A Game of Chess
Toward the end of the Second Age, when the strength of Númenor had reached its height, Ar-Pharazôn, a particularly aggressive tyrant, usurped the Throne and proceeded to expand Númenor's domain across all of Arda.
His armies swept across Arda with such overwhelming force that when they faced the armies of Mordor, Mordor dropped their weapons and fled without striking a blow.
Sauron could not stand up to the armies of Númenor. This left him with an unattractive choice, be overwhelmed and annihilated by a force he could not hope to withstand, or surrender and become a tributary nation under the High King of Númenor. Sauron was more inclined to bend than to be broken, so he accepted the terms of surrender, which required that Mordor swear not take up arms against Númenor, and that Sauron become Ar-Pharazôn's vassal.
Ar-Pharazôn summoned Sauron to come to Umbar, and humble himself before him. Sauron didn't like it, but believing it was the only way to save his realm, he went. Er-Mûrazor[1], the Chief of the Nazgûl, accompanied him, along with a small envoy and some men-at-arms.
They came to the gate in the city walls, where they were met by a much larger group of men-at-arms than their own. Sauron's personal guard had to remain outside the city walls while Sauron and his attendants were led through the main gate to the city center, unarmed and on foot. Er-Mûrazor noticed the group escorting them was armed and mounted.
When they reached the marketplace, a wide courtyard at the center of the city, they saw that a huge crowd had gathered to witness Sauron's humiliation. Their escort brought them to the center of the courtyard where the High King's throne had been placed.
Ar-Pharazôn was waiting for them. Sauron approached him and knelt at his feet.
Sauron spoke the words required by the terms of surrender. "I acknowledge I have been beaten by a greater lord than myself. I surrender and crave pardon for my offenses."
Ar-Pharazôn looked at him with the contempt due to a defeated rival. "At first, I intended to have you killed for calling yourself King of Men and Lord of the Earth, a title that I claim for myself. But I will spare your life, and strip you of your titles instead." Ar-Pharazôn said coldly.
Er-Mûrazor was reminded of a schoolyard bully who beats up another kid and makes him eat dirt. As a Nazgûl, Er-Mûrazor was able to sense Sauron's moods. Based on what Sauron was feeling, Er-Mûrazor guessed that sometime in the near future, Ar-Pharazôn was going to die a horrible death.
Ar-Pharazôn required Sauron to swear an oath that the forces of Mordor would not take up arms against Númenor.
Oaths are promises sworn with Ilúvatar as a witness, and the consequences for breaking them are terrible. Sauron was not stupid. He was guilty of many crimes, but oath breaking was not one of them.
Ar-Pharazôn then demanded Sauron pay him a staggeringly heavy tribute. Sauron agreed to it and promised to deliver the amounts on the dates required of him. Mordor had never been a wealthy nation, and most of what they had was used to fund the wars. The grain and livestock they would have to pay out in tribute would be a ruinous expense.
Finally, Ar-Pharazôn required Sauron to become his vassal. Although this is what Sauron had come here to do, Er-Mûrazor knew how much his Master would rather just get up and leave. They waited while Sauron knelt there, grinding his teeth and steeling himself to do it. Finally, he placed his hands between Ar-Pharazôn's and swore the oath of fealty. Ar-Pharazôn made him swear one additional oath, that he personally would not harm Ar-Pharazôn.
When the oath-swearing ceremony was complete, Sauron got up from his knees and turned to go. But just then, Ar-Pharazôn apparently remembered that Sauron had a poor history of keeping his word.
"Wait! I've changed my mind. I have decided your oath is not good enough. I will need you to remain here as a hostage." said Ar-Pharazôn.
"No! That wasn't part of our agreement. I was to return to my own lands and govern as I saw fit." Sauron protested.
"You'll just go home and convince yourself that oaths sworn under duress aren't binding. You'll have to remain here as security for your promises and as a pledge for the good behavior of your people." Ar-Pharazôn insisted.
Soldiers closed in and formed a circle around Sauron, cutting him off from his own people. He unconsciously reached for his sword hilt but his hand closed on air, as they'd been made to leave their weapons at the gate.
Ar-Pharazôn addressed the embassy from Mordor. "Do you understand what 'hostage' means? If the armies of Mordor move against me, or if you fail to pay tribute on time, or if you so much as speak against me, then he goes to the scaffold."
The man was utterly ruthless. Er-Mûrazor could tell that he meant it.
