Chapter 1: In the beginning, Melkor seduced Mairon to his allegiance.[i]
The world took shape from the Music of the Ainur in the beginning of time, and thereafter the incarnated Valar built their home in Middle-earth. There Melkor wrought discord and evil against the will of Ilúvatar, and some, whose hearts should have looked towards the good Powers, were turned instead toward him, who had stood up before the Valar and taken a form of tremendous majesty and fear before them, great and terrible to behold.
On the Isle of Almaren, in the deepest smithies, Mairon forged alone amongst the flickering flames and the long leaping tongues of darkness. He was a Maia under the service of Aulë, skilled at smithcraft beyond many. Bejeweled rings glittered upon his fingers in the dim light, and as he lifted his arm and brought it down again and again, the echo recalled the sound of footsteps, but Mairon heeded it not, for he pushed from his mind all worries and thought of his work above all else.
Melkor watched him from the shadows as he approached. For he had come into the fortress unseen. Yet here, in the deep smithies of Aulë, where none else were, he cared not if his presence was betrayed by his heavy footfalls. The Maia's fair form was cast in the bright light of the flames and his dark hair glinted in its glow. And Melkor thought him fair, and paused in the half-light by the great doors, his gaze resting upon Mairon's countenance.
Mairon suddenly looked up to see the dark, tall form of Melkor. The sound of hammering stopped and Melkor again approached, removing his dark helm.
"Do they indeed keep thee locked in the smithy like a wretched slave?" inquired the Dark Lord. His voice was low and his words grated like stone upon stone in a way that strangely satisfied Mairon's ears.
And the Maia understood what was meant of this, and whom "they" were that the figure spoke of, for he knew who it was that stood before him, but to his surprise he felt no fear as he listened to the Vala's words, be they those of the Dark Lord.
"Nay," he replied slowly, "for I work here of my own free will."
The air around Melkor seemed to fill with a sinister power as he approached. "And yet, for all thy valiant efforts and service, what hast thou accomplished?" Mairon was struck to the core by how readily Melkor had seen his deepest thought, but he remained silent as the Vala began to walk around the table towards him. "The Valar build mountains; I cast them down. They open great seas; I burn them into nothing. They unfold their plans for Arda and I effortlessly turn them aside to my liking…Thou hast noticed, hast thou not?"
Mairon did not turn to look at the Dark Lord. "I confess that in my heart it has worried me for long," he said with measured tone.
Melkor chuckled, and it was a sound as dark as the Void. "I think, Lord Mairon, one fair and skilled as thou should not be so trapped by these lesser spirits and poisoned by their obedience and servitude." The last words slipped between his lips with a hiss, and he cast net of his voice over Mairon as he passed behind him. Still Mairon did not turn to regard the Vala. "What thinkest thou?" Melkor asked lightly, and the easiness with which he spoke of the betrayal of the Valar impressed Mairon, as had indeed Melkor's deeds themselves. After all, it was the apparent will and power of Melkor to affect his designs quickly and masterfully that had first attracted Mairon to him. And now…
"I have sensed thy thought," Melkor murmured.
"How hast thou?"
Again Melkor chuckled and Mairon felt a chill. "I felt thy gaze from afar. It seems unfitting to me that thou should be chained here, unable to create things of beauty as thou wishest, where all thy work lies in ruin and chaos." He stood closer now behind Mairon but still the Maia did not turn. "How fair and powerful wouldst thou be upon a throne." The fire stirred in Mairon's eyes but Melkor could not see it. "How fair…" Mairon stiffened as a hand brushed his long dark hair from the back of his neck. "And powerful," the Dark Lord continued, his voice again coarse and suddenly forceful.
Mairon spoke as if to himself. "I do not deny that I have wished it."
Melkor fingered the edge of Mairon's robe at the back of his neck and caressed his skin. "I know what thou have wished. I have seen thy admiring gaze as it was turned away from the work of the Valar towards their Enemy." He felt pleasure grow in his dark heart as Mairon trembled almost imperceptibly under his touch. "I know thou hast looked with desire upon my power. Dost thou not in some corner of thy heart wish to stand by my side?"
"Nay, I do."
"Is that all that thou wishest?"
Mairon hesitated but did not turn.
"Face me."
Mairon obeyed immediately, and realized that he had yielded to Melkor's first command. Nor would it be the last. He beheld the Dark Lord before him and thought him for all his terrible power beautiful beyond any other. "Aye, I wish to serve by thy side," he said with quiet confidence.
Melkor towered above the Maia as he stepped forward suddenly and seized him by the side. "Thou canst have thy desire, Lord Mairon," he said darkly. Mairon did not have time to look away and found himself caught in the Dark Lord's gaze. He looked upwards into the deep eyes, his face unreadable. But then Melkor saw a fire kindled there and felt the flame that ran along Mairon's skin.
"Thy lust…for power…it is admirable."[ii] The words the Dark Lord uttered swam around Mairon, who found himself fixed against the tall form of the Vala, against the cold dark armor. Melkor gazed down into the other's burning eyes.
"My Lord," Mairon spoke, and the name of the Dark Lord alone was a statement, for the word fell with the sound of doom from his lips.
Melkor smiled a dark and terrible smile and lifted an armored finger to touch Mairon's mouth. Time seemed to drag slowly as Mairon watched, frozen in place, as the Dark Lord traced the shape of his lip. The metal of the gauntlet was cold. Melkor saw madness rise in Mairon's eyes as he held his gaze. He pulled away just as Mairon's lips parted under his hand as if to speak. The Maia remained silent and cast his eyes away, as if relieving them from too bright a light.
"Thou shallt do my bidding," Melkor commanded, his voice low, hand lingering at Mairon's throat. "I dwell in the Outer Darkness. There thou shallt find Thy Lord." He turned away. "And thou shallt serve me." His dark cloak and hair flowed after him as he left the hall.
A cold heat still burned in Mairon's lips and at his throat where the Dark Lord had touched him. And the words that hung in the air behind Melkor Mairon knew to be no question, but a pronouncement of his fate.
[i] Based on the quote from the Silmarillion "In the beginning of Arda, Melkor seduced him to his allegiance."
[ii] Mairon's name means "admirable."