A/N: So, just to formally inform everyone, Kadin's name is pronounced KadEEn, not KAYdin. It should rhyme with canteen. It's a real Arabic name :)

Also, thanks to my one single anon reviewer, Yuki3434! I'm so glad you liked it, please keep reading! And I'd love to hear anything you didn't like, or didn't think was realistic, or just something you'd like to see in the story :)

Oh, a warning I forgot to put on the first chapter - there's going to be some seriously dub (or straight up non) con. But it's not going to be one of those stories where someone's raped and then immediately falls in love with their rapist. Cuz people aren't like that. I'm going to do my best to write this with realistic human emotions within a realistic timeframe, so please stick with it, and let me know if you think it's not working!

Lastly, on the subject of timeframes, Aragorn is captured by Kadin in year 2993 of the Third Age, and the Ring is passed to Frodo about 8 years later in 3001. At that point, I'm switching to the movie version where Bilbo leaves, the Nazgul are sent out, and Gandalf travels to Gondor and returns to the Shire all in just a few frames, after which Frodo's journey begins. In the book this takes like 30 years, or something outrageous. So that's that. Ask if you have any questions, I don't think it'll be too confusing in the actual story.

My Beta is on me about finishing chapter 4, and writing longer chapters, so since I'm on break this week that'll probably happen. Hopefully. ان شاء الله

Chapter 3: The Palace

Kadin awoke in the early hours of the morning to Estel's light breathing. It was dark; still an hour at least until dawn. He rolled over and looked around suspiciously, wondering what had woken him. There was a knock at the door. Ah, that was why.

"Excellent, you have returned," he said.

"Sauron-kintakhim sends you his thanks, Kadin-takh, and a message," the man said, bowing and holding out a letter.

"Thank you. Go and rest. You need not leave with us, I am sure we will no longer be needing your services. You may take your time in returning to the palace."

The man bowed his thanks and left. Kadin lit a candle quickly and began to read:

Kadin,

You have done well, my friend, assuming the man you are bringing me is the one I seek. Remember: he will bear the ring I described to you, and he will be called Aragorn, although this, I am sure, he will hide from you. Make sure of these things beyond all doubt, and do not return to me if he is the wrong man. I will only be furious. I would rather that you take all year, and do it right once, than give me false hope.

He stopped and reread that line one more time, wondering at the strange phrasing. Despite Aragorn's obvious strategic importance, Sauron's overwhelming interest of late in the heir of Isilidur was unusual to say the least. The military unit Kadin had left with a year ago was one of the most highly trained this side of the Anduin, and their mandate for speed and secrecy rivaled that of his search for the Ring. There was politics going on here; Kadin could sense it, and he hated it.

Be that as it may, I trust that you will not fail me. Out of all my courtiers and ministers, you are the only one of integrity; and, more importantly, the only one intelligent enough to be able to find out a man's name by a means other than torture. It is indeed my wish that he not be harmed, as I told you, and please try to make him feel comfortable. I hope to keep him around awhile, and that will be much easier if he has some happiness. Since he will most certainly hate me, it would be good if he at least enjoys your company.

I apologize for being so mysterious, when normally I would trust you with everything. I would have told you my intentions before, but they were and as yet remain extremely delicate. I will explain everything when you arrive.

Your friend and lord,

Sauron

Kadin sighed with confusion and worry, and looked up to find himself staring into a pair of intensely focused grey eyes.

Aragorn did not look away, but followed Kadin's movements as he blew out the candle and moved to return to bed.

"Tell me what has happened."

"Nothing has happened, Estel. Go back to sleep, we need not wake for anotherr hour or so."

"Then what was the letter?"

"A message from the king, that is all. I sent a runnerr ahead to tell him I was rreturning."

"What did he say? Did he say what he will do to me?" Aragorn sat upright, bracing himself against the mattress with his right hand. Kadin glanced at it, and the ring he bore on his forefinger.

"No."

"Nothing feels right about this. I ought to have been dragged off to be tortured in the dungeons of Barad-dûr. I don't understand."

He lay back down on the bed, and Kadin's eyes followed the ring, wondering and worrying.

"Neither do I, Rranger. Neither do I."

When Kadin awoke again, it was just after sunrise, and Estel was sitting on a cushion staring helplessly at a letter he couldn't read. He rose silently, under Aragorn's open stare, and slowly took the letter from his hands.

"Forgive me," Aragorn whispered.

"There is nothing to forrgive, Rranger."

"Someone brought us breakfast a little while ago; it is there, on the table."

"Excellent. You did not eat?" Aragorn shook his head, still staring into his hands. Kadin poured him tea and handed him a bowl of rice and broth.

"Thank you." Kadin smiled.

"I feel so," Aragorn paused, struggling for words, "like a child, again." He gave a despondent chuckle. "I am afraid, Kadin. Afraid as I have not been in a long time. Before, before this, I expected torture and death and could face it. I am not afraid of dying, but I am afraid now. My world is not the same as is was, and I don't, I guess, I don't know how to make sense of this. I don't know what to expect, anymore."

