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Chapter 6
It was narrow, and long, cutting through the massive walls of the inner circle of the Barad Dur. On the other side, she saw a courtyard paved in black bricks, far smaller than any other, and stables to her right, and a gate to the left, but she knew the dike was to that side, so it probably opened onto a movable bridge that led to the outer battlewall of the Barad Dur, and then beyond, if there was a way.
On the other side of the courtyard, however, there was another passage. Aurora made her way there. This yard was empty, and silent, and she half run, knowing she shouldn't be there. Across the passage, she saw another courtyard, just as the one before it, and more stables, to the right, and a small door, to the far left, and no passage.
"Damn", she thought! "How do I get to that blasted tower?"
Then she looked up, to see it, and notice that it sort of grew from the stone structure about it, right where she was. In a corner, she noticed an entrance, and it seemed that it led inside, so she took a chance. A servants entrance, she reckoned, since it was right next to the stable, and it seemed small, and gray, and ordinary. It led straight at a staircase, which went narrowly and steeply up, in circles.
She climbed on for long, until she saw a rest, and a door on it, but it was closed. It must be a side entrance to the first level, she thought. She decided to keep going up, since at the second level, if the door was opened, she could go to the northern gate, and there find the servant and the message she was to take.
After another long, steep climb, she reached the second rest, and the door there was also closed. Now, however, she was so high up, and the climb had been so long, that she decided best to keep going, to see where it would lead her. The stair wound up and up, passing several levels.
She got curious when she crossed the fifth level, and the stairs still seemed to have no end. Most stairs ended at a fifth level, because Barad Dur was not even, and most places were only that high. The towers were higher, and she now noticed she had to be in one of the towers surrounding the Tower of the Eye. And yet it had seemed to her she had seen the unpenetrable Tower itself form down there.
The stairs went on past so many levels she forgot to count. She was already getting tired, and wandering whether it might be better to descend them sliding on the armrest, and whether if she gained speed she would fall off on a curve, when they ended. She had no idea how high she now was, since there had been no window. The last rest, at the end, led to nothing, she noticed. "Probably I climbed up a servant entrance that simply led to the various floors.", she thought. Yet she did not know that stair had long left the building about it, and wound up by itself, only part of a larger structure of a great Tower, that stood planted in solid rock, wrought of adamant and steel, surrounded by mist and cloud.
It was cold, and it would have been dark, yet fires had burnt on torches all along the way, lighting the staircase dimly. Now she saw no end to it, and decided to take her chance on the door. She wanted to see which level this was. It was probably exclusive to Nazguls or the like, yet it intrigued her, and she wanted to take a peek, that was it.
To her surprise, the door was opened. She put her head through, and saw a dimly lit, yet very wide corridor. It was luxurious and strange. Shadows seemed to walk in it, and the silence was filled with murmurs. The light on the silver torches glistened in a smoky manner, silverish gray, reddish yellow, and the walls on each side were covered in expensive drapes, red and dimly golden. The floor was a carpet, red and green and black, yet the patterns and the colors flooded into one in the strange light. She looked up and down, and no one was there, so she ventured a closer look at the level.
She closed the door silently behind her, and tiptoed quickly to one side. The great hall wound on and on, and she wondered where she was. Then after a mild corner, to her left, there was a great salon, on step taking to a large space, draped and carpeted, lit with the glistening torches, in gold and red, and the drapes on the walls, falling in soft fabric, showed pictures of pheasants, and unicorns, and dragons, and wargs.
There was no furniture there, no fireplace, and she thought best to keep down the hall, to see where it went. The corridor now began to show doors, massive, wooden doors, carved in a million wondrous patterns, battles and events, shapes and figures, beasts and birds of all kinds tracing on them, and golden handles. Some were wider, and some smaller, some simple and some opened twofold, and all were closed. She heard, at several instances, voices in them, and then she would trot quicker, desiring to hide behind the next turn, and yet no one came. It seemed a high place, one of great decisions, and she noticed she had to be in the place where the great Lords of the Tower met.
She had been walking so for a while, wandering at all about her, never having seen such a luxurious or lofty place. The drapes were beautiful, and the carpet so soft, and there was an air of mystery and magic there she could not fully comprehend. It appealed to her, and yet she was wary that someone might come out, and kill her for spying. This would be more fun, if it were less dangerous, she thought.
At length, she heard, before her, just around the soft curve, voices speaking, in the high Black language, and then in an eastern tongue, and a door closing with a rattle, and footsteps on the soft carpet. She panicked, and ran softly, and decided to hide behind the drapes while the Lords passed.
There seemed to be two of them, talking calmly. She slipped behind the drapes on one end, and then noticed they were too short to hide her feet, which would stick beneath them, like a drape with feet, she thought. And although in the twilight she might even risk it, and they might not notice, she thought best to run on, and look for a more adequate place. Behind the next corner, she saw what she was looking for, a small nook on the wall she thought was a entrance of some kind, and yet so seated it seemed to lead elsewhere.
