Broken
Disclaimer: Don't own Grima. Don't own Gondor, the white city, the
precious, or the Four/Five idea. That's all Tolkien and Rodenberry, man!!!
I love you guys!!! And the title. Jessie Earl thought that one up. The
revision was done on recommendation of Cobalt-Goddess and Sus. They thought
I was making Grima heartless. No, I love Grima and didn't mean to do that
to him.
Claimer: I do, however, own The Girl, the slave trader, and the Piece of
Paper.
Broken
Grima Wormtongue kicked the wall. It had been nearly a year since he had
slit the throat of his master, and he had become a very bitter man. He had
found a home farming near the White City. But he had not yet relieved his
anger toward Saruman. He needed anger management, but they don't have that
in Middle Earth.
But Grima had an idea.
He was going to extract a sort of revenge for all the abuse he had suffered
in his time with Saruman. He was going to get himself a slave. He would
torture it like Saruman had tortured him... He would break it; make it
terrified- but brilliant and strong. The perfect slave, as he was once.
So the very next day, Grima went to a underground slave trader:
"What do you want it to be like?"
"What do you mean?"
"Male, Female, age, shit like that"
"Uhh.Female, mid-teens" He had been taken in by Saruman at age 15. How
perfect.
"Okay" The trader flipped through a little booklet. "I've got three- no,
four- of them. One elf, a dwarf and two humans. One is broken; the other is
rebellious, and educated. Which one do you want?"
"The rebellious human" Grima licked his lips.
"A challenge, eh? I'll have her for you tomorrow"
"Here you go" the trader said. The girl had light brown hair, tied back
crudely; her dress was ripped and blood-soaked. She had a black eye and her
hands were bound, and she was gagged. There was a rough rope around her
neck. Her hazel-brown eyes were filled with rebellion, but there was also a
certain fear. Of him? He wasn't sure. He took the girl home and untied her,
removing the gag last, slowly, savoring the touch of her lips on his
fingers. She started to stand, but Grima pushed her down.
"Sit" he hissed. "And listen to me. I see you've been hurt before. Here,
you will know nothing of pain. You will know agony. I bought you because
you will give me a challenge to break an intelligent bitch"
"I will not be broken."
"Yes you will."
"Will you just shut up, old man?" At that, Grima struck the girl across the
face. She flinched slightly, but kept looking into nothing. "At least you
can be quiet."
"You're just not worth my time."
"I think I liked you better before you started talking"
"Too bad" Now, Grima pulled the girl to a stand position and hit her
repeatedly with his black, twisted cane. She only flinched with each blow.
He felt bad about hitting her, but in a way, it felt very good.
"You are tolerant, I see." Grima tuned to a paper he had tacked to the
wall, and drew four X's on it, like this:
_________________________
I I
I I
I I
I I
I X X X X I
I I
I I
_________________________
"How many X's are there?" Grima asked the girl.
"Four"
"There are five"
"No, there are four. Are you blind?"
"Don't talk to me like that. And there are five"
"No, there ar-"
Grima grabbed the girl by her hair and kicked the back of her knees, making
her fall on her knees. He yanked up on her hair, forcing her to look at the
X's.
"How many?"
"Four" she panted, still recovering.
He then beat her until tears came to her eyes and she bled.
"How many?"
"Why are you doing this to me?" her voice cracked.
"Because you need it"
"Do you know how much you are hurting me?"
Grima felt a tear come to his own eye. Yes, he knew exactly what she was
going through. But, no he could not think about his past right now!
"Just.Just- shut up!" he choked out. The cane connected with her head and
she fell to the floor.
