Aragorn felt the reverberations in his head long before he woke up. It told him that metalwork was being done somewhere near. He knew he wasn't in Gondor because of the horrid smell. But where was he? Aragorn opened his eyes.
From what he could see from the floor, the room was made of dark stone and the floor had strange carvings in them. The room was lit up by four torches and sunlight leaked through a half open door. Aragorn sat up and rubbed his head. It was still very tender where the stone had hit him. He heard the clink of chains behind him and spun around. Piper sat on the floor, her wrists chained to a stone pillar. He tried to move over to her but found his hands were also chained but to another stone pillar. He pulled and thrashed around on the floor trying to break the chain. He pushed against the pillar with his feet but to no avail.
'You might as well give up', said Piper wearily. 'I've already tried that and all I accomplished was rubbing my wrists raw.'
Aragorn gave up and sat against the wall. His head was pounding but he was glad to see Piper was safe for the moment. He glanced down at his side and wasn't surprised to see his sword was gone.
'This is great. Now how are we supposed to get out? Can't you use your powers and blow up our chains?'
Piper shook her head.
'Saruman must have an enchantment on this place because I can't blow up or freeze a damn thing. If I had that option we would have been out of here long ago.'
'Yes you would have been. And I would have no one to talk to.'
Saruman walked into the room, a smile on his face.
'Aragorn son of Arathorn, heir of Isildur and King of Gondor. It is a blessing to finally meet you in person... your majesty.'
Aragorn stirred and his chains clinked faintly.
'And Piper Halliwell, daughter of Victor and oldest sister of the Charmed Ones. I'm sorry to say that I cannot have you running around casting spells in my tower and disrupting everyone. But I hope you are enjoying yourselves.'
'You blocked her magic because you know she's more powerful than you are', said Aragorn coldly.
'If she's more powerful than I am, why can I block her magic?'
Aragorn didn't answer.
'Demons have been able to block my magic before', Piper spat, 'and my sisters and me have over thrown that magic too. Yours is no different.'
Saruman's smile disappeared.
'You will learn to respect those of us who are more powerful than you are', he growled.
'Over my dead body.
In this night and in this our,
I call upon the Ancient Power.
Bring my powers back to me,
I want my powers, give me my powers.'
Piper felt her powers flow back into her and instantly blew up the chains around her wrists. She rounded on Saruman and threw a blast his was. He staggered backwards, grabbed his staff, and came marching Piper's way. Aragorn tripped him and he fell on his face. Saruman quickly got back up and hit Piper across the head with his staff. She fell to the floor and lay still. Orcs came running into the room, grabbed Piper and rechained her to he pillar. Saruman cast a spell on her and then turned away. He walked over to Aragorn and stared down at him.
'Do what you want with me', Aragorn said. 'Just leave her alone.'
Saruman lifted his hand and backhand Aragorn across the face. He beckoned to the orcs and they marched out of the room.'
Piper returned to consciousness a couple hours later with a pounding headache and mentioned something about aspirin. Aragorn had no idea what aspirin was but did his best to keep as quiet as possible so as to help her head. The next day Saruman came back to their cell, this time not as cheerful. He turned to Aragorn.
'It is time', he said. 'Come with me.'
An orc stepped forward and released his chain from the pillar. It handed the loose end to Saruman and stepped back into place.
'Go where?'
'To receive your punishment', Saruman informed him. 'Or should I say, her punishment?'
Saruman looked at Piper.
'What did she do?' Aragorn snarled.
'Trying to curse a wizard is a very terrible crime, a very terrible crime indeed. And ten more lashes for being so outspoken.'
All the colour left Aragorn's face as what Saruman said sunk in.
'Lashes?'
'She was going to be whipped twenty times for what she did yesterday', said Saruman with a cruel smile. 'And you can't whip a woman too many times or she is of no use. But since you so bravely took up her punishment you are now to be lashed forty times. It will be fifty if you don't start moving.'
Piper stood up.
