Sauron's Child
Chapter 5: Schooling of the Master's daughter
Valimar concentrated. Her amber eyes intensely focused on
the crystal ball standing upon the desk in front of her. The girl narrowed her eyes with effort, her
irises flaring golden and the slit pupils of her eyes contracting. The crystal ball remained motionless and
dull upon the oaken desk. The half elf turned her head away in frustration.
"Gash," Vanaria's daughter muttered lowly almost beneath her breath.
Unfortunately the sound was heard by her tutor who turned
upon Valimar that instant. "Giving up
Girl?" he questioned a sneer further contorting his twisted features. The half
elf's tutor then cuffed her soundly round the head.
The blow was not light and caused Valimar's head to ring. It
sounded, to the hapless half elf, as if all the bells in Dol Guldur were
sounding. She shook her head and
although the ringing stopped a sudden nausea that afflicted her, she felt
dizzy. With a second shake of the head,
slightly more cautious than the first, the cobwebs cleared from within the
girl-child's head. Now that she was
more composed she glared at her instructor with hatred, her golden eyes
glimmering.
The man seemed oblivious to Valimar's loathing; the girls
steely amber-eyed gaze barely penetrated his consciousness. For Vanaria's daughter's tutor stood with
his back to his charge gazing out of one for the few tower windows at Dol
Guldur, his black eyes upon the newly leafed beech trees of Mirkwood. A sharp eyed observer in the Great Forest,
who happened to be watching that tower of Dol Guldur would see Valimar's tutor
silhouetted in the window. An ordinary
viewer could tell the man was tall and well built, with a mane of dark
shoulder-length hair flowing lose around his head but little more than
that. Possibly if they were as keen
eyed as an elf they would see the blackness of his eyes, and the thin tapering
length of his moustache but otherwise he remained a mysterious figure in the fortress. The tutor wore neither uniform or rags, the
most common garments in the fortress, instead he was richly clad in robes
trimmed with furs. Possibly the
observer would mistake him for the master of the tower but Valimar knew better. Her tutor was not her father the
Necromancer; he was one of her Father's servants, a man who had served the half
elf's father faithfully for many a year. The Necromancer had rewarded his loyal servant by allowing him access to
the extensive libraries within the fortress and here the tutor studied and
began to teach himself the rudiments of dark magic. The Master saw the student at his studies and realised that the
man had potential so the dark lord began to train him too. So the tutor learnt how to prolong his life
and now had lived longer than the spans ordinarily allotted to three
generations of long-lived men. So long
had the mortal walked Middle Earth that he had forgotten his name and as he
spoke for his master he was known as the Mouthpiece. Upon the discovery of the
Necromancer's true identity all would know Valimar's tutor as the Mouthpiece of
Sauron.
So this man who had guarded Vanaria now began to tutor her
daughter and his reasons behind this decision were solely self-serving. The Mouthpiece wished to further his
standing with his master by teaching the elf's brat basic magic and as the girl
had power he could create a useful tool for his master. The way the girl's power had become obvious,
that dramatic shape-shift into the form of a hound indicated that the girl had
significant potential. The Mouthpiece
mused that with training Vanaria's daughter could become a powerful sorceress
and with careful handling she could also be a powerful ally to him. So with these reasons the dark man tutored
the Dark Lord's only child. The
Mouthpiece gave Valimar lessons in ancient languages, the history of Middle
Earth and basic magical spells. He also
arranged for her to receive some military training so that should she ever be
in the field of battle the girl would have skills other than her magic to
defend herself. So too the girl had
lessons in weaponry, warfare and horsemanship with the military cadets at Dol
Guldur.
Soon Valimar excelled amongst the military cadets. Her Elvin quickness made her a slight but
speedy foe and in one-on-one combat she could out fight all the other cadets,
even the orcs whose strength was far superior to hers. The half elf developed what the Weapons
Master referred to a light combat style. She whirled, danced, kicked and struck
her foe relying upon her agility to stay out of reach, when she was caught by
them the battle was over with the half elf losing. The other students laughed at the girl's acrobatic fighting style
but still she continued to beat them on the majority of occasions. Vanaria's daughter was also a fine shot and
when Vanaria's daughter's bow sang the arrow almost always found its mark. Her horsemanship was also impressive. Here her Elvin attributes also assisted her
here for the horses bore the cat-eyed girl more willingly that the other
students for she was light and responsive to their movements. The military cadets thought that her harmony
with horses came from an ability to speak with them, something that Valimar
brought up amongst men and orcs had not learned, instead the girl relied upon a
native intuition, something she had most definitely inherited with her elven
blood.
However in the subjects that the Mouthpiece taught Valimar
the half elf appeared to have no aptitude. The girl regularly confused ancient languages with their modern
counterparts and even in these her fluency was limited to the gutter language
of the base soldiery. During her
history lessons Vanaria's daughter tended to dream and the girl also showed a
worrying tendency to romanticise the characters, something that the Mouthpiece
found a deplorable piece of weakness. Unbeknownst to Valimar's tutor this was a trait that Vanaria had shown
throughout her schooling at Thranduil's court. In some ways Valimar was remarkably similar to the mother she never
knew. But of all the subjects taught to
Sauron's daughter the one that she was most poor at was magic. Since her astounding transformation into a
hound when attacked in the stable yard the half elf had not managed to repeat
the task. Now even basic summoning
spells were proving beyond her ken. Look at the girl now trying, or rather no longer trying to move the
crystal ball.
The Mouthpiece turned from the Mirkwood view to that of his
charge. Valimar stubbornly gazed at the
wall, refusing even to look at the crystal in front of her. "Come girl!" started the Mouthpiece, his
rich voice echoing around the study. The Necromancer's Mouthpiece was proud of his voice; it was a beautiful
instrument, musical, well pitched and yet still held a note of power. The timbre of his expressive voice changed
and became acidic dripping venom, "Try Girl!"
Valimar turned and looked her teacher in the eye
boldly. As the Mouthpiece held her gaze
steadily the expression in the elf girls amber eyes became pleading. "I can't," Vanaria's daughter pleaded and an
edge of frustration crept into her tone, "I have tried for three seasons to
move the crystal ball using magic and nothing has happened. I have no power. I am not talented. Please Sir, let me desist with these lessons
for I cannot even accomplish this simple task." The girl then lowered her head and ran her hands through her
hair.
For an instant the woeful aspect of the girl, her hands
clawed through the bronze tresses and her fingernails scratching her scalp,
appealed to the Mouthpiece and the Dark Lord's servant was moved. But then the hope that the girl would be
powerful and the knowledge that she did have some talent at magic, albeit
uncontrolled, revisited the Mouthpiece; so the man eyed Valimar with disdain. He then with an arrogant attitude drew
himself to his full height and peered down his nose at the half elf. "In your Father's name," he loudly implored,
"Try!" The man then inhaled swiftly
with the appearance of trying to calm himself. The Mouthpiece then continued, pitching his voice dramatically low,
"Repeat after me – Lataoe Carinene…"
Valimar interrupted, "Oh! What is the use? I've tried that one and I still can't get
the stupid ball to move a fingers' breadth!" She flung out one arm impatiently;
her hand outstretched pointing towards the crystal ball. "I cannot move it and you know it does not
matter which spell I attempt!" Throughout this dramatic and defeatist speech Valimar kept her gaze
interlocked with her tutor's her eyes flashing golden with emotion. She was surprised when the man dropped his
gaze. The girl heard a sound like a thunk and dropped her arm. Valimar stood
panting as if she had run a hard race, for that act of defiance had cost her
much and she knew that it warranted punishment. Then much to her surprise her tutor clapped. Vanaria looked at the Mouthpiece with
puzzlement, her head tilted to one side like a sparrow's.
The Mouthpiece smiled, and unusually this lighted up his
eyes. "Bravo girl," he cried, "there's
magic in you yet!"
Valimar continued to regard him with puzzlement. The Mouthpiece gestured towards the desktop.
Valimar dropped her gaze. The half elf's eyes widened with shock as she stared
down at the read leather topped oaken desk the crystal ball had gone. The girl then bent her head to look at the
floor and there lying boldly on the Harad carpet was the crystal. The light from the mid-afternoon sun passed
through the globe and created circular patterning on the rug. Valimar looked at the ball in awe. Vanaria's
daughter then tore her eyes from the sight to look at her tutor, who regarded
her with amused eyes. "How?" questioned
the confused girl.
Her teacher continued to smile. "How?" the Mouthpiece echoed. "No child, that is the wrong
question. The correct ones would be
when and why?" The man smiled,
displaying his slightly pointed teeth. "When? Well as you gestured at the ball
it started rolling." Then as Valimar looked confused he continued, "Come girl,
surely you heard it fall to the floor?" The girl nodded briefly in
acquisesence. "Good," smoothly stated the Mouthpiece, "Well the next and more
difficult question is why? Now that I have yet to fathom, but fear not girl I
shall!"
