Irideth runs through the field, grass grabbing at her dress as she goes. She lifts her skirt higher, laughing as she hears Master Geirwulf's dogs barking in excitement behind her. The girl picks up speed as the pasture fence comes into view; she can already hear the rustle of the dogs approaching her from behind.

Then she sees her father and mother speaking with Master Geirwulf, Cevin crouched in the dirt poking at ants with a stick close by. Mother is holding baby Adina swaddled in blankets, cooing to the baby every now and then.

Irideth calls out to them; they all turn, smiles blooming on their faces when they catch sight of her. Father crouches down, arms open wide. He catches his daughter an instant before the dogs can, laughing loudly as he swings her up into the air.

"Practicing so you can keep up with the horses are you?" he asks, spinning her in a circle before bringing her close to his chest. Mother smiles, holding Adina with one arm and holding her free one wide. Father passes Irideth to her; Irideth giggles, wrapping her arms around her mother's neck as the woman holds her close. Irideth peeks over the blanket at her younger sister; the baby smiles up at her and gurgles, raising one chubby hand and gripping her sister's little finger.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Master Geirwulf laughs, raising his left hand and tickling Irideth's cheek with a finger. Irideth giggles, then shrieks with laughter when she feels her brother tickling her feet with a strand of grass. She feels her mother's laughter, can hear Adina's happy shrieks.

"Cevin...!"


Irideth's eyes snapped open. She sat up, sniffling as she wiped the tears off her cheeks and tried to ignore the ache in her chest and throat.

'I've heard people say you miss people less the longer you're away, but I think it only gets worse every time I remember anything.'

'My lord!'

Irideth blinked, brow furrowing. 'That was not me.'

'My lord, please! I will not leave you! Not now!'

Irideth's breath hitched as she felt the pain in her chest worsen, heart skipping a beat. 'It's... that's Sauron.'

'Mairon, you must go! I will not have them take you, too! I may go to my fate with some small peace, knowing that you are free.'

Irideth was beginning to see things now; not clearly, but she was someplace dark, deep underground judging by the shaking and the faint rumbling she could hear. There was someone standing over her... no, standing over Sauron, but she couldn't distinguish much; only that they- he- was tall and pale, clad in black with equally black hair that fell nearly to his waist.

'My lord Mairon, we must go!'

'No, I will not leave you! You will not be able to fool them again! Please, my lord, I can't lose you again!'

'Go now, Mairon. Take the tunnels; lead what remains of our forces out. That is an order. Captain, get him out of here!'

Irideth closed her eyes, pushing the sounds and images to the back of her mind as she stumbled out of bed; only now did she feel the heat of the collar at her throat. She managed to open the door of her room after a few seconds of fumbling with the handle. Nearly tripping over her own feet, Irideth took a few steps forward before turning her attention to Sauron.

He was lying in the bed, asleep, but it was plainly not a restful one. His face was set in an agonized grimace and his breathing was labored. His hands gripped the sheets so tightly it was a wonder they hadn't torn.

Irideth ran over and leaped onto the bed before she could think about it too much. She gripped the Maia's shoulder and shook him as hard as she could manage, which considering their respective sizes wasn't all that hard.

"My lord," she said, just shy of shouting. "My lord, wake up! You're only dreaming, it's just a nightmare! Wake up!"

Sauron didn't even stir; Irideth flinched at a stab of pain in her head. Which gave her an idea.

Taking a deep breath, Irideth raised her hands and closed her eyes. Blocking the link between her and the Dark Lord as best she could she focused.

'Healing is an ability all races in Tamriel are born with,' Irianna had said. 'Usually we can only use it on ourselves at first; healing spells require at least a basic sense of life energies and their natural flow. It takes practice and study to get acquainted enough to improve; there are a couple of books I have here you can read as long as I can maintain the connection...,'

Having managed to slow her breathing and center herself, Irideth placed lightly glowing hands on Sauron's shoulders and allowed her senses to expand. For a minute or so she focused only on locating the twists in his energy that were the primary source of the nightmare. Then, slowly, she opened the link as much as she dared. Ignoring the sights and sounds as best she could, Irideth instead worked on manifesting her own intent.

'Ease the pain. Allow for quiet rest. Bring peace to a tortured mind.'

Through her eyelids Irideth became peripherally aware that her hands had begun to glow brighter, a sign her spell was working at least to an extent. Her brows furrowed as she sharpened her focus.