'I'm strong enough to take my own punishment thank you very much.'
'I'm sorry', said Saruman sweetly. 'But men are always true to their word, and you wouldn't want Aragorn to break his promise now would you?'
Piper didn't say anything so Saruman led Aragorn out of the room. Aragorn took one last look at Piper before he was forced down the corridor, and Piper saw Aragorn's eyes were confident and that he wasn't scared of the punishment he was about to endure.
Aragorn was led down many corridors and steps until he lost track of the turns. They eventually entered into a dimly lit chamber. The only thing that was well illuminated was a contraption made of wood. It was a tall, square arch and two chains with shackles hung down from the top. It was this they lead him to. They had him stand below it and removed his chains. One orc dragged them away.
'Remove your shirt', he said coldly.
Aragorn looked up and slowly unbuttoned his shirt. When that was done he dropped it on the ground. He waited for what was coming next.
Two orcs came over to Aragorn, grabbed his hands and chained his wrists to the wooden structure. The feel of their hands sent shivers down his spine. They moved away behind him and he heard something heavy being picked up. He then heard two thin leather straps fall to the floor. Aragorn grabbed the chains holding his wrists up and gripped them tight. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was ready.
'Begin', Saruman commanded.
The whip came whistling down through the air and slapped against Aragorn's back. The chains jingled as Aragorn lurched forward, the fresh cut on his back, stinging. The whip came down again and cut into his back. He gritted his teeth and hissed. Again and again the whip came down, crisscrossing over his back, cutting deeper with every lash. After the tenth hit, Aragorn couldn't help it. He screamed. He screamed again and pulled at the chains, trying to twist away from the whips. But wherever he went, the whips seemed to find him.
Aragorn gave up and let the whip hit him, the pain almost unbearable. He slumped down and the whip hit him on his neck. When they were done, they released his chains and he fell to the floor, too weak to stand. The orcs roughly put his shirt back on him and carried him back up to the room. They threw him in and locked the door. Aragorn moved his arm slightly and pain shot through his back. But he noticed something besides the pain. His hands were free. He looked over at Piper and saw her hands were free too. Piper crawled over to him.
'Saruman put an enchantment on the door', she muttered to him. 'Orcs can go in and out as they please but we can only come in through the door. Not out. He also decided that since we have no way out our hands could be free.'
'Well at least our hands are free now, which means you can grab a pouch I think is still in my shirt pocket. Unfortunately, it's on the inside. I can't get it without hurting myself. Can you try and grab it? It's on my right side.'
Piper gently rolled Aragorn onto his left side and unbuttoned his shirt halfway. She gently peeled back the bloody shirt and saw the pocket he was talking about. She reached in and brought out the pouch.
'Put the pouch in your pocket and then see if you can get an orcs attention', Aragorn said. 'If you can, ask it for a bowl of hot water and a cloth.'
Piper walked over to the door and started pounding the door and hollering at the top of her lungs. After a few minutes an orc answered and asked her what she wanted. She asked it for the bowl of water and the cloth. A few minutes later it came back with a steaming bowl and a cloth and handed them to her. She carefully put the steaming bowl and cloth down beside Aragorn.
'Open the pouch and take out three of the leaves. Crumble them in your hands and drop them in the water. After that, take my shirt off.'
Piper opened the pouch and pulled out three dark green leaves. She crumbled them up in her hands and a crisp, pure smell filled her nostrils.
'What is this stuff?' she asked.
'Athelas', Aragorn said painfully. 'Its also called Kingsfoil.'
Piper threw it into the water and the smell seemed to refresh her. It seemed to help Aragorn as well. She shifted over to him and unbuttoned his shirt the rest of the way, then gently began to pull it away. They were able to get his arms out OK, but when it came to pulling the shirt off his back, it hurt him a lot. Aragorn closed his eyes tight and grinded his teeth together as Piper slowly peeled the shirt away. When that was done, she saw exactly what Aragorn had gone through for her. His cuts were deep and some of them were already infected.
