Prologue

Neslihan Sultan, daughter of Sultan Suleiman, was a vision of beauty and power. With flowing ebony hair and piercing dark eyes, she carried the grace of her empire and the sharp wit of her father. Sent to England to negotiate a trade alliance with Henry VIII, she arrived at court draped in rich Ottoman silks and jewels, The likes the English nobility had never before seen. Her presence unsettled many, but none more than Anne Boleyn, who watched her with wary eyes. Yet Neslihan was no mere emissary-she was a daughter of the East, a lioness in a foreign land.