His voice faded into a whisper. Kadin stared at him, empathetic. It was surprising, to see him so shaken, but in hindsight Kadin realized he should have expected it. He wondered if Sauron knew how this experience was affecting Estel. He wasn't sure Sauron thought about other people that way.

"If I had answerrs for you, Estel, I swearr I would give them. But it is natural, I think, to feel as you feel. You've been thrrough quite a, euh, a shock," Kadin said encouragingly.

"I suppose. I wish you would tell me what he is planning for me."

Kadin sighed, and decided to take a chance.

"I have told you, Rranger, I do not know. In the letter, at the end he apologizes to me for being, I can not trranslate this word; he apologizes for, for not explaining. He says," he made a sound of exasperation, "he says it is not good to tell me." Kadin leaned in close and dropped his voice. "Things have been happening in this countrry; things that have not happened beforre. Something is changing. Something that is bigger than us; bigger than even you, Aragorn, son of Arathorn."

The silence dripped with tension. Aragorn stared, not even bothering to hide the surprise in his face.

"That is the name yourr fatherr gave you, is it not?" Kadin whispered.

"Yes. It is." Aragorn looked away again and was silent for a moment. "You knew?"

"I guessed. Sauron guessed. I knew of your rring, but it is hard to find a man by a rring, and it is not a sure sign. You carry yourrself as a king, my frriend, even when you arre bound and helpless. You must learrn to be more common if you wish to hide your identity," he said with a smirk. Aragorn laughed lightly.

"Well, I suppose there was little use in hiding it anyway. I am sure Sauron would have known in a moment."

"Yes, he would have. But he thrreatened his unbrridled rrage if I brought the wrong man, so I decided it was better to know for sure." At this Aragorn laughed, fully and deeply.

A half an hour later they had packed up their things and were waiting outside the inn for the remainder of their guard. Kadin had bound Aragorn's hands again, and the ranger was trying, with little success, not to stare openly at his surroundings. The town was beautiful in the early morning; soft sunlight fell between the warm sandstone buildings, and the bustle of the morning market colored the air. Aragorn smiled and waved slightly at a child who had stopped to look. The child smiled in return, but his mother shooed him along, giving Aragorn a frightened glance over her shoulder. Aragorn frowned, and Kadin pulled sharply on his rope in annoyance, giving him a pointed look. He dropped his eyes humbly, deciding against glaring at his captor. Kadin had said he ought to act less like a king; Aragorn thought he might as well practice.

When the last two stragglers appeared, Kadin swung into the saddle without a word, pulling Aragorn up roughly behind him. They returned to the market and took the south-bound road out of the town, the air now filled with wood smoke and the smell of breakfast. Very soon, Aragorn could see the palace rising in the distance, and the city that surrounded it sprawled across the dusty hills.

It was mid-afternoon by the time they reached the city gates; Aragorn felt either that it had taken twenty minutes or a lifetime, though he couldn't decide which. Ishq-dûr looked everything like a capital city; a cacophony of light and color and life. It was hot and noisy, and it set his teeth on edge. Buildings climbed on top of each other haphazardly, rising up toward the palace, which sat on a small hill. Alleyways twisted and tumbled away from the main thoroughfare, though, unlike in Khadimit, these were paved and bustling with shops, restaurants, and richly dressed men. In a bizarre moment, the clip-clip of horse hooves on stone reminded Aragorn of exactly the way they didn't sound on the grassy paths of Rohan. He gave his thoughts a piercing mental glare, demanding to know exactly why he had thought that, but they offered no explanation.

"I grew up just down that rroad, Arragorn," Kadin said, pointing down a rather large by-road. Aragorn didn't quite like the way that name sounded in Kadin's mouth. He realized he didn't like the way that name sounded in anyone's mouth. The thought disconcerted him.

"Please call me Estel, it is more comfortable for me."

"As you wish, Rranger."

"Do your parents still live there?" Aragorn asked, after a pause.

"No. No longer. My fatherr passed away, and in his absence my motherr stays with me, so as not to be alone. I am theirr only child." He spoke so softly Aragorn could barely hear him. "I live in the palace now."

Aragorn didn't answer. He looked up at the tower rising above him. It was a wide circular building pigeon-holed with open windows; at times it seemed to Aragorn that he could see straight through. Annexes and passageways and bathrooms were stuck on at odd intervals, as if built as afterthoughts. In fact, as they came around a corner, he could see scaffolding rising two-thirds of the way up the wall. As they came up to the gate before the palace, the flow of traffic increased exponentially. A sprawling square lay to their left, home to an open-air market similar to the one in Khadimit but infinitely cleaner. On their right, the imposing façade of the palace gates loomed over them. Aragorn noticed absently that they were beautifully carved, but his attention was quickly distracted when Kadin dismounted before Ishq-dûr's front door.

"Keep yourr eyes lowered at all times, and only speak when you arre spoken to," he said, handing his reins to a stable boy.

"It is not in my nature to show weakness before an enemy," Aragorn replied vehemently. Kadin gave him a look that clearly expressed his opinion on the matter, but said nothing. Aragorn could have sworn he could hear his own heartbeat. The doors pulled back and Kadin sailed into the throne room, his voice rolling through the still air and breezing out the open windows at the back of the hall.

"Greetings, Sauron-kintachim, I – I have brought you that which you seek." Kadin bowed sweepingly before his king, but it was obvious that the pause had not gone unnoticed; a man now standing at Sauron's side narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

Then something happened that, once again, smashed Aragorn's preconceived notions to dust and blew them away into oblivion. Eyes lit with joy, Sauron embraced Kadin with surprising familiarity, without even a glance toward the ranger. He stared in wonder. They traded quiet words of greeting that struck an ache deep in his heart, throbbing to the sound of his friends' names. Before Aragorn could collect himself, eyes pinned him to the ground.

"Aragorn, son of Arathorn, heir to the throne of Gondor. Welcome to Mordor," he said, opening his arms and smiling ironically. There was a silence in which the man with the suspicious eyes stepped quietly forward.

"What's this, lost your tongue? Well, I'm sure we can help you find it," he whispered, his voice as soft as it was deadly.

"We shall see."

The man chuckled softly. He held Aragorn's jaw and ran his thumb over his lips, making the ranger jump back in surprise. He then stumbled, due to his bound hands, but the man caught him by the arm and walked around behind him, trailing a hand on his waist.

"I like this one. It's too bad I have already promised him to you, my friend," he said in rough Morodorlin. Aragorn couldn't understand the foreign tongue, but the flash in Kadin's eyes was not hard to read.

"My men captured him, Mirroc, and therefore he is mine. I need no promise from you," Sauron said fiercely, causing Kadin's eyebrows to float half-way up his forehead.

"Ah, I see. Then forgive me," Mirroc said with an insolent smile. Stepping up close to Sauron, he whispered in his ear, "Just make sure you put him to the correct use. Waste not." Sauron's eyes darkened, and nothing was said until Mirroc had swept out of the hall, at which point Kadin let out a low whistle. The sardonic smile on Sauron's face was replaced by something hard as stone.

"Come, Ranger," Sauron commanded. Still utterly confused, Aragorn gave Kadin a startled glance, but the man only nodded in the direction the king was walking. So Aragorn followed, feeling highly unnerved.

After many winding staircases and hallways overlooking, and sometimes crossing, a beautiful courtyard, they arrived at a door on the third story directly across from the throne room. Sauron turned to him, and spoke in perfect elvish.

"This floor is for honored guests, although this room is rather small. You will stay here." Aragorn raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"What do you mean? Would you prefer the dungeons?"

"Perhaps. Nicer lodging is usually indicative of more intuitive torture."

Aragorn actually jumped when Sauron laughed deeply, and found himself smiling in response as he looked over the low table and bed carved into the wall. He stepped out onto a balcony facing the courtyard, and Sauron followed.

"You have experience in these matters?"

"Yes, one could say that." Sauron chuckled again.

"It is a shame we are on opposite sides of a war, my friend. I am sure we would have been strong allies." Aragorn glanced at him sharply. You could always stop trying to take over the world, he thought to himself, but said nothing.

"Um, may I ask . . ." Aragorn began and then trailed off, uncertain as to how to phrase his question.

"What just happened back there?" Sauron offered.

"Yes."

"No."

Aragorn gave a sound of exasperation. "Well, can't I know anything at all?" He ran his hands through his hair and collapsed onto a pile of cushions. Inexplicably, he felt suddenly very close to tears. Sauron glanced at him uncomfortably.

"The other man, the one who touched you, his name is Mirroc. He is the emperor of Harad, here on business with me. It is unfortunate that you arrived during his stay here," Sauron said quietly. He poured Aragorn a glass of water and handed it to him.

"What did he say to you?"

"He is rude and power-hungry; he said nothing of import," Sauron said with a look of annoyance. "I won't bore you with the details of my foreign policy."

Aragorn nodded, absolutely certain that courtesy was not Sauron's reason for ending the conversation. He made a mental note to ask Kadin the next time he saw him; then, not knowing what to say, he stared awkwardly and anxiously at his hands. He could feel Sauron's eyes on him, and it made him nervous, but he couldn't bring himself to look back. The tension mounted in the room, and he felt, rather than heard, Sauron step closer. Sun-soaked skin appeared before him, motioning silently that he hand something over. Aragorn looked up with a question on his face. Sauron took his hand, slipped the ring off his finger, and turned to leave. He looked over his shoulder.

"Do not try to escape."

A/N: Please, please review! Pretty please with a cherry on top! Even if it's just to say 'I love it' or 'I hate it'! :D