Chapter 3:
Irideth woke feeling chilled all over. She could feel that she was swaddled in blankets, but it still felt as though she'd rolled in a pile of snow.
She was staring at the ceiling of her bedroom, lying in her own bed with a warm washcloth resting on her forehead. Irideth startled when a face appeared in her line of sight, then she relaxed.
"Mama!" she cried, throwing her arms around her mother's neck and burying her face in her chest. Strong, warm arms came to wrap around her in return.
"Oh, my beauty. My brave, brave beauty," Mama whispered, voice choked and heavy with tears. "What were you thinking?"
"Wouldn't we all like to know?" came the voice of Master Geirwulf. Irideth peered over her mother's shoulder to see him and her father sitting in the far corner of the room. Her father stood and made his way over to Irideth and her mother, wordlessly wrapping his arms around them both. Irideth tilted her head up so she could bury her face in her father's neck.
"Child, when I said a distraction, I meant lead the herd away from the village to draw the orcs off, not go charging through the middle of their ranks. Though I'm impressed you thought to call your wolves for help," Geirwulf said.
"You just wanted me out of the way," Irideth said as her parents pulled away.
"Don't you understand why, Irideth? Look what happened to you, attacked by a Nazgul of all creatures! If Carantar and his pack hadn't come when they did, I…," Father wasn't able to finish.
Remembering her encounter with the creature, Irideth shuddered. She didn't know why, but something told her that the creature hadn't been trying to kill her. It had, for a few brief seconds, actually looked like it was trying to pick her up.
"Is Carantar and everyone else alright?" Irideth asked in a small voice, attempting to shake off the image.
Father's eyes softened. "Yes. Everyone in the village escaped serious injury, thanks to you. Nonetheless, what you did was extremely reckless and you will be punished for it."
Irideth lowered her eyes to her hands, fiddling with her blankets. "Yes, Papa."
"But, Papa, that's not fair!"
Everyone looked up in surprise to see Adina and Cevin run into the room.
"You just said it yourself, Irideth saved the village!" Cevin continued, outraged. Next to him, Adina nodded fervently.
"Yes, but by putting herself in great danger," Mama said with a stern look in Irideth's direction. Irideth kept her eyes cast downwards.
"I think it would be best if we spoke of this further in the morning," Geirwulf aid. "It has been a trying night for all of us, and Irideth needs her rest. Off to bed, you two."
Cevin, with one last rebellious glare, leaped up onto Irideth's bed and planted a firm kiss on her forehead in a rare show of sibling solidarity. Irideth giggled and kissed him on the cheek, then hugged Adina when the youngest sister leaped onto her lap. Then her two siblings ran out of the room, presumably to their own rooms. Presumably; this was undoubtedly why Father and Master Geirwulf stood a moment later, Father planting one last kiss on Irideth's forehead. Both men left then, Master Geirwulf giving Irideth a slight nod as he did so.
Irideth sighed quietly, flopping backward onto her pillows. Mother smiled softly at her, leaning forward and planting a gentle kiss on her head.
"My sweet, brave girl," she whispered, tucking Irideth's blankets around her shoulders. "Get some rest."
Irideth was asleep practically the moment the last word left her lips.
Irideth woke to pitch blackness and someone clapping a hand over her mouth. She stiffened at the feeling of cold steel at her neck.
"You scream, girl, and I'll slit that pretty little throat of yours. Understand?" Tyrhir breathed into her face. Trembling, Irideth nodded. Satisfied that she wouldn't cause any trouble, the man proceeded to tie Irideth's hands together with rough cord and hoisted her over his shoulder, carrying her to the bedroom door.
The second he stepped out of the doorway Irideth screamed at the top of her lungs. "Help! Mother, Papa, please! It's Tyrhir, he's…!"
Irideth's voice was cut off as Tyrhir, cursing breathlessly, tucked her under his arm and shoved a cloth in her mouth as a makeshift gag. He then proceeded to bound down the stairs with a speed and agility belied by his usual state of drunkenness.