The girl stirred. She had a headache the size of Mordor. She began to muse about the possibility that he was actually as weak as he had seemed when he beat her. Was he afraid of hurting her? Did he like her? Fear and compassion were good things. If he liked her, as remote as that possibility was, she could, maybe grow to like him. Wormtongue was outside, thinking. Had he hurt her too much? She was delicate- after all, she was a girl. But he couldn't worry about hurting her until she was broken. That's what the X's were for. When she admitted that there were five, she was broken. That's when he had complete control over her. But did he really want that? Saruman had complete control over him, and it made him miserable. Would he want to pass that on to another? The girl stood, leaning against the wall. She walked around the room slowly. It spun around her. Her new 'home' was drab and dark. Her master was ghastly pale and gross looking. The slave trader had called him Grima, or something like that. Odd name. She curled up and rubbed her throbbing temples. She caught sight of the X's on the wall and glared. There were obviously four. Why would he try to tell her otherwise? To break her? But she wouldn't be broken! She'd vowed that when her brother was broken. He had become a shell, a stupid, broken, hollow, frightened shell. And he had stopped protecting her. That evening, Grima tried to remember being broken. There had been no pain. Saruman's voice was enough to make him dependent, it was like a drug you could not get off of. There had been much pain and abuse later, but Saruman had been nice at first. Maybe he should. "Hey, girl. Come here" Grima sat up in bed. "What?" The girl dragged herself to his room. "Lie down" He patted the bed beside him. "What?" she had not expected that. "Unless you want to sleep on the floor. I won't do anything to you" Wearily, she lied down, far from him. But when he bade her come closer, promising not to hurt her, she complied, until he wrapped his arms tightly around her. When she was nearly asleep, he kissed her neck. She smiled. He ran a finger across her lips. "You're smiling" he said, surprised "Yes" "Why?" "Your not as macho as you think you are" "What do you mean?" She rolled over to face him. "I mean that you are really a nice guy. At least I think you are." "hmmmm." "Why did you hurt me? I could tell you did not want to" "It felt good" "Why?" "I had never done anything to anyone." "Were you a slave once? Don't lie to me, I can tell" "Yes" "Tell me about it." Grima broke down. He told her everything- how he had a awful childhood, how Saruman had taken him in, how he had taken over Rohan, right up to when he had killed Saruman. He sobbed through half of the story, and she stroked his hair gently. They fell asleep.
The next day, the girl slid out of bed. She made breakfast. She ate and left a plate of food for her master. Grima woke, and found the food, and the girl bandaging herself up from yesterday's injurys. He ate it and found the girl was not a bad cook. In fact, quite good. When she was all bandaged, she re-entered the kitchen "Morning" "Good morning, girl. I didn't expect you to." He was about to say 'be so nice' but reconsidered. "Make breakfast." "I enjoy cooking." Grima was angry with himself. He had been so open with her last night, and she was not yet broken. 'That was a grave mistake' he thought. 'I must not show her my weaknesses again. I must, however learn hers' After breakfast, came the X's. "How many?" "Four" Slap. "How many?" "Four" Slap. "How many?" "Four" Slap. So this continued until her jawbone was thrown out and she lie sobbing on the floor. She had never been this close to breaking. After so nice to he yesterdayr.then Grima stopped and yelled at her, she just sobbed. She wouldn't break. "How many X's? "There are four X's!!!" He grabbed her by the neck and threw her down the stairs, into the basement, locking the door. Why wouldn't she break? This was impossible. The next week went by in a monotonous pattern. Breakfast, X's, locked in basement, dinner, X's, sleep. She slept on the floor of his room now. He didn't talk to her. She would not break. "How many goddam X's are there?" The girl lie bleeding on the floor. She could hardly move. "Four" She choked out. This had started three hours ago. "How many? "Four" Grima kicked he in the head, hard. "How many X's? He kicked her with each syllable. "F..Five" She choked out as he kicked her in the temple. Her heart stilled and her body went cold. She died, finally broken. THE END!!! A/N Thank you for reading this. in all it's glory. I do love Grima, even though he is the bad guy in this fic. did you get my symbolism in not giving the girl a name? she's going to die, so it didn't matter...oh yeah, I am so deep.