She ducked into it just in time, and then covered herself with the drapes that fell over it in sloping fashion from the walls. The two men passed, eastern Kings it seemed to her, and she peeked out after them. Then she turned to see what was her refuge. It looked like a door, and it was smaller than the rest, and in a darker corner, and had no engravings or gold or marks on it. The handle was simple, and she turned it, and saw it was opened. Setting it ajar, she peeked into what seemed the exact same tower she had just climbed, except it could not be, because it led on up, and she had come to the end of hers.
She thought it might be fun to look what was there, further on, and then come back down again into the draped hall. The stairs led up on, and soon she regretted her decision, since it was cold in the staircase, and it was stony, and not draped, and the torches were few, and had no glitter around them.
"Well, it's true, now", she mentioned to herself. "They do say once you get used to the fine things in life, you do not know how to come back to the simple rude ones. These stairs have, for instance, no carpet, now. And a fine, fine, lady as me can only walk on a soft carpet, sincerely. And the walls, well, no drapes. I'll hang my Orc servants for this, inexcusable! And the torches! I wont like another torch if it does not flicker and sparkle in golden twilight!"
The stairs wound up and up, and she began to tire again, and to almost head back, when they ceased, and she found herself on another rest, like the one before, and another door. This one had no marks, also, and it seemed simple. She stopped to rest there before going back to the drapes and carpet she had liked, and she shivered, for it was very chill up there.
She guessed she had to be very high now. Then, just for luck, she pressed the handle on the door, and to her surprise it opened silently and quickly. It was not a hall that she saw now, but a large room. The tower must have slimmed down as it went up, she imagined. The room seemed empty, so she risked a quick peek. It was very dark, except a fireplace on the far end, which she could not see, from a divide, but could sense from the crackling and the heat.
In fact, the room seemed so dry and warm after the cold, dark and damp staircase, she decided to slip in for a while, just to warm up, and because no one was in it, and because it intrigued her what was on the shelf to the right. She came in, and closed the door.
The room was indeed dark, and yet she could see somewhat around her. It was very wide, and this, which was as an entrance to it, was draped and carpeted too, in black colors. To the right was carved into the wall a shelfboard, and there many books lay in disarray, and strange objects.
"Hey, now", she thought. "This is not a room, you dwarp. These are chambers, as the Lords say. yes, that's it. Someone's chambers. Chambers have entrances, and smaller rooms about them."
Chapter 6
It was narrow, and long, cutting through the massive walls of the inner circle of the Barad Dur. On the other side, she saw a courtyard paved in black bricks, far smaller than any other, and stables to her right, and a gate to the left, but she knew the dike was to that side, so it probably opened onto a movable bridge that led to the outer battlewall of the Barad Dur, and then beyond, if there was a way.
On the other side of the courtyard, however, there was another passage. Aurora made her way there. This yard was empty, and silent, and she half run, knowing she shouldn't be there. Across the passage, she saw another courtyard, just as the one before it, and more stables, to the right, and a small door, to the far left, and no passage.
"Damn", she thought! "How do I get to that blasted tower?"
Then she looked up, to see it, and notice that it sort of grew from the stone structure about it, right where she was. In a corner, she noticed an entrance, and it seemed that it led inside, so she took a chance. A servants entrance, she reckoned, since it was right next to the stable, and it seemed small, and gray, and ordinary. It led straight at a staircase, which went narrowly and steeply up, in circles.
She climbed on for long, until she saw a rest, and a door on it, but it was closed. It must be a side entrance to the first level, she thought. She decided to keep going up, since at the second level, if the door was opened, she could go to the northern gate, and there find the servant and the message she was to take.
After another long, steep climb, she reached the second rest, and the door there was also closed. Now, however, she was so high up, and the climb had been so long, that she decided best to keep going, to see where it would lead her. The stair wound up and up, passing several levels.
She got curious when she crossed the fifth level, and the stairs still seemed to have no end. Most stairs ended at a fifth level, because Barad Dur was not even, and most places were only that high. The towers were higher, and she now noticed she had to be in one of the towers surrounding the Tower of the Eye. And yet it had seemed to her she had seen the unpenetrable Tower itself form down there.
The stairs went on past so many levels she forgot to count. She was already getting tired, and wandering whether it might be better to descend them sliding on the armrest, and whether if she gained speed she would fall off on a curve, when they ended. She had no idea how high she now was, since there had been no window. The last rest, at the end, led to nothing, she noticed. "Probably I climbed up a servant entrance that simply led to the various floors.", she thought. Yet she did not know that stair had long left the building about it, and wound up by itself, only part of a larger structure of a great Tower, that stood planted in solid rock, wrought of adamant and steel, surrounded by mist and cloud.