Er-Mûrazor saw Sauron put one hand over the other, then saw that he was holding something in his right hand. It was subtle, but he thought he had just seen his Master take off the Ring.[2]
Sauron looked at him. "You are my Regent. Go back to Barad-dûr." At the same time he sent a silent message, Take it and run!
Sauron took a step toward Er-Mûrazor and reached toward him, but a soldier seized him by the other arm and pulled him back.
At the same time, Er-Mûrazor reached between two soldiers in the circle surrounding his Master, his arm outstretched to take what Sauron was trying to give him, but a soldier struck him so hard, his arm was numb and useless for a time.
Sauron put his fist over his mouth and gasped, as if in horror at the sight of his servant being struck. When he lowered his hand, his fist was open and he wasn't holding anything anymore.
Another soldier seized his right arm. Together, they twisted his arms behind him and bound his wrists behind his back.
Er-Mûrazor was obedient, and he did what he was commanded to do. He stepped forward and threw his whole weight against a soldier, hard enough to knock him aside and open a gap in the circle of soldiers surrounding his Master. Then he took two or three long strides forward, embraced his Master, and kissed him full on the mouth.
Almost immediately, soldiers grabbed him from behind and pulled him off. They pinned his arms behind his back and frog-marched him though the soldiers, then shoved him in the direction of the Mordor envoys so hard he stumbled.
Ar-Pharazôn said, "Now here's a good opportunity to discuss what a hostage is for." He looked directly at Er-Mûrazor. "When one of you gets out of line, I don't have to do anything to you, because I can do it to him."
He walked over to Sauron, studied him for a moment, and then struck him across the face as hard as he could. It made a sound like the crack of a whip and left the imprint of a hand in red on Sauron's cheek, the mark of each individual finger visible. Ar-Pharazôn appeared to be gloating.
"Now tell me you're sorry for what he did."
Sauron bowed his head in submission. "I am sorry. I beg pardon."
Er-Mûrazor clenched his teeth and thought, "That tyrant is a dead man." Tears of rage and frustration burned behind his eyes, and he wasn't someone who was given to tears.
But something was odd. He could sense his Master's mood, and he sensed Sauron wasn't all that upset about having been taken hostage.
Then he got it.
Er-Mûrazor played an aggressive and skillful fame of chess, but when he played against his Master, he almost always lost.
He remembered one particular game when Sauron moved a pawn almost all the way across the board and was about to make it a queen. He watched that pawn for quite a while.
Suddenly, he made a daring move to capture it, and at the same time, put himself in a good position to do even more damage.
Sauron acted surprised and protested, "Not my pawn!" But as soon as he took his fingers from the piece and committed himself to the move, he could almost hear the trap spring shut. Check and mate on the next move. Er-Mûrazor was good, but he never saw it coming.
Er-Mûrazor had just realized that Sauron protested his capture in his 'Not my pawn!' voice. The trap was set, and Ar-Pharazôn had walked right into it.
The soldiers escorted the Mordor envoy out of the center of the city to the gate they came in, where their own men-at-arms and horses were waiting. He made the long walk without speaking, even though the others were giving him a hard time.
"We wouldn't have gotten kicked out so roughly if Wonder Boy here hadn't insisted on trading spit with our Master." said one of the men-at-arms.
"What got into you, anyway? That tyrant struck our Master for what you did. What were you thinking?" said the ambassador to Umbar.
"I know about the Númenorian custom for men to kiss goodbye, but I thought it was suppose to be … um … more chaste than that." said one of the diplomats. "Are you going to announce your engagement soon, or what?"
Er-Mûrazor was silent. His mouth had been on Sauron's for just a few seconds, but it was enough. When the soldiers pulled them apart, he had the Ring in his mouth. But until he could find a moment of privacy to put it on a chain and hang it around his neck under his shirt, he wasn't going to open his mouth for any reason.
[1] Er-Mûrazor ('the Black Prince') was an early title held by Tindomul son of Tar-Ciryatan. In the Third Age, he was known as the Witch King of Angmar.
[2] There is ambiguity about whether Sauron took the Ring to Númenor or left it behind. Tolkien says in Letter #211, "Sauron naturally had the One Ring, and so very soon dominated the minds and wills of most of the Númenorians. But he also says in the Silmarillion that after Sauron fell into the abyss during the Destruction of Númenor, he "came back to Middle-earth and to Mordor that was his home. There he took up again his great Ring in Barad-dûr."