Irideth could hear her parents running out of their bedroom just as Tyrhir made it to the main door. Irideth spat the cloth out of her mouth, thrashing and screaming as her kidnapper dragged her outside and ran with a speed she never would have thought him capable of.
She could hear the door of her house bang open a second time, could see her father's furious and terrified face in the light of the torch he carried as he looked frantically around the street. Cevin sprinted out into the lane beside him.
"Daddy! Cevin! Help!" Irideth screamed, feeling tears begin to slide down her cheeks.
"Tyrhir, you rat-hearted bastard!" her father bellowed, immediately taking off after them, Cevin hot on his heels. "Release my daughter now!"
Tyrhir only ran faster; even carrying a burden, he was considerably lighter than the town wood-smith.
But he wasn't faster than the wood-smith's son. As Tyrhir gained ground on Seldor, Cevin gained on Tyrhir. Running small and light, Tyrhir didn't hear Cevin over his father's furious bellows until the boy was on him.
"Let my sister go!" Cevin shouted, at the same instant leaping and latching onto the man's legs. Tyrhir went down with a startled cry, dropping Irideth at the same moment. Irideth's head struck the ground and she saw stars for a moment. Moaning softly, she rolled over and pushed herself up on bound hands, just in time to see Tyrhir kick Cevin in the head. Hard.
Her brother dropped like a stone.
"No! No! Cevin! NO!" Irideth screamed as she tried to get up. She kept screaming as Tyrhir picked her up again and ran on, even faster than before. Through falling tears, Irideth could see her father drop to his knees beside Cevin's still body before Tyrhir turned a corner. Irideth screamed one more time before dissolving into quiet sobs. Her spinning head and the ache in her chest didn't allow for her to register much after that; the night was so dark with only a half-moon shining that Irideth could barely see where they were going anyway.
A sob caught in her throat as Tyrhir suddenly came to a stop and a sharp chill descended over her body in that same instant. Tyrhir shifted his hold on her so she was facing the same direction as him and dropped to his knees.
"My lords," he said breathlessly, holding her upward slightly as though she were an offering. "I bring you the girl."
Irideth, seeing black hooves and the edges of a black cloak, didn't dare look up.
"Did I not tell you to extract her quietly, wretch?" a voice hissed- literally hissed- in anger. "We could hear the screams from here!"
Tyrhir and Irideth both flinched, both for different reasons; Tyrhir because of the plain rage he was being addressed with, Irideth because a pair of armored hands reached down and scooped her out of Tyrhir's arms.
She gave a breathless sob of terror as the wraith lifted her up and over his horse's neck, depositing her in front of him in the saddle. Irideth briefly considered sliding off, but almost the second the thought entered her head two black clad arms had encircled her and gripped the reins, beginning to turn the horse away from the man on the ground.
"Wait! What about my reward?" Tyrhir shouted.
The wraith holding Irideth stopped. Irideth could hear and feel him shifting in the saddle as he presumably turned to face the man again.
"You did not complete your assignment as instructed; you'll receive nothing from us."
Us? Irideth thought, feeling her terror reach new heights; a glance to the left indicated that there were two other mounted figures present, undoubtedly other Nazgul.
"But… But the wood-smith saw me taking her! I may have even killed his son! They'll sentence me to death if I go back! If they find out I gave her to you, I'll be drawn and quartered!"
Irideth closed her eyes, fisting her bound hands and biting back her sobs as a fresh wave of tears made its way down her cheeks. Cevin, oh Valar, Cevin…
"You had better start running then," the wraith next to the one holding her said. If Irideth wasn't mistaken the voice sounded… vaguely pleased.
The wraith holding her made a quiet sound that seemed strangely like a laugh, then spurred his horse into a quick canter. Irideth gave a hitching gasp and would have fallen out of the saddle if it weren't for the wraith's arms carefully steadying her.
It took her a few seconds to synchronize her movements with the horse's, and even when she did she was trembling so badly it barely made a difference.
Apparently sensing this, the wraith shifted the reins to one hand and placed the other on her shoulder.
"Sleep."
There was power in that word, and Irideth was unconscious before her next breath.
When Irideth woke again, it was broad daylight. At least it would have been if she wasn't under a canopy of leaves.
Remembering the events of last night, Irideth went rigid and her eyes widened as much as they were able; whatever spell the wraith had put on her had not completely worn off.
The next thing she knew the figure behind her was dismounting and she was being dragged out of the saddle to be cradled in a pair of black-clad arms. Irideth screwed her eyes shut, partially out of the pain in muscles stiff from riding all night, partly-mostly-out of fear.
Irideth heard horses stomping and snorting, several sets of footsteps. She felt the arms that were holding her shift, then flinched when something was pressed against her lips.
"Drink," the wraith said, sounding much… gentler than he had last night. He even sounded a little bit more human. "It is only water."
Irideth wanted to refuse, but her throat felt like it was perilously close to cracking. Trembling, she opened her mouth as what she assumed was the rim of a water bottle pressed at her lips again. The water was surprisingly cool, and Irideth felt better after a few swallows. When the bottle was pulled away, Irideth dared to open her eyes a fraction. When she did, she immediately wished she hadn't.
There were not one, but three hooded heads peering down at her; she could discern that she was being held by the tallest wraith.
"I am aware that she is an anomaly, Murazor, but did you have to take her?" One of the wraiths asked the one who held her. "Khamul and Adunaphel will pitch a fit when they see this."
"Yes, thank you, Uvatha," the wraith holding her-Murazor- said dryly. Returning his attention to Irideth, he asked, "How old are you, little one?"
Irideth swallowed thickly before answering "A… almost nine," she said quietly.
Silence for a few beats. Then the wraith who had yet to speak chuckled. "Plucky little thing. Most men in her position would be a sniveling wreck at this point."
Uvatha and Murazor seemed to agree, while Irideth was too stunned by the fact that she'd just been complimented by a Ringwraith to respond.
"Um… could you put me down, please?" Irideth asked softly after a few moments. "I promise I won't try to run away." And she meant it. Tyrhir was a foolish man. The wraiths, on the other hand… Irideth did not want to be on their bad side.
Murazor complied and set her down on unsteady legs. She took a couple of steps first left, then right, then forward to get the blood flowing again, working her bound wrists as she did so
Apparently noticing this, Murazor said, "Akorahil, examine her wrists while we water the horses."
The order having been given, he and Uvatha began leading the horses toward a water source Irideth could neither see nor hear. Her view was blocked when Akorahil knelt down in front of her and gently took her bound hands in his, deftly untying the knots and revealing the bruised and bleeding skin beneath.
Akorahil muttered something in Black Speech that sounded highly inappropriate to Irideth. "These will have to be bandaged. I'm afraid I don't have the proper salve prepared, but there are a few strips of linen I can use to bind them for now."
Irideth nodded her understanding and the wraith turned and began to rummage around in the saddlebags that had been left behind by the other two. A few moments later he was kneeling in front of her again, holding a set of clean white bandages. Irideth kept her gaze on the ground as Akorahil bandaged her wrists, occasionally wincing at the pressure on a particularly raw patch of skin. The wraith finished his work just as the other two returned, leading the three horses.
"Finished?" Murazor asked. Akorahil replied in Black Speech, again something that Irideth felt was not meant for young ears. Murazor responded in kind while Uvatha worked at reattaching and adjusting the saddlebags. Irideth considered running, but dismissed the thought immediately. If the stories were true, they'd catch up to her in no time. And they'd probably be mad, too.
But there was something she wanted… no, needed to know, and as Murazor reached down and scooped her up to place her back in his saddle she asked, "Why did you kidnap me?"
Murazor stilled for a moment, then said, voice strangely heavy, "Your life force. We can see other beings' life force in daylight. Yours… yours is practically invisible."
Irideth's heart skipped a beat as she was placed in the saddle. "Is that bad?"
"I do not think so, but… yours does not seem to be what we would categorize as a human life force," Murazor said as he mounted behind her, once again enveloping her in his arms as he grabbed the reins. "Lord Sauron will wish to see this."
Irideth froze. "You're… taking me to Sauron?" she whispered so quietly she barely heard herself.
Even so, Murazor responded with a somber, simple "Yes."