It was cold, and it would have been dark, yet fires had burnt on torches all along the way, lighting the staircase dimly. Now she saw no end to it, and decided to take her chance on the door. She wanted to see which level this was. It was probably exclusive to Nazguls or the like, yet it intrigued her, and she wanted to take a peek, that was it.
To her surprise, the door was opened. She put her head through, and saw a dimly lit, yet very wide corridor. It was luxurious and strange. Shadows seemed to walk in it, and the silence was filled with murmurs. The light on the silver torches glistened in a smoky manner, silverish gray, reddish yellow, and the walls on each side were covered in expensive drapes, red and dimly golden. The floor was a carpet, red and green and black, yet the patterns and the colors flooded into one in the strange light. She looked up and down, and no one was there, so she ventured a closer look at the level.
She closed the door silently behind her, and tiptoed quickly to one side. The great hall wound on and on, and she wondered where she was. Then after a mild corner, to her left, there was a great salon, on step taking to a large space, draped and carpeted, lit with the glistening torches, in gold and red, and the drapes on the walls, falling in soft fabric, showed pictures of pheasants, and unicorns, and dragons, and wargs.
There was no furniture there, no fireplace, and she thought best to keep down the hall, to see where it went. The corridor now began to show doors, massive, wooden doors, carved in a million wondrous patterns, battles and events, shapes and figures, beasts and birds of all kinds tracing on them, and golden handles. Some were wider, and some smaller, some simple and some opened twofold, and all were closed. She heard, at several instances, voices in them, and then she would trot quicker, desiring to hide behind the next turn, and yet no one came. It seemed a high place, one of great decisions, and she noticed she had to be in the place where the great Lords of the Tower met.
She had been walking so for a while, wandering at all about her, never having seen such a luxurious or lofty place. The drapes were beautiful, and the carpet so soft, and there was an air of mystery and magic there she could not fully comprehend. It appealed to her, and yet she was wary that someone might come out, and kill her for spying. This would be more fun, if it were less dangerous, she thought.
At length, she heard, before her, just around the soft curve, voices speaking, in the high Black language, and then in an eastern tongue, and a door closing with a rattle, and footsteps on the soft carpet. She panicked, and ran softly, and decided to hide behind the drapes while the Lords passed.
There seemed to be two of them, talking calmly. She slipped behind the drapes on one end, and then noticed they were too short to hide her feet, which would stick beneath them, like a drape with feet, she thought. And although in the twilight she might even risk it, and they might not notice, she thought best to run on, and look for a more adequate place. Behind the next corner, she saw what she was looking for, a small nook on the wall she thought was a entrance of some kind, and yet so seated it seemed to lead elsewhere.
She ducked into it just in time, and then covered herself with the drapes that fell over it in sloping fashion from the walls. The two men passed, eastern Kings it seemed to her, and she peeked out after them. Then she turned to see what was her refuge. It looked like a door, and it was smaller than the rest, and in a darker corner, and had no engravings or gold or marks on it. The handle was simple, and she turned it, and saw it was opened. Setting it ajar, she peeked into what seemed the exact same tower she had just climbed, except it could not be, because it led on up, and she had come to the end of hers.
She thought it might be fun to look what was there, further on, and then come back down again into the draped hall. The stairs led up on, and soon she regretted her decision, since it was cold in the staircase, and it was stony, and not draped, and the torches were few, and had no glitter around them.
"Well, it's true, now", she mentioned to herself. "They do say once you get used to the fine things in life, you do not know how to come back to the simple rude ones. These stairs have, for instance, no carpet, now. And a fine, fine, lady as me can only walk on a soft carpet, sincerely. And the walls, well, no drapes. I'll hang my Orc servants for this, inexcusable! And the torches! I wont like another torch if it does not flicker and sparkle in golden twilight!"
The stairs wound up and up, and she began to tire again, and to almost head back, when they ceased, and she found herself on another rest, like the one before, and another door. This one had no marks, also, and it seemed simple. She stopped to rest there before going back to the drapes and carpet she had liked, and she shivered, for it was very chill up there.
She guessed she had to be very high now. Then, just for luck, she pressed the handle on the door, and to her surprise it opened silently and quickly. It was not a hall that she saw now, but a large room. The tower must have slimmed down as it went up, she imagined. The room seemed empty, so she risked a quick peek. It was very dark, except a fireplace on the far end, which she could not see, from a divide, but could sense from the crackling and the heat.
In fact, the room seemed so dry and warm after the cold, dark and damp staircase, she decided to slip in for a while, just to warm up, and because no one was in it, and because it intrigued her what was on the shelf to the right. She came in, and closed the door.
The room was indeed dark, and yet she could see somewhat around her. It was very wide, and this, which was as an entrance to it, was draped and carpeted too, in black colors. To the right was carved into the wall a shelfboard, and there many books lay in disarray, and strange objects.
"Hey, now", she thought. "This is not a room, you dwarp. These are chambers, as the Lords say. yes, that's it. Someone's chambers. Chambers have entrances, and smaller rooms about them."