The song of tomorrow

by Nuredhel

The past reaches out to the future and a living mystery is being delivered to the king of Mirkwood as a gift. What follows is a tale of longing and love, of lust and Death and depravity and through it all runs the tunes of the song of tomorrow...

10. Burn like my sorrow, burn like my heart

Chapter 10: Burn as my sorrow, burn like my heart…

The city was huge, Jarna and the other two dwarrowdams had never seen the like of it. When they did approach the gates Jarna did realize one thing for sure, finding Negus here could be like finding a needle in a haystack if they didn't think and act strategically. Luckily for them the people of this region were rather short and when the three wore the dense veils of the nomads few could see that they weren't human. Jarna and Brima had the dark skin of the Orocarni dwarves and Sapphire was a bit lighter in hue but all could be mistaken for a young and pretty human lad if they played their cards well. Jarna and Brima had bound their breasts and wrapped some cloth around their waists to hide their shape. Sapphire was more boyish in shape and didn't need that much alteration before she could enter the city.

Brima was overwhelmed by the place and she walked very close to Jarna but the two others had decided to let their goal become the most important thing and they ignored pretty much everything they saw. It was of no importance. They did find a very shaggy inn somewhere in the poor parts of the city and paid the landlord some copper coins for a room, the man believed that they were lads from the villages to the east, trying to find work. Jarna did the speaking, she knew quite a few languages and she had a deeper voice than Brima and Sapphire. The next day they left the inn to start the search, the room they had gotten had been small, stinking of piss and rot and infested with bedbugs but the dwarves had ways to repel such pests. They had eaten a meal most people would consider not worthy of a mangy dog and then they took to the streets. Negus had been taken as a slave, that was very obvious so they had to start with the slave markets. And make sure that they themselves didn't fall prey to these people and their horrible trade.

It didn't take long to find the slave market, it was in the very center of the city and huge, but Jarna soon discovered that it was divided into sections. The ordinary slaves were sold in one section, more expensive ones in another and the ones with special talents or an extraordinary beauty in yet another. And then there were some sections where they sold what could only be described as trash, old and worn out slaves, sick ones or slaves who were found guilty of crimes and thus deemed unfit for further service unless it was in the mines or some other deadly and hard work.

Brima and Sapphire had their doubts, it had been months since Negus disappeared but Jarna was sure that someone would remember if a dwarf had been through this place. They just had to find a way to make someone speak, and find the right person too of course. They spent the day there, observing the people, trying to see who was who. That evening they did realize that there was one person who probably would know if Negus had been there, an old man who worked there cleaning the boots the slavers used when they presented their goods. He had to have seen every slave who passed through this place and it was obvious that he was no slave himself. He was a free man but very poor and Jarna and the two others kept an eye on him for a couple of days. They listened to the word on the street, mingled and learned to disappear into the crowd, to become anonymous and faceless like the rest of the milling mass of people this city gathered.

The old man would stop by a road side bar every evening, drink one cup of pale ale and head back to the shed he owned in a backyard. Jarna had her plans clear, the next day when the old man entered the bar a young fellow sat there already, with a turban and a hood and a friendly smile. He did look a bit odd, feminine and very pretty but the old man had seen people who looked way more exotic so he didn't respond. Besides, he was almost half blind due to old age and it could be that his eyes were deceiving him. The young fellow was polite enough to buy him a glass of wine and the old man accepted with glee. It was rare that anyone these days did respect their elders. The old man wasn't used to strong wine and before long his tongue became very lose indeed. The nice young man did make sure that his cup was filled regularly and the old man told of his work willingly. He didn't realize that he was being asked just the right questions and that the young man was interrogating him.

In the end the old man had to be helped back home and he fell asleep in his old rags, not knowing who or what had just bought him such nice wine, Jarna left a small pouch with some coins in them for the old man, he did deserve it. She ran back to the inn and the other two gathered. Brima bit her lower lip. "Now, what did you learn?"

Jarna took a deep breath. " Something rather disturbing. Negus is in the royal palace! The sha'al's harem master bought him."

Sapphire swore. "Damnation, Mahal's curses. Nobody enters the palace without permit. It is impenetrable."