Valimar, rather overcome by the grace of her teachers speech
stammered, "B..but I don't understand."
Still smiling graciously her tutor answered the girl, "You
are not expected to girl, for I do not either. Still I am pleased. I had almost
given up the hope that your Father's excellence had been passed to you. I must confess (and I do not do this
lightly) that I thought you overly resembled your Mother and had inherited the
deplorable tendencies of Elven folk. But lo, and how happily, you prove me wrong. Well done my Lord's daughter!"
Vanaria's daughter was now totally overcome by this the most
favourable speech she had ever heard her Father's servant utter, save for when
the man was praising the Necromancer, clutched her collar nervously. This was a habit she had acquired since her
singular transformation into a hound. The collar too was acquired after that time. The Necromancer's daughter regarded it as a safety talisman, for
the collar marked her as the Necromancer's own. So should she change her form again no hungry orc or goblin would
touch her. The collar was not an object
of beauty and if appeared ungainly and out of place clasped around the
graceful, swan-like neck of Vanaria's daughter. The object in question was made of rank dark leather and bronze
studs and it was over two fingers' breadths wide. Although the safety provided to Valimar had not ever been put to
the test, for she had not transformed, Vanaria's daughter still regarded it as
protection and when nervous the girl wrapped her hand around it. Another habit that the Necromancer's
daughter had developed relates to her Mother's ring, given to the daughter
before Vanaria gave in to despair. This
golden ring Valimar now wore on her left hand and the child had always played
with it. Vanaria's ring comforted her
daughter and whenever the girl felt alone, or confused she would twist the ring
upon her finger. At the moment the
girl only clutched her collar and her ring was motionless upon her finger.
The teacher still regarded the girl, his face wearing a
smile but the honesty and genuine pleasure of his charge succeeding had now
given way to a more calculating appearance. The Mouthpiece now needed to teach her other methods of spelling but
first he had to determine how the girl's talents worked. The man needed to
think this over, so to allow himself some time for reflection he dismissed Valimar
from the study. The girl scampered off
joyously, probably towards the stables, mused the Mouthpiece. He then sat down in the chair that his
Master's daughter had just vacated and turned his mind to harnessing the girl's
magic. As he considered the occasions
when the girl had spelled the man realised the similarity between them, both
times the girl had strong emotions. So
somehow if he could manipulate these, by finding some way to control them then
she could become a skilled sorceress. The evil man pondered the situation. Somehow he had to unlock his
Master's daughter potential. Yet his
worries proved unfounded for when it came round to the next magic lesson
Valimar had finally relaxed and began to pick up the spelling swiftly.
By the winter Valimar was more than competent in movement
spelling and could control the motion of several different objects at
once. This the war-like daughter of
peace-loving Vanaria most impressively demonstrated one day during her weapons
training. The girl was supposed to be
fighting a squad of orcs one-on-many (it was meant to be a simulation for the
Necromancer's military cadets of being attacked by those accursed elves) but
Valimar was in the mood for playing games. As the orcs attacked the girl simply turned her opponents' weapons on
themselves. It was an amusing
spectacle. Some of the creatures were being hit by the flats of their blades
and trying to avoid being hit by dropping to the ground and rolling (it wasn't
working as there yelps testified). Other orcs ran in front of their floating weapons trying to outdistance
them, yet their blades continued to jab them in their behinds. One orc tried to climb the flagpole to get
away from his sword, but even as he shinned up, still his sword poked him. The cadets that were supposed to be watching
the fight were crying with laughter at the whole show, one even going so far as
to fall off his bench. Only two people
looked relatively unscathed by the entire process, Valimar and the weapons
master. The weapons master anger only
showing by the throbbing of a vein in his temple, other wise he appeared
ordinarily grim. But Valimar was now
beginning to look slightly strained; the effort of so much spelling was
draining her. So the girl to end the
game and let the weapons fall. As she
did so the weapons master turned upon her and flung her from the class with the
instruction not to come back. Valimar
slunk away.
When the Mouthpiece was informed of the latest incident he was impressed by the power that his charge was showing. The girl had also mastered basic fire summoning and was now competent at other forms of minor flame spelling. Though only just and her eyebrows were growing back from the latest escaped. Still it was becoming apparent to the Mouthpiece that he was no longer a suitable tutor for the Necromancer's daughter, someone with greater skills would need to tutor her. Then it came to him, as the girl was to be a sorceress, it was only fitting that the Sorcerer teach her. So it was decided that Valimar be sent to be taught by her Father's Lieutenant, the Lord of the Nazgul. Vanaria's daughter was to go to Mordor.