(A.N. This is a dull chapter really, but necessary. Sad, I know. It'll get better. Thanks so much to my reviewers. Your input is greatly appreciated.)
Nothing made much sense after my encounter with Galadriel. My world had somehow changed. It took me days to even reorient myself in the tower that I could walk through blindfolded. My lord noticed it first. He always did.
"Azra, why do you wander?" he asked.
"I am not lost, if that is what you mean," I said.
"No, your mind," he said.
"I have had much to think about. The Ring is almost ours again. We can track them, kill them and get it back," I said. "Then you will be restored to power."
"You saw something you have never seen before when you followed them. Something you didn't expect," he said.
"Yes," I replied softly.
"It causes you pain, but you do not suffer," said Sauron.
"Yes," I said again. There was no point in lying. He knew me too well. He knew my thoughts even better.
"Push it from you as you did your mercy. There was a time when you could not dream of harming an elf," he said.
"That was a long time ago," I said.
"Yes, it was,"
"Then I shall do so. Do you require anything else?" I asked.
"No, nothing that you have not already done," he said. I walked up to my room, leaving the glowing eye watching me. He knew exactly what had happened, but he wouldn't speak of it. I would never know why. That was part of life with him. Sauron was his own master. Even those he called allies never knew his true purpose.
Sauron told Saruman about the Fellowship and all I had learned. It was Saruman's turn to prove the worth of his Uruk-hai. I was deciding on whether or not to go with them. It would be a long journey even to catch up with the party. Angath was still recovering from our last trip. It was in my best interest to stay in Mordor. I had done enough. Everything seemed to be falling into place on its own. Then again, things aren't always what they seem.
I spent more time in my room than I had before. I was slowly regaining my old sense of self. There I read the histories we had collected over the centuries. Most had once been true, but had degenerated into myths and legends. My name was mentioned in passing a few times, but mostly because the authors were unsure I was real. That fact alone meant I had been doing my job right. As I was reading, Baghrat came in.
"Word from Saruman. They have nearly caught the party," he said. I looked up.
"Nearly?" I repeated.
"They have a little farther yet to travel," he said.
"And what will they do once they catch them?" I asked.
"Their orders were to return the halflings and kill the rest," he replied.
"Very well then," I said, going back to my book.
"Why do they want the Ring?" asked Baghrat. It was the first time I'd ever heard an orc wonder such a thing.
"It holds a great power. The only one who can wield it is Sauron himself. Men just think they can. There is little in this world more seductive than power. Sauron retains my services to keep his power. I am the means to the end," I said. "Sauron poured his very life force into that Ring. It answers only to him."
"And what if someone else was to put it on?" he asked..
"The Naz-gul would find it rather quickly. They are tied to it as well. We all are. I feel its power daily, but it is not up to me to get it back," I replied.
"You create a means to get it back," he said.
"In a way," I said. He bowed out of the room and left me to my reading. I closed the book and looked out the window. I was letting my mind wander when a powerful jolt shot through me. My right hand burned and heat radiated up and down my arm, into my chest. Someone had put on the Ring. The Uruks would surely find them now. I caught my breath and smiled.
Yes, I thought, Isn't it just too much to bear...