'Bring peace. Ease pain.'

Once she felt a slight shift of focus through the link, Irideth opened it further to allow Sauron to feel the ease that came with her deepened breaths. 'At peace. Safe. Safe. Safe. Safe.'

She was only able to maintain the connection for another minute before her swimming head and heavy-feeling limbs warned her that her magicka reserves were running out.

Irideth canceled the spell and opened her eyes. A little too quickly, she realized when the room tilted violently sideways. She was falling backward before she'd registered it.

A hand wound around her back before she hit the mattress. Blinking bleary eyes, Irideth found herself faced with a very much awake Sauron, eyes thoughtful as he studied her.

"So that is your healing power," he murmured, mostly to himself as he drew her closer.

Irideth opened her mouth but didn't have the strength to formulate a response.

"Hush," Sauron said softly as he lay down again, pulling her to him so her back was pressed against his chest. "Go to sleep; you've nearly exhausted yourself."

Irideth didn't want to fall asleep. 'If I remember something else about home I don't think I'll be able to get up tomorrow.'

As though that thought had triggered it, the bone-deep weariness Irideth always faced when thoughts of home arose returned. Her limbs became heavier than stone and even drawing breath became an immense effort.

Irideth's eyes slid closed because she didn't have the strength to keep them open.


Sauron had nearly fallen asleep when he noticed that his connection with Irideth had become nearly imperceptible.

Alarmed, he nudged at the link as he pushed himself to rest on his elbow, watching the girl for any sign of movement.

She barely even twitched, and the moment the link opened Irideth... the only way Sauron could think of to describe what he felt was that she fell away from it. And then she tried to close it off.

The Maia frowned. The only way the girl could have entered and influenced his mind as she had was a distinct deepening of the connection, which normally took a high level of skill with mind magic and an intimate knowledge of the other party to achieve.

But it could also happen if those included in the link experienced "synchronization" of a sort, usually emotional in nature.

Given what he had been... experiencing a few minutes ago, and what he could sense from Irideth now, this was anything but good.

"Oh, no you don't," Sauron said, gripping her shoulder and turning her over so she faced him. She remained completely limp, barely even managing to open her eyes and look at him. Sauron pulled her closer, threading his fingers through her hair and gently tilting her head up to keep her focus on him.

"Do not close yourself off like that," he said, firm but gentle so as not to frighten her. "It serves no purpose aside from lengthening your pain."

The look on Irideth's face indicated she knew this full well but couldn't quite bring herself to care.

Seeing that words weren't going to get anywhere, Sauron pulled her to his chest, moving the hand in her hair a bit lower to bring her head to rest on his shoulder, using the other to gently stroke her back.

He was surprised when Irideth pressed herself closer to him but managed to stay relaxed. His hold on her tightened in response and he pressed his lips to the top of her head.

"Sleep, my little one," Sauron whispered, drawing on his power to weave a spell over the child. "No more dreams will trouble you tonight."


Murazor couldn't say he was surprised when no none had any real idea where his Master was when he and the other wraiths returned to Barad-Dur. When Sauron was in one of his fouler moods he would sequester himself in one of the hiding spots he had around the fortress. The usual suspects were his personal forge, workshop, lab, or the library. A bit more recently he had also taken to going to the lava pools beneath the fortress to bathe in the molten rock, but the wraiths preferred to avoid that area if at all possible.

When it became clear upon their return that today was one of the days Sauron had made himself scarce, the Nazgûl had split into teams to seek him out.

His lab, workshop, forge and the library were all empty. After a brief debate, Khamul and Ren were sent to check the lava pools (they'd been making utter pests of themselves the whole way back. It was no surprise everyone had thrown them under the carriage wheels).

When they returned empty handed, the wraiths congregated in a hall in one of the quieter areas of the fortress.

"Has anyone seen Irideth?" Hoarmurath said. "Even if she didn't know where Lord Sauron is, she could find him faster than we can."

"No; Akorahil and I checked the kitchens, too. She wasn't there," Adunaphel said.

"In that case, they're both probably in Lord Sauron's chambers," Uvatha said. "Irideth essentially never wanders around the fortress on her own; if she isn't in the stables or the kitchens, she's almost certainly with Lord Sauron in his chambers."

This was met with eight heads nodding assent.

"Very well. I will go and see if they are there," Murazor said. As he began making his way toward Sauron's chambers, however, he heard the distinct clicking of armored boots behind him. Turning around, he was met with the sight of the rest of the Nine following behind him.

"I can do this on my own, you realize," he said.

"It's not like we have anything better to do," Khamul said with a shrug as the rest of the wraiths caught up to their Captain.

"Don't you have reports to write?"

"As I said...," Khamul trailed off to the snickers of the other wraiths.

"You do know that if Lord Sauron isn't awake yet, he's bound to be in a bad mood?"

"He's bearable with Irideth around," Morgomir said. At this the wraiths all shared a look, though no one else would have been able to tell.

As they got closer to Sauron's chambers, their senses told them that their master was indeed still there. When the Nazgul reached the door, however, they had a few second thoughts about Morgomir's earlier statement and there emerged the problem of who was going to knock. If Sauron was in a bad mood, no one wanted to receive the brunt of it.

"It's still fairly early; he might not be up yet," Indur said.

"Which means he'll likely be in an even worse mood when he does wake up," Uvatha retorted.

"We could just wait for Irideth to wake him," Morgomir said.

"Oh, sure, just throw the child in the dragon's mouth, why don't you?" Ren said.

"She does it essentially every day and hasn't been injured yet," Adunaphel pointed out.

"She's a human child. She's... what's the phrase the maids use?... too cute to kick," Akorahil said.

"You forget the fact that Lord Sauron liked her enough to claim her as his own. He's not going to be inclined to hurt her no matter what mood he's in," Khamul said flatly.

"Shh!" Murazor hissed, suddenly and lowly enough to startle the others into silence. Apparently, while the other wraiths had been arguing, their captain had actually taken initiative and opened the door. Curious, the other eight gathered around him to look inside.

They were met with the sight of their master lying in the bed, apparently asleep. That in itself wasn't unexpected, but what was unexpected was the fact that there was something in his arms. The bundle, upon closer examination, turned out to be Irideth, curled against Sauron's chest with her head resting on his shoulder.

As the wraiths watched Irideth shifted suddenly, a discomfited expression on her face. Sauron's eyes opened and immediately fell to the child. He drew her closer to his chest, speaking softly to her as he carded a hand through her hair. After a few moments Irideth relaxed. Sauron gently guided her head back to his shoulder, keeping an eye on the girl for a minute or so before closing his eyes again.

The Nazgul shared a look with each other. In unspoken agreement, they backed quietly away, closing the door behind them.


Irideth woke to the scent of frankincense and sage. Which was a bit confusing; her room smelled more like sandalwood. This scent reminded her of...

Irideth's eyes flew open and she went rigid. She was lying in Sauron's bed, in Sauron's arms, for crying out loud!

Her nerves eased slightly when she realized he was still asleep.

Irideth cocked her head. Sauron didn't really look like a Dark Lord like this. He was... relaxed, peaceful, even. His hold on her was gentle, not restrictive in the slightest. It was actually...

Irideth remembered the events of last night and wanted to bang her head against something. What had she been thinking, using her healing power on the Dark Lord, of all people?! This was the being who was trying to take over the world, to kill or enslave all of the race of Men and whatever Elves still remained. And she had used her powers to wake him up from a nightmare?

Well, Mama had said Irideth was at times too kind for her own good. Valars' sake, her healing power was what had gotten her into this mess. And she had just reminded her captor why she was so singular, why he had decided to keep her here.

Before Irideth could continue beating herself up, Sauron's eyes opened and he looked down at her.

Irideth tensed again, but managed to keep her unease off her face.

"Good morning, my lord," she said, voice only slightly hoarse.

Sauron cocked an eyebrow. "I do not believe it is so for either of us. Are you well?"

Irideth blinked back at him, baffled by the question.

"You had very persistent nightmares last night. You woke several times, shaking quite badly."

Irideth swallowed. "Oh. I don't remember any of that. I feel fine."

"Hmm," Sauron hummed, not quite sounding like he believed her. Irideth broke her gaze from his.

"I'm sorry for waking you, sir," she said softly. "And for... um, using the... link like that. I didn't mean to intrude, truly I didn't, but it was the only way I could think of to...,"

Irideth cut herself off when she realized Sauron was laughing.

"I believe that is the first time I have heard someone apologize for trying to assist me," he said, smiling at her. "I know you meant no harm, dear one, and you did none."

Irideth didn't know how to respond to that, so she simply nodded once. Sauron's smile widened and he wound a hand in her hair, fingers scraping lightly over her scalp. Irideth immediately relaxed, leaning into the touch before she was conscious of it. She heard Sauron chuckle when she sighed and let her head drop back, letting him support most of her weight as she tried to let her mind go blank.

She could sort things out later; preferably when Sauron wasn't around to pick up on her thoughts.


Irideth was washing vegetables with some of the younger kitchen maids when movement at the corner of her eye caught her attention. The sudden hush in the area surrounding the door as everyone became very suddenly engrossed in their work gave her a good idea of who was waiting there.

Her suspicions were confirmed when she turned to look and saw Morgomir standing there, keeping mostly out of the torchlight. He beckoned to her and Irideth set her unwashed vegetables in one of her partner's pails before trotting over to him. The wraith turned the moment she reached him and the two walked down several hallways in silence.

Deeming that they were far enough from prying ears, Irideth asked, "Did you volunteer to come and get me, or were you doing something else?"

Morgomir snorted. "It gave me a good excuse to get away from the others for a few minutes; Murazor is trying to harass Khamul into doing his paperwork and everyone else is choosing teams."

"Who's Ren working with this time?"

"I believe he has chosen to back Murazor, but it's difficult to tell this early on."

Irideth giggled quietly as she fell into step beside Morgomir. To Irideth's surprise, Morgomir led her to a part of the fortress she'd never seen before. She kept glancing around as they walked, trying to commit their path to memory.

She had managed to keep from getting utterly lost when Morgomir pushed open a wooden door on the left side of the hall and gestured for her to go inside.

Irideth did so after a moment's pause. She was immediately assaulted by a sharp scent, a mixture of herbs if she wasn't mistaken. The air here was warmer than in the hall and the ambient lighting was brighter.

The room stretched far back. Each side was lined with cots covered with white sheets. At the back was a raised section of flooring, with six more cots. Behind these were several large cabinets and tables, similar to the smaller tables Irideth now noticed placed between the cots. These tables were covered with mortars and pestles, all manner of dried herbs, rolls of bandages, jars of various salves and several types of metal tools Irideth didn't want to examine too closely.

A door closed somewhere on the right, and a moment later a figure appeared at the top of the steps at the back of the room.

Irideth blinked when she saw clearly who- or perhaps what- the figure was.

A female orc. Intellectually Irideth had known there had to be female orcs (Geirwulf bred horses, she knew at least the basics of the baby-making process), but she'd never really thought about it beyond that. All the orcs she'd seen so far had been soldiers (though admittedly she hadn't seen many. Sauron had strictly forbidden her from going to the lower levels of the fortress or the training fields on her own). As far as she could tell they were all male.

This orc was slightly smaller than the soldiers, with narrower shoulders and smaller ears. Her face was also less... Irideth didn't know a word for it. Softer, she supposed? Stern-looking, but not set in a permanent glower or snarl.

The orc's eyes landed on the girl as she made her way down the stairs.

"There you are, little one," the orc said, striding over to Irideth, who had to resist the urge to shrink away when the woman touched her shoulders. The orc's eyes moved to the door for a second.

"Thank you, my lord," she said with a nod in Morgomir's direction. Irideth heard the door close as the orc placed a hand at the small of her back and began pushing her toward the back of the room.

"I am Asha," the orc said as they ascended the stairs. "I am one of the fortress' healers."

Irideth could scarcely do more than nod before she was pushed behind a screen next to one of the cabinets and ordered to change into the white shift that had been left on a stool there.

Irideth did so quickly; the shift was similar to her nightgown, leaving her shoulders mostly exposed, but the skirt didn't quite reach as far as her ankles.

When Irideth emerged from behind the screen, the orc woman- Asha- immediately set to work. She checked Irideth's weight, skin, nails and teeth. She tested the girl's hearing, balance and vision and asked her about any past illnesses she could recall.

By the time Asha was satisfied, Irideth's head was spinning so much she didn't register the woman leading her to a door on the right hand side of the room until she was being pushed through it.

Irideth was surprised enough to see Sauron standing there that she was jolted out of her daze. The Dark Lord quirked an eyebrow at her.

'You look like you've just been run over by a cart horse.'

Mindful of the other presence in the room, Irideth gestured vaguely in Asha's direction as the orc brushed past her to fetch something from a cabinet in the corner of the room.

