throwing a wrench in our plans to secure magical peace. We first asked for Pankratiev on the Russian side, but no, the Qajars found him unacceptable. For some reason, the Qajars preferred Vaidi, Sevgi starts thinking about the latest development in this attempt to confine the war to Muggles.

  Sevgi then convenes the various department heads with a pretty loaded agenda, including items such as the funeral of the late Saleh, the confinement measures to take in Istanbul as violence escalates around Sihirli Mahalle. And, of course, the whole dossier of magical peace talks with France, Qajars and Russia.

  “Today, grave news have arrived from just outside Sihirli Mahalle. Our vizier has died while getting to an emergency meeting at Topkapi Palace, in the most unceremonious way possible. We must prepare the funeral” Sevgi then turns to Hamza. “Since you wasted the Bab-I Humayun’s money into organizing gobstones tournaments, such as the Worlds Qualifiers, you’re on the hook for funding the Vizier’s funeral from your own pocket!”

  “I’m afraid that I might be able to fund only the memorial gobstones tournament part of it…” Hamza, the de facto head of the magical entertainment department, retorts. “But rest assured that the memorial tournament will be open to all!”

  “Gobstones… you were warned multiple times about public spending for hosting these events!” the magical chief justice scolds him. “We must not forget about the chaos outside. We must close the access to Sihirli Mahalle from the outside until further notice!”

  Now I just need to buy some rose water to replace the fluids from these Pentelic marble gobstones I have! That said, the feasts that usually accompanied the gobstones meets I hosted in the past would be no different here, Hamza is reminded of the need to refill his gobstones that he plans on using at the funeral. And yet, without public funding, Istanbul would never have hosted Gobstones Worlds Qualifiers, and the Ottoman Empire would never have made it to the Worlds either! Maybe it will reflect well on the Bab-I Humayun if Istanbul successfully hosts the next Gobstones Worlds…

  “If I may, closing off the access to Sihirli Mahalle until further notice from the han wouldn’t prevent the chaos from entering this place through fireplaces! Especially since we need to keep the residents fed!” the hekimbasi (chief physician) clamors. “But we need some deli bal (mad honey) to reinforce the neighborhood’s Muggle repellent talismans!”

  “Thank Allah that Nurcan fled the city, or this would have been far worse! From what I heard, it seems that the heads of the Muggle Irad-I Cedid that was so dear to her were killed at the Atmeydani, and the Irad-I Cedid along with them…” the head of the Muggle Liaison Office sighs, before turning to Hamza. “Your priorities are terribly misplaced. You think that turning a state funeral into a bouboule tournament would make the event less bitter, but it could be a provocation!”

  “Yet, we must not forget about the cost of diplomatic gifts to give the others at these peace talks, should they proceed. Qajars might not like being gifted flying carpets by other countries very much, but the translation of Nurcan’s applied arithmancy book to French was completed just a few weeks ago!” Sevgi retorts.

  While the discussions continue, within the confines of the Bab-I Humayun’s headquarters, the chaos outside Sihirli Mahalle spreads unabated to other areas of the city, the death knell of Selim III’s reign is heard as well.

  But they wait on the changes on the throne to designate a new vizier, believing that they might need to change their approach to Muggle affairs.

  Speaking of which, he has been deposed the next day, after Ataullah issued a fatwa stating that the Sultan was unfit to rule, stating, among other things, the Nizam-I Cedid military reforms were infidel imitations of the West, a threat to the Islamic traditions carried by the yeniceri, and the fiscal exactions (such as the abuse of musadere on mahlul timars). And, of course, the sultan is imprisoned in the kafes section of the palace, a prison for male royals.

  Which also means that a new sultan is crowned, here Mustafa IV. Who, under immense pressure of Nizam-I Cedid opponents, signed a huccet granting amnesty to the rebels of Kabakci Mustafa. And ensured that they would never be held responsible for Selim III’s deposition.

  When, on the morning of May 30, the issues of the Sihirli Gasitesi from May 25 through May 30, sent by the head of the Muggle Liaison Office, arrive at Nurcan’s cabin in this mewat forest in the Surmene kaza, still with some traces of snow outside, Nurcan starts dreading the arrival of the magical mail.

  Today is the day Yusuf turns 10, and Jannat is 7 since April 15, and for months now, we were isolated from the wider world, with only the odd magical visitors and maybe Vincent’s trip peddling medicines down there in various towns around here, Nurcan trembles while fetching the mail, making her move more unnaturally than before.

  Upon reading the headlines of these newspapers, she freezes in place. Especially the May 29 issue, which is about the violent end of the Nizam-i Cedid leadership. And Selim III’s deposition.

  “Eeep!” Nurcan screams, but, given the cabin’s distance from the nearest settlement, or road, only the cabin’s occupants could hear her.

  “What’s going on here? Some other forest creature?” Vincent asks her.

  “No!” Nurcan keeps screaming, while brandishing the May 29 issue. “Look at this! Now you know what would have awaited me if we stayed in Istanbul any longer!”

  The issue shows a magical picture of the heads of the Nizam-I Cedid leadership being put on pikes at the Atmeydani, including Ahmed’s. By then, the cold, hard truth hits Vincent like a ton of bricks.

  “Oh!” Vincent gasps. “Now, I understand why you had us leave Istanbul eight months ago for this cabin!”

  “Thank Allah I saw trouble coming before the families of these Muggles I worked with!”