Notes: Bara-dur is Barad-Dûr from now on, thanks xLethex
First reviewer ever: Myrle 16!!!! Thanks so much!!
Merne is a girl, f.y.i (because it looks a bit like a guy's name to me)
I once took such pleasure from watching him work. To see him take a piece of iron or steel and breathe life into it, whether he was creating a mighty sword or the simplest of trinkets, it took my breath away. He was truly the most skilled of Aulë's (great craftsman of the Valar) followers. Any gift forged by the great craftsmen, Sauron, it was said, was of the greatest quality and would be a prized heirloom. But like Middle Earth, he has changed, his works now have not lost any of their brilliance but they are truly twisted things, build of spite and malice.
I admit I loved Sauron the moment I saw him, though I didn't know his name. All I knew was something in the way he held himself and how he talked the metal when he thought he was alone, telling it of its future. Sometimes he would sing softly to it, songs of strength and beauty. I don't think of myself as a vain girl, but what really drew me were his eyes. I had never had I seen eyes like his, the color of amber. Blues and green and even browns were common among those of our settlement but his amber was something all his own. He was something to behold, long, thick blond hair with his amber eyes coupled with the fact most other Maiar only reached his eye level, made him popular with the ellethes.
I never put much hope into a future with him because why would he ever settle for a quiet, blue-eyed, blond-hair servant of Vairë (great Valar weaver). There were more exotic, more atypical ellethes at his beckon call; I was nothing special so I felt content with my day-dreams of a scandalous romance. I observed from a far taking him in, laughing at his jokes and sitting enraptured during a story. By no means was I subtle, I am as transparent as the wind my friends told me, they joked that everyone probably knew of my fascination with Sauron, including Sauron himself. I believe this inability to hiding my feelings from those around me, was the reason Sauron and I ultimately met.
"Sére! Sére! That tapestry was promised to the banquet hall last week. "
Unlike her name implies, Lissie is in fact, not sweet. In my opinion, something meaning bitter hag would be a vast improve if are name were truly meant to describe us, but I would never utter this out loud to anyone though many would heartily agree. "I'm just putting the finishing touches on it Lissie. I just want to make sure all is perfect for the Fall Festival." This is a flat out lie, the reason the damn thing has taken so long is because Lissie spilt some wine on it and I had to unravel and replace the ruined part. However, one must not say these things out loud if they wish to keep their job so I just grin and bear it. I put the finishing touches on my contribution to the festival, a woven mural of the Music of the Ainur, and told Lissie I was off to deliver it. Before I could reach the door, my friend Merne grabbed me, "Could you stop by the smith's shop and pick up the shuttles I ordered, Lissie has me finishing Alassiel's tapestry? Please Sére, we really need them!"
"Fine, I will grab them on my way back but this had better not be another ploy to get me to talk to Sauron. You know better than anyone I'll just make a fool of myself."
"Oh, Sére! No I didn't do this to torture you; we really do need these shuttles. Besides, there are lots of people at the smith at this time of day. If Sauron is there, he probably won't even see you or you him."
Though I didn't feel one hundred percent sure that this was not another of Merne's attempts to set me up with Sauron, I promised to stop and was off. The banquet hall was a rather large building, roughly about twice as long as it was wide and gleaming white and blue. The near serene exterior the banquet hall betrayed the true chaos that was happening inside. I'm not a clumsy person per say but lugging a tapestry almost as tall as I was and several times longer is a bit of a process. So after causing a few near accidences and almost sending the ellon in charge of the decorating to Mandos early, I placed the tapestry against one of the table and beat a hasty retreat.
On to the smith I went. The smithery like all craft buildings was in the southeast corner of the settlement not too far from the weaver's guild. Needless to say, without the heavy tapestry, I made good time to the smithery. The smithery was made in what looked to be an open air cave. The cave was probably only about ten bodies deep but the ceiling was quite high and was able to catch a bit of a breeze. I wanted to make this a quick as possible so I could deliver the shuttles back to Merne and go home. Tonight was the first night of the Fall Festival and I need to pick out what to wear and how to do my hair and other details that all ellethes fret about. Seeing I didn't have a date, I didn't have to go through the process of trying to match my date's outfit so I had many more choices. With color and fabrics whizzing through my head, I didn't notice until I was inside that there was only one person in the smith shop. I knew ever before he turned around and looked at me with those amber eyes who it was, Sauron. I think I have just been set up.