The girl stirred. She had a headache the size of Mordor. She began to muse about the possibility that he was actually as weak as he had seemed when he beat her. Was he afraid of hurting her? Did he like her? Fear and compassion were good things. If he liked her, as remote as that possibility was, she could, maybe grow to like him. Wormtongue was outside, thinking. Had he hurt her too much? She was delicate- after all, she was a girl. But he couldn't worry about hurting her until she was broken. That's what the X's were for. When she admitted that there were five, she was broken. That's when he had complete control over her. But did he really want that? Saruman had complete control over him, and it made him miserable. Would he want to pass that on to another? The girl stood, leaning against the wall. She walked around the room slowly. It spun around her. Her new 'home' was drab and dark. Her master was ghastly pale and gross looking. The slave trader had called him Grima, or something like that. Odd name. She curled up and rubbed her throbbing temples. She caught sight of the X's on the wall and glared. There were obviously four. Why would he try to tell her otherwise? To break her? But she wouldn't be broken! She'd vowed that when her brother was broken. He had become a shell, a stupid, broken, hollow, frightened shell. And he had stopped protecting her. That evening, Grima tried to remember being broken. There had been no pain. Saruman's voice was enough to make him dependent, it was like a drug you could not get off of. There had been much pain and abuse later, but Saruman had been nice at first. Maybe he should. "Hey, girl. Come here" Grima sat up in bed. "What?" The girl dragged herself to his room. "Lie down" He patted the bed beside him. "What?" she had not expected that. "Unless you want to sleep on the floor. I won't do anything to you" Wearily, she lied down, far from him. But when he bade her come closer, promising not to hurt her, she complied, until he wrapped his arms tightly around her. When she was nearly asleep, he kissed her neck. She smiled. He ran a finger across her lips. "You're smiling" he said, surprised "Yes" "Why?" "Your not as macho as you think you are" "What do you mean?" She rolled over to face him. "I mean that you are really a nice guy. At least I think you are." "hmmmm." "Why did you hurt me? I could tell you did not want to" "It felt good" "Why?" "I had never done anything to anyone." "Were you a slave once? Don't lie to me, I can tell" "Yes" "Tell me about it." Grima broke down. He told her everything- how he had a awful childhood, how Saruman had taken him in, how he had taken over Rohan, right up to when he had killed Saruman. He sobbed through half of the story, and she stroked his hair gently. They fell asleep.
The next day, the girl slid out of bed. She made breakfast. She ate and left a plate of food for her master. Grima woke, and found the food, and the girl bandaging herself up from yesterday's injurys. He ate it and found the girl was not a bad cook. In fact, quite good. When she was all bandaged, she re-entered the kitchen "Morning" "Good morning, girl. I didn't expect you to." He was about to say 'be so nice' but reconsidered. "Make breakfast." "I enjoy cooking." Grima was angry with himself. He had been so open with her last night, and she was not yet broken. 'That was a grave mistake' he thought. 'I must not show her my weaknesses again. I must, however learn hers' After breakfast, came the X's. "How many?" "Four" Slap. "How many?" "Four" Slap. "How many?" "Four" Slap. So this continued until her jawbone was thrown out and she lie sobbing on the floor. She had never been this close to breaking. After so nice to he yesterdayr.then Grima stopped and yelled at her, she just sobbed. She wouldn't break. "How many X's? "There are four X's!!!" He grabbed her by the neck and threw her down the stairs, into the basement, locking the door. Why wouldn't she break? This was impossible. The next week went by in a monotonous pattern. Breakfast, X's, locked in basement, dinner, X's, sleep. She slept on the floor of his room now. He didn't talk to her. She would not break. "How many goddam X's are there?" The girl lie bleeding on the floor. She could hardly move. "Four" She choked out. This had started three hours ago. "How many? "Four" Grima kicked he in the head, hard. "How many X's? He kicked her with each syllable. "F..Five" She choked out as he kicked her in the temple. Her heart stilled and her body went cold. She died, finally broken. THE END!!! A/N Thank you for reading this. in all it's glory. I do love Grima, even though he is the bad guy in this fic. did you get my symbolism in not giving the girl a name? she's going to die, so it didn't matter...oh yeah, I am so deep.