Jarna made a small smile, it was wry but her eyes were dark and had a dangerous glimpse within them. "Maybe not, do you remember old Wigar?"

Brima frowned. "The alchemist? Yes?"

Jarna sent her a triumphant grin. " He once taught me how to make flash fire."

Sapphire went pale. "No? don't tell me that you…"

Jarna sneered. "Yes! In the chaos of a fire we can enter unseen!"

Brima made a grimace. "Jarna, listen to yourself, even if we do get in, the palace is huge! There is no way we can find him quickly enough!"

Jarna did look extremely determined by now. "Oh but there are, I have learned a lot from the old ones"

She pulled a medallion from her bodice and it was rather flat and seemingly not very valuable but it had an arrow printed into the metal and the two others gasped. "Jarna, that is…that is forbidden magic."

Brima did look shocked, the medallion was something they had heard of but never seen, it would turn towards where the object you desired were but if your reason for searching wasn't pure it would lead you into danger, and many dwarves had used it to find gems or mithril and in the end been lead to their death since they had become greedy. Using it was seen as very dangerous indeed.

Jarna didn't answer to that, she just hid the medallion again. "There is a warehouse close to the walls of the palace, with windows. If we use a small jar and some strong elastics I bet we can get the jar into one of the courtyards pretty easily, or onto the roofs. That part of the palace has thatching, not bricks."

Brima looked at Sapphire and moaned, this would go to heck with record speed but they did know their friend rather well. She wouldn't let anything stand in her way and they could just comply. Jarna smiled, a stiff smile. "Brima, you get elastics, I have seen some very nice rubber ropes in one of the backstreet shops not far from here. Sapphire, you help me build the foundations for a slingshot"

Sapphire rolled her eyes and Jarna stared towards the palace, her eyes revealed a great deal of hatred. "Negus could be suffering now, be abused in horrible manners. I will use the evening to get the stuff I need for the flashfire, tonight we will strike"

Brima felt a surge of excitement. She was scared as heck but at the same time, excited in a whole new manner. This was a plan worthy of their great forefathers, worthy of a song.

The men of the harem had been working hard the last few weeks, the sha'al was celebrating his birthday, then the birthday of one of his most loyal followers and then it was some sort of annual celebration to honor the Gods. They all had to perform almost every day and when the day was over they all collapsed in fatigue. Thasul had a horrible job trying to make them look good now and Negus and Harbal had to cooperate with him to make sure that nobody saw how tired everybody was. Maglor realized why drugs were so sought after there, they did enable a man to dance and sing and perform as if he didn't have a single sorrow in this life but it did only last for a while. Maglor didn't know how he managed to continue, how he managed to smile and flirt and act like this unreal ethereal dream when his heart felt like a block of lead in his chest. Artemar was performing like before, he had changed his style of dancing now, it wasn't as vigorous as before but more sublime and flirtatious and the sha'al appeared to like it. Harbal managed to hide the symptoms of the disease rather well, the medicine suppressed the cough and made Artemar appear to be healthy as a horse but it was a terrible lie. If he hadn't been an albino everybody would have seen that he was pale and that the glow in his eyes and the flush in his cheeks were because of drugs and fever.

Every nigh Maglor would lay with his arms wrapped around the wheezing albino, feel how his lover was struggling for every breath of air, listen to his terrified feverish nightmares. It tore the very soul out of him, but there was nothing to be done. Maglor had never been a healer, he didn't know how to use his own energy to heal and he wished that his step son Elrond had been there, he could perhaps have saved Artemar but then again, probably not. It had gotten too far now, way too far.

The sha'al had replaced quite a few of the guards in the last months, he feared that some were loyal to the wrong master and some of the new ones couldn't be bought. That was a problem, a huge one. The sha'al had bought some new young men too, for the other part of the male harem. They were very young, some barely more than children and Maglor saw with his own eyes how covered bodies were disposed of after one of the sha'al's orgies. It made his stomach churn, and he knew that such a fate was awaiting them all sooner or later. The sha'al would let someone kill his pets before he let them go, he had become that mad now.

Maglor had discovered that a few of the emