Chapter 8:
Sauron quickly set to work fastening his cloak about his shoulders. He had decided yesterday to take Irideth to Orodruin to forge a proper collar for her. One that would bind her to him in more ways than one, but would also have powerful protection enchantments woven into it. He wasn't entirely certain why, but something about the girl spoke of strength, of latent power. It was something he was determined to keep close to him, if only to see how that power ended up manifesting itself. Perhaps he would then find out why the girl possessed no soul.
When he entered his new slave's quarters, however, she looked anything but powerful. She was curled up at the head of the bed, the blankets tussled at her feet. Her eyes were open, and she'd apparently been staring vacantly at the wall until he'd come in. One look at her red-rimmed eyes made it plain she'd been crying at some point, and judging by the bags under her eyes she hadn't slept well either.
Sauron only caught a brief look at her face before Irideth buried it in the pillows.
Well. That wouldn't do.
"Irideth," Sauron said, crossing the room in a few large strides and kneeling by the bed. After a moment's hesitation, he placed a hand on her back. She tensed, but Sauron ignored that; she needed to get used to his touch. He then remembered a few scenes from her memories; the girl suffered from nightmares. Considering her circumstances, it would be unsurprising if she'd had bad dreams last night.
"Little one, did you have another nightmare?"
"No," Irideth answered, voice muffled. The response was quick, plainly automatic.
"Irideth," Sauron said, warning plain in his voice.
"…Yes," Irideth said, slightly quieter and still not lifting her head up. Sauron sighed inwardly, standing up and drawing the girl into his arms with a startled yelp as he did so.
Recalling a few more scenes from her memories, Sauron sat on the bed and held Irideth close, bringing a hand up and beginning to stroke her hair again. It worked to an extent; Irideth relaxed marginally.
"Would you be willing to show me? I know you do not enjoy discussing your dreams."
To Sauron's surprise Irideth buried her face in his chest, clutching almost desperately at his clothes as she shook her head.
Sauron laughed softly as he resumed his stroking. "All right, little one. You don't need to tell me anything if you do not desire it."
Irideth relaxed immediately upon hearing that, but she kept her face buried in his chest. Sauron chuckled again, beginning to hum as he had the night before.
"That's it, little one. You're safe here."
It didn't take long for Irideth to fall asleep, given how exhausted she was. When Sauron felt her breathing even out he stood, wrapping the child up in his cloak as he did so, and strode out of the room and through the darkened halls of the fortress. It was still fairly early in the morning and the upper halls were virtually abandoned.
Sauron hated these types of mornings; everyone with an ounce of sense was still in bed. The ash clouds from Orodruin covered the sky until about midday, leading to very chilly mornings that cut through him like a knife; he'd always been sensitive to the cold.
The Nine, by contrast, rather liked the cold, so Sauron was unsurprised to find Khamul, Adunaphel and Murazor up early and ready to practice flying formations with their Fell Beasts when he emerged on the landing platform.
The second he did so, all heads turned toward him and the wraiths bowed as one with a collectively murmured, "My Lord."
Sauron nodded in acknowledgement, and then felt the ghost of a smile reach his lips as all attention became riveted on the snoozing bundle in his arms. It seemed his wraiths had already become a little attached.
Sauron jostled Irideth gently, getting her to open bleary eyes as the three Nazgul made their way over. "Wake up, my little one; you have visitors."
"Good morning, Irideth," Murazor greeted, peering down at the child as she blinked up at him and the other two wraiths.
Her response amounted to a mumbled "Too early" and tucking herself deeper into Sauron's cloak.
Sauron laughed. "I believe we're going to get along famously, little one."
"Where are you going so early, my Lord?" Adunaphel asked.
"Orodruin, to forge Irideth a proper collar."
That got Irideth's attention, as she lifted her head out of the folds of his cloak.
"You intend to bind her to you?" Murazor asked in Black Speech, rather surprised.
"Yes," Sauron responded in kind while Irideth looked back and forth between them suspiciously. Sensing the surprise of the rest of the wraiths, Sauron glared faintly at them.
If they'd had mouths, they would have snapped shut.
Satisfied, Sauron walked past the wraiths to one of the saddled Beasts. Irideth quickly ducked back into his cloak, tucking herself closer to his chest. Sauron chuckled, reaching a hand up to stroke her hair while the creature lowered its head, inhaling his scent. After a few moments it raised its head slightly, growling in what Sauron had come to recognized as a pleased manner.
Satisfied that the beast wouldn't attack him or his charge, Sauron walked over to the creature's left side, lifting Irideth into the saddle before mounting himself. In front of him, Irideth gripped the front of the saddle while he grabbed the reins.
"Hold on tight, my little one," he murmured to her. "This is going to be a windy ride."
Judging by the way she tensed, Irideth did not like the sound of that. Smiling to himself, Sauron kicked the Fell Beast into the sky.
"I think I left my face back there somewhere," Irideth said, momentarily forgetting who her company was as Sauron lifted her very much cold-stiffened form out of the saddle. Sauron chuckled, holding her close to his chest as he wrapped her in his cloak again. "You'll be quite warm in a minute, my little one."
Irideth didn't doubt it, considering they were standing at the entrance to a volcano. Even so she curled closer to Sauron's chest, trying to leech off as much of his heat as possible as she shivered beneath the folds of his cloak. She heard Sauron remove something from the creature's saddlebags, then heard him crooning to it softly in Black Speech. The beast purred back; there was really no other word for it, but it was startling to think a creature of such size could make such a sound.
Then Sauron was walking, undoubtedly toward the massive doorway Irideth had seen carved into the mountain.
The heat, Irideth found, didn't increase gradually; it hit in an oppressive wave. She quickly pushed herself free of Sauron's cloak, gasping at the sudden rise in temperature.
The reason for the intense heat soon became apparent; Sauron was standing on a large stone walkway over a river of lava.
Irideth flinched when Sauron turned swiftly about to face the wall of the mountain. As he leaned forward to set several large packs down, Irideth noticed a pair of steel manacles hanging from chains attached to the wall itself. Sauron removed his cloak, setting her down on top of it before gently taking both of her wrists in one of his large hands, fastening the manacles about them so they hung suspended an few inches above her head.
Irideth glanced uncertainly up at the Dark Lord, who smiled reassuringly at her before removing his tunic and gloves in favor of a more form-fitting tunic. That being done, Sauron grabbed what looked to be a very heavy pack from beside her and continued down the stone path to what Irideth assumed to be a blacksmith's table at the very end. Once he'd reached it, Sauron set the pack down, tied his hair back in a simple braid. He donned a heavy leather apron and a set of forge gloves and set to work.
Irideth did her best to see what Sauron was doing, but most of the view was blocked by his body. That and then there was the fact that she knew next to nothing about blacksmithing, so whenever Sauron pulled a new tool or a piece of material out of his pack, Irideth usually had no idea what it was.
Soon, however, her attention moved from Sauron's doings to the oppressive heat. Though Sauron didn't seem bothered at all, Irideth quickly began to sweat profusely. Breathing already felt difficult, and her arms dangling in the shackles wasn't the most comfortable position.
Irideth settled herself as comfortably as she could, focusing on her breathing. It was something that would usually calm her after a nightmare. Almost immediately she fell into herself, floating on a sea of comforting blackness.
But this time something was different. Irideth could sense, without really realizing how, that she wasn't alone.
The other presence was faint, yet all-encompassing. It didn't feel malicious or benevolent, it was just… there.
Even so, it was startling to sense such a large presence become focused on her, solely on her.
"How did you come to be here, little one?" A voice half whispered, half hissed in her mind; Irideth could in no way distinguish the voice as male or female.
"I don't know," Irideth answered truthfully. "I'm not even entirely sure where here is. I come here sometimes when I'm upset."
The voice made a hissing sound that Irideth realized was a laugh. "A strange place to come when one is upset; you are in the Void, little one."
"What is the Void?"
"The space between worlds, Child of Akatosh. Though…," the voice paused, and Irideth could feel… something pass through her, examining what felt like… she could only describe it as something using her body as a window or a seeing stone focus.
"What in all the realms of Oblivion are you doing in Illuvatar's domain, Child?"
Now Irideth was really confused. "You make it sound like there's more than one world. And that I shouldn't be in this one."
"There are, and you shouldn't be, Child of Akatosh. Though it certainly explains what my little Listener has been up to, that meddling old dragon…,"
"Why do you keep calling me 'Child of Akatosh'? Who is…?"
Something touched her face and Irideth jerked awake with a start. She found herself faced with Sauron, kneeling in front of her and smiling gently.
"Easy now," he murmured, continuing to wipe the accumulated sweat off of her face and neck with a cool, damp cloth. "Are you thirsty?"
Her mouth felt like sand. Irideth nodded and Sauron set the cloth aside, picking up one of the bottles he'd set beside her, holding it up to her lips. Irideth tilted her head back and swallowed several mouthfuls before Sauron pulled the bottle away.
This process continued for some time; Sauron would periodically leave his work to cool her down and offer her water which, though these actions were undoubtedly needed, interrupted her attempts to get back in touch with the presence from the Void. It seemed to have retreated upon realizing Sauron was with her.
Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, Sauron returned to her bearing something in his hands; a silver collar encrusted with three rows of small rubies, Irideth saw when he knelt before her again.
Then, to Irideth's alarm, Sauron produced a small dagger from a scabbard attached to his belt. Almost faster than she could comprehend, Sauron had grabbed her bound right hand and made a small cut across the center of her palm. It was over before Irideth could even think to blink. By that point Sauron was holding the collar so her blood fell onto some of the gems, singing softly in that vague, seemingly Elvish language, this time with strains of Black Speech mixed in. To Irideth's fascination and mild horror, the rubies seemed to drink up her blood like flowers would water. Then Sauron, still singing softly, fastened the collar about her throat.
Pain. Mind-numbing pain, so intense Irideth couldn't draw breath to scream.
"You are mine, Irideth Evjen."
The voice was Sauron's, but it echoed in her mind, not her ears.
The last thing Irideth remembered before blacking out was a powerful burning at her very core, and a roar with a voice similar to that of the black dragon of her nightmares, though more feminine, echoing in her mind.
"Nid, Mey!"