'How bad is it?' he asked, not sure he wanted to know the answer.
'Some of them are already infected.'
'Their whips must not be clean. Oh well. Take the cloth and wet it with the Athelas water. With it you can bathe the wounds.'
Piper picked up the cloth and wet it with the water. She gently laid the cloth down on Aragorn's back and looked at his face. He didn't flinch. Piper started to wipe the blood away and clean the wounds. As she did this, without knowing it, she began to sing.
'Lay down
Your sweet
and weary head
Night is falling
You've come to journey's end
And dream of the ones who came before
They are calling
From across the distant shoreWhy do you weep?
What are these tears upon your face?
Soon you will see
All of your fears will pass away
Safe in my arms
You're only sleeping...'
Aragorn was breathing slowly and deeply. When Piper stopped to look at his face, she saw that he was asleep. She dropped the now bloody cloth into the water and put the pouch in her pocket. She went over to her side of the room and went to sleep.
Over the next few days, Aragorn's cuts began to heal with a bathe of warm Athelas water twice a day. The infection went away and the less deep cut began to heal. Aragorn was able to move his arms more with less pain.
When Aragorn had been in Isengard for over a week. Saruman came back to their chamber just after Piper had given Aragorn's back a bathe. Aragorn put his shirt on and stood up, wincing a little.
'You seem to be healing well, Aragorn', he commented. 'Maybe we should have put more poison on the whips to teach you a lesson.'
'Poison?' said Piper. 'Is that what you put on them?'
'Not enough to kill him. Just enough to keep him in pain for a while. We would have done the same to you if it had been you to take the punishment.'
Piper glared at him. Aragorn decided to break the silence before anyone started throwing threats or spells and he had to be whipped again.
'What do you want?' he asked.
'Ah, yes. I wanted to show you and Piper something.'
He made a beckoning motion with his hand and an orc came in carrying a very large mirror. Saruman took it and placed it on the wall. Somehow it stayed there without a hook or string to support it. Piper and Aragorn stepped closer to Saruman and the mirror. Two Uruk-hai came into the room and stood behind them, one on the left, one on the right.
'Aragorn, if you never manage to escape from this tower, which I doubt you will, the world of men will fall, beginning with your son on his seventh birthday.'
'My son?' Aragorn muttered.
Saruman touched the mirror and instantly, there were pictures moving in it. They could also hear everything.
A little boy was running away from an Uruk-hai that was in hot pursuit, and quickly gaining on him. The boy had bright, blue eyes and his brown, wavy hair fell to his shoulders. He wore a crystal pendant in the shape of a star on his neck. Aragorn gave a start. This was his seven-year-old son.
The Uruk-hai caught up to the boy and grabbed around the waist and pined him under it's left arm.
'Daddy!'
Aragorn began to walk towards the mirror. The Uruk-hai grabbed Aragorn and kept him from going any further. Aragorn struggled with the Uruk-hai to try and get to his son, forgetting that it was only a vision. The orc struck Aragorn on the side with its fist. Aragorn grew silent and watched the rest of the vision, a single tear running down the side of his face.
The Uruk-hai tried to pull the struggling child through a door. The boy clawed at the doorframe, trying to grab a hold.
'Daddy!' he cried. 'Help me!'
Aragorn closed his eyes and bowed his head. Tears were now flowing freely down his face. Piper glanced from Aragorn back to the mirror. The Uruk-hai finally managed to pull the child through the door and slammed it shut. Two voices exchanged words; there was a loud scream, the sound of something hitting the floor, then silence.
'NO!'
Aragorn turned to Saruman, hate in his eyes.
'Why? Why did you kill him? What can a little boy do to you? Why are you so scared of him?'
'He is my downfall if he lives', said the wizard. 'And so are you. You are going to meet the same fate as your son tomorrow.'
Aragorn and Piper looked at Saruman, fear striking their hearts.
'Aragorn son of Arathorn, Piper daughter of Victor, you will both be executed tomorrow at dawn.'
