Black Lady of Mordor chapter 2
*I'll say again this will depart some from story plot, and I don't own LotR clearly Also please be sure to review, I can't make a story better if I don't get any feedback about what people don't like*
It was sad how much shoving is involved when entering a city as a prisoner. Shoved into the city, shoved over here and then back to where you were. Shoved up some steps to see some elves, shoved back down the steps and then shoved down in a seat and surrounded by elven guards while the hobbits and Strider wandered off to talk to other elves. It really was exhausting. So there I sat with four elven guards waiting for someone to come and talk to me. I looked around wondering just what the elves did in this city, everything was decorated beyond belief and it wasn't like anything would benefit from more decoration. They had too much time on their hands, perfectionists the whole lot of them.
My thoughts of how to reform this city were interrupted when Strider and an elf man came up to me. The man looked shocked to see me then spoke to me.
"You serve Sauron, yet you are an elf. How your soul has escaped pollution from his evil I can not even guess at. Tell me what is your name and why do you serve the dark lord?" I sighed and looked at the elf, had Strider told him nothing? Regardless I had a need to relieve myself and avoiding their questions wouldn't help the matter.
"I am Leanien the Black Lady of Mordor; I serve Sauron because he is my sire. Is there anything else you want to know? Perhaps my favorite color? I'll save you the trouble of having to ask nosy elf, its purple." The elf gave me a shocked look, perhaps it was my cheekiness but I really didn't care at the moment. I was tired dirty and stiff from wearing armor for the past five days strait. The elf seemed to understand I was in a mood and gave the guards instructions in their fancy elvish tongue and then I was shoved again through the city and to a room farther in where a serving girl waited. The elves took posts around the room and the serving girl spoke.
"My lady if you please come to the center of the room, I will help you out of this armor, there is a bath being drawn as we speak." I walked over to her and she untied my hands from behind my back and I realized just how stiff my shoulders had become in the past few days. The girl went to remove my armor but I stopped her holding up a hand and said.
"I know you are supposed to get me out of this armor but I really could do to relieve myself. So if you could point me to the first chamber pot that would be great." The elf turned a pink tone as if what I had said was something embarrassing, though in all reality it probably was I didn't care, I was about to burst. The Nazgul always said I had the bladder of a mouse. But none the less she showed me too a room attached to the one I had just been in. Though this room was considerably smaller it served one important purpose.
~~O~~
A few minutes later I was free of my armor and behind a wall divider in a tub of steaming water. It was wonderful, the bath felt so refreshing and though the serving girl tried to wash me I refused her help in this so she let me have my privacy behind the room divider and left me a bar of lavender soap and some bath oils. I sat there in the water for a moment just enjoying it. It was near impossible to get this much clean water in Mordor, all baths there was sitting in a room with a pail of water scrubbing yourself down before you caught a chill. Of course I was the only one who really cared about bathing in Mordor.
As the water went from steaming hot to just cozy hot I gave up on trying to relax there was just too much going on in my mind to enjoy the bath properly. Besides I didn't want to just sit, that was all I did the past few days sit and walk. So I grabbed the soap and lathered myself up, and after my body was sufficiently clean I looked at the bath oils the elf had left me. I never used anything so extravagant in Mordor, hell the soap was fancy for me. I had always made due with a scentless soap that was barely able to call itself soap. So I took one of the oils and poured some into my hands and ran it through my hair. Not knowing how much to use I did this three times.
When I was done with the bath I got out and the serving girl came up quickly wrapping me in a large warm towel. She took another one after my hair that was when I realized that she was actually a few inches taller than I was. This irked me slightly as it seemed that the only ones I was taller than were the hobbits and they were Halflings to begin with. Though when the serving girl directed me to another screen like the one the bath had been hidden behind and I found that there was a chair with a lavender purple dress on it. The thing was pretty, it had trailing sleeves and the back of the dress was designed to drag behind the person that wore it. There was silver detail stitching of vines on the sleeves and down the skirt of the dress. The serving girl then took the towel from me and picked up the dress and held it ready to throw over my head.
"Where is my armor? I will wear that." The serving girl looked at me for a moment then said as she threw the dress over my head.
"Your armor has been taken to be mended and cleaned. You will wear this for now. Put your arms through the sleeves." I struggled with the dress for a moment and eventually got my arms in the sleeves. Once I had the dress on the serving girl expertly laced it up the back so I was trapped snuggly in the flowing garment.
"Time to dress your hair." The girl said making me sit down and took a brush after my hair. It was a painful experience though the bath oils had softened my hair it did not do much to detangle it. "You used too much bath oil you know, all you need is a few drops to give your hair a light scent. You are rather fragrant now."
There was a faint knock on the door frame as a stately elf in a velvet robe came into the room and spoke at me.
"You have been summoned to the council of Elrond, I will escort you there." With those words the serving girl ran the brush through my hair a few more times then sent me on my way with the escort, and the four guards. When we arrived at the council area it was a small patio with a circle of chairs. All around the circle sat men elves and dwarfs; there was also the one hobbit that the Witch King had stabbed. I was a little shocked that the hobbit hadn't become a wraith yet though I suppose if the elves got to him soon enough they would be able to stop the change. All the better in my opinion, who needed a hobbit as a ring wraith anyway. I was directed to a chair and sat the four guards stood around me one on each side of me in front and back. The elf that lead me to the council walked over to a chair by Elronds and sat.
~~O~~
Boromir watched as the last person invited to the council a she-elf with four guards arrived. She was a beauty pale skin, long dark hair, light blue eyes. She was in a lavender dress and even though she sat across the circle from him he could smell the perfumes on her; Lavender and honeysuckle. He idly wondered why she was present when the matter of the ring was a concern for men and not women.
"Welcome friends of old, you have been summoned here today to answer the threat of Mordor." Elrond opened the meeting. "Frodo bring forth the ring" Boromir's attention shifted from the elf woman to the hobbit that stood now and set the ring on the plinth in the center of the circle.
"So it is true…" Boromir muttered as he saw the ring.
~~O~~
I watched as the meeting went on, so they were going to decide what to do with the ring. The fools didn't realize what I was capable of if they thought it safe for me to be here while they decided this. They would have no secrecy about this now. I would inform the wraiths and they would pass the word on to Sauron. They would never make it anywhere close to Mordor if I could help it. My thoughts were interrupted as a man spoke.
"No tis a gift to the enemies of Mordor. Why not use this ring? Long have my people fought back the forces of Mordor. By the blood of our people are your lands kept safe. Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy." I laughed and said with a small smile on my face.
"Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul,
Ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul " As I spoke the Black Speech of Mordor the area darkened and my words echoed in a deep and menacing way. It was the inscription that the ring had when Sauron wore it or it was in fire. "You think you can use this ring? In the hands of any but Sauron it can only give invisibility. What would you do with that? Send a single warrior out to fight our armies? You are foolish to think that this would even help in the slightest." As I finished this I realized that everyone was looking at me now in shock, the elves had the most shock across their faces. They seriously were looking at me like I had just pulled a sword from my sleeve. Then as if they came to their senses and under stood what I had said afterwards people were on their feet, some with weapons in hand shouting at Elrond and some looked as if they were going to attack me. The guards around me pulled their weapons and kept the people of the council back.
"What is the meaning of this? What did she mean by our armies? Elrond have the elves sided with Sauron!" These sorts of questions flew from everyone except the elves and Strider. Elrond stood and silenced them all.
"The elves have not sided with Sauron. This elf is not of any faction of elves. She is the Black Lady of Mordor Leanien. Captured not a week ago, she has been brought here because she will be of use to our task." People began to sit down and the man who had tried to convince the council to give the ring to Gondor muttered.
"She is the virtue of Sauron…." As things calmed down the attention was returned to the ring and they came to the conclusion that they would destroy it.
"For the final matter, Leanien will accompany the fellowship on the quest." Elrond said then looking at me he continued. "You are to help them with any matter concerning Mordor. If you refuse they are at liberty to kill you."
"I am not doing it. I will not give this rag tag band of power hungry mongrels a tour of Mordor so they can destroy Sauron. I am loyal to him and will not betray him."
"Then you will spend the rest of your days in a prison and interrogated until you tell us the secrets of Mordor and we reward you with a swift death." I glared at Elrond then said in a murmur.
"Fine I'll go." I didn't want to be with the fellowship but I also didn't want to be in a prison for the rest of my life. So I took the lesser of two evils and agreed to aid the fellowship.
~~O~~
It was a few hours before the fellowship would leave for Mordor and Elrond pulled Gandalf aside and said.
"Gandalf I don't send Leanien with you just to aid you through Mordor. Three thousand years ago just before the battle at Mordor all elves were fleeing the evil of Sauron, though a family was attacked. These elves had with them a child barely having beginning to live wraiths attacked and the family was killed. When they were found the child was missing. Hope for finding the child was lost as the war broke out. The babe was named Leanien, I believe that the Black Lady and this child are one in the same. How she has managed to survive the evil of Sauron I cannot begin to guess, but there is hope for her to rejoin her people if she can be freed from the evil of Sauron." Gandalf looked at Elrond seriously then said.
"I understand, the loss of an elven child is a hard one. If she can be saved I will see that it is done."
~~O~~
Aragorn stood at the shrine of Narsil examining the mural of Isildur fighting Sauron. Legolas walked up to him and said softly.
"I am disturbed by Leanien, never before has an elf been able to speak the Black Speech. Evil has hold over her yet she appears unaffected by it."
"She is convinced that Sauron is her father. She believes that his cause is just. She is too far taken with evil."
"I want to help her Aragorn, no elf should have to live with so much evil tainting their soul. It twists their image into the something unnatural. She has yet to have her form twisted, so she can still be saved." Aragorn looked at Legolas and said in a tone that seemed almost apologetic.
"Then we must try, but from what little time I have spent with her I don't hope for success."
~~O~~
This pissed me off, so when the serving girl said it had been taken to get repaired and cleaned that actually meant that my armor had been melted down and then thrown out of Rivendell because it was apparently 'tainted with evil'. It was all a load of bull crap! My armor had been fine and now I had to go on a quest with a herd of strangers wearing only the thin leather armor that the elves gave me. I mean it wasn't even proper armor! I wore a leather vest and some gauntlets. Other than that I had a less extravagant version of the lavender dress on. The sleeves here were tight to my arms and the skirt didn't trail on the ground. There was no silver treaded decorations on it either, it was all very practical for a woman who was to be traveling on foot. Speaking of feet my were now clad in tough leather boots.
What was worse is I didn't even get my own weapons. They gave me a bow and a light elven sword that had a slight curve to it. I swear the thing was so light I was afraid to swing it cause it would fly out of my hands. I wanted something with a bit more weight to it.
~~O~~
Aragorn watched as Leanien came down the steps in leather armor with an elven sword and bow. She looked nothing like the woman on Weathertop. Though it was more disturbing to Aragorn as Leanien walked past Arawen; they had a striking resemblance to one another.
Elrond watched the fellowship leave with the elven maiden who was both tainted by evil and pure as any infant. He watched as the child barely in her adult years as an elf left his protection again.
~~O~~
We were hardly away from Rivendell before we were attacked. It was a small band of orcs wandering just outside of elven lands. As the fellowship pulled swords and attacked the orcs I stood back and avoided the fight. I wasn't concerned if any of them got hurt, and they weren't concerned if I was hurt. I would have avoided the fight splendidly if five of the orcs hadn't decided I was an easy target. I whipped out the elven blade and parried the first of the attacks felling two of the orcs. As I said it would the light blade flew from my hands as I went to behead one of the orcs. Without the blade in hand I had to dodge the oncoming attacks. I dodged a blade but at the cost of getting hit across my back as one of the orcs bashed me with his shield knocking me to the ground. In a last ditch effort to attack the oncoming orcs I grabbed an arrow from my quiver and stabbed it into the leg of the closest orc. In return the orc hit me across the cheek knocking me back down. I looked up to see him pulling the arrow from his leg and made to stab me in the chest with it. I rolled and screamed as the arrow drove through my arm. I expected the blade of the orc to fall on me next but that wasn't what happened. I heard the clang of swords overhead and the orcs fell around me dead. I groaned as I pushed myself up with my good arm. The man Boromir kneeled down next to me and said.
"Hold still, I will get this out of you with as little pain as possible." By now the fight was over and everyone was gathered around watching. I clenched my teeth and grabbing the arrow ripped it from my arm biting back a scream of pain. Boromir looked at me shocked but pulled out a bandage and tied it around my wound. Once the bandage was on my arm sufficiently I jerked away from him and got up retrieving my sword I sheathed it. I wouldn't have had to worry about a bandage if I had my armor. Hell I wouldn't have had to get help from a man if I had my weapons.
Everyone in the fellowship just stared at me, which was annoying, weren't they the ones eager to kill Sauron?
"We should keep moving."
~~O~~
Boromir stood up as Leanien walked away from him. He sighed and stood sheathing his own sword in the process. The girl needed help yet she acted like she didn't. He understood she was the Black Lady of Mordor, but she didn't have the air of evil that orcs and the wraiths did. She herself wasn't evil, only trapped by it.
Boromir admired Leanien's strength; she was trapped by evil but did not succumb to it. She could yet be free of evil, as the whole of Middle-Earth would be when the ring was destroyed. He wished that somehow the ring could help his people, but after the little speech that Leanien gave at the meeting followed by Aragorn's comments that the ring couldn't be wielded by anyone who was there, he had no hope that it would actually help anything.
As the fellowship progressed onwards Merry remained angry about the battle.
"She wasn't even grateful for Boromir saving her from those Orc." Merry said to Pippin who agreed with him.
"What do you expect she serves Sauron, the enemy isn't grateful for anything."
They both stopped talking as Leanien looked back at them and gave them a look as if she heard what they said.
When they stopped for the night they were at the base of the misty mountains. Boromir took Merry and Pippin to fetch fire wood, even though Leanien had offered to go. They didn't trust her to let her out of their sight to do anything sneaky. Once they had a fire going Sam went to work cooking sausages and a simple stew. In these tasks Leanien did not offer to help but just sat on a rock near the fire. She had been in a bitter mood since the battle with the orcs; Aragorn assumed that it was because she had been over powered. Aragorn couldn't figure her out, it disturbed him that every time he looked at her he saw Arawen. Though the two couldn't be more different.
~~O~~
I am rather pathetic, I couldn't defend myself against five orcs. The Nazgul would have laughed at me if they had seen. When they trained me I killed dozens of orcs each day. Then to have to be saved by that man, Boromir. It was worse than being over powered by orcs, because he treated me like a delicate flower.
I had offered to fetch firewood with Boromir because I intended to tell him exactly what was on my mind. But they didn't let me go, the old man Gandalf had said that I had to stay at the camp. He didn't seem to be as bothered by me as the others, he acted like he knew something I didn't. But from what little I had overheard from the others he always seemed to know more than he let on. It would be his downfall.
"You are unaccustomed to using an elven blade." Legolas, the elf said to me. I looked up at him and said.
"I was trained with heavier weapons that that can shatter bones and slice flesh."
"Elven blades are used with wrist rather than arm movements. Tomorrow we will be well into the Misty Mountains by midday. Boromir intends to teach the hobbits how to fight, if you wish I will show you how to properly use your sword."
"You sure that is wise? You would be aiding an enemy. I would have been fine if I had my proper weapons." I looked at the flames that the stew cooked over, and wondered to myself. Would I really have been fine with my own weapons? No, the outcome would have been the same, I would have been over powered and forced to suffer being saved by a man. I was a fool to have left Mordor with the wraiths, my curiosity of the outside world would be the end of me.
"You are elf kind. Enemy or not you should at least wield your blade properly. Your other weapons and armor were tainted with the evil of Sauron, they had to be destroyed."
"That's what you don't understand! None of you understand. Sauron isn't evil, he has a different view of the world. He had a method of changing it for the better that you don't like. If you are to closed minded to even try and see the world he has envisioned then you are the enemies." I snapped at Legolas. The whole camp who had everyone talking quietly to each other went silent. Gandalf looked at me as if realizing something he hadn't noticed before. I turned from them and made up my bed roll, it was useless trying to get them to understand. They were afraid of change, so they did only what they could think to do and fought against it.