Sauron smiled. 'Asha is one of the best healers in the fortress, in part due to her efficiency. As long as you do what she says when she says it you have nothing to worry about.'

Irideth tilted her head to the side, a slow grin spreading across her face. 'You sound like you've had some experience.'

The look on Sauron's face told her all she needed to know. Irideth's grin broadened. Sauron's eyes narrowed into a glare that didn't really hold any heat. Irideth adopted her best innocent expression.

"If you two are quite done," Asha said from behind Irideth. The girl yelped when the orc scooped her up from behind and placed her on the elevated bed in the middle of the room. "She is a little on the thin side, my lord, but aside from that she is perfectly healthy."

Irideth shrank under the withering look Sauron gave her. "Have you been skipping meals again, Irideth?"

"No! I just might not... um, eat very... large ones... sometimes?" Irideth said, nearly squeaking at the end of her sentence as she did her utmost to sink through the bed and into the floor.

Sauron exhaled heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I understand you're not used to eating all that much, Irideth, but from what I understand it can cause long-lasting health problems in humans."

Irideth blinked, then remembered that Sauron himself technically didn't need to eat and thus likely would have had to do some research. Care and keeping of a human slave, she supposed.

"I'm sorry," Irideth said quietly. "I'll try to pay more attention to it."

"See that you do," Sauron said with a stern look. Then he grinned. "Or I might just see fit to mention this to Akorahil."

Irideth blanched. 'You wouldn't. He'd tell the others and they'd never leave me alone.'

'That is the purpose.'

'Fine! I'll watch it!'

Sauron chuckled. "If you'd lie down please, Irideth."

Irideth hesitated for a moment, a thrill of alarm racing through her, but she pushed it back and did as she was told.

She seriously reconsidered the decision when Sauron took something from a nearby table and turned back to her. He was holding a plain white cloth, which Irideth correctly guessed was drugged. Irideth tensed, moving away a few inches on instinct before stopping herself despite a racing heart.

"Good girl," Sauron murmured, pressing the cloth against her face. "This will only put you to sleep for a few minutes. Just breathe and try to relax."

Well, she didn't really have any other option. Scarcely two breaths later Irideth's vision began to swim. One more minute, and she was dead to the world.


"I don't know that you appreciate just how brave this child is," Asha said, checking Irideth's pulse while Sauron placed the cloth back on the table behind him. "If I were her, I would have been doing my damndest to get away from you just now."

"And how effective would that have been?" Sauron asked as he turned around. "She is no fool; she knows it would have achieved nothing."

"Given how badly she likely wanted to run, I would say her ability to reason that far in such a situation at her age is admirable," Asha said as she stepped back. "Her pulse is steady and strong, and her breathing is regular. She should be fine; she'll likely wake up in the next half hour."

"Good," Sauron said, taking Irideth's right arm and pulling it to the side. He dipped a washcloth in a bowl of warm, soapy water and rubbed it along the inside of the girl's elbow. Replacing the cloth, he picked up an empty syringe and a strip of leather before turning around. He tied the leather into a tourniquet above Irideth's elbow, then gently rubbed the area just below the joint until a vein became prominent. Sauron removed the syringe's cap and slid the needle into Irideth's arm.

He drew two vials of blood before removing the needle and tourniquet, pressing a small piece of gauze to the insertion point to stop the bleeding and keep a bruise from forming. He tied a piece of cloth around Irideth's arm to hold it in place.

Once that was done, Sauron returned his attention to the blood he'd drawn. He picked up the vials and held them up to the light, a slight frown tugging at his lips.

Blood was a powerful component in many rituals and spells, but that usually had more to do with the being it came from than the blood itself. The more powerful the being, the more potent the spell, and Ainur could sense this better than any other being in Arda.

Him more than most; he'd had millenia of practice at this point.

Now, though, he couldn't sense... anything, really. He may as well have been holding vials of water, for all he could read. Humans always posed more problems than the Eldar; the human race was not bound to the fate of the world as the others were, which made reading their presence and potential difficult.

Irideth, though, seemed even more intangible, like she wasn't bound to the world at all. It was remarkable, what a problem she'd posed for the Nazgûl. If it weren't for their horses, Sauron had no doubt Irideth would have been able to slip right by them without being noticed at all. And Sauron himself appeared even less able to perceive her in any sense but the physical.

This bore further study. And her blood was a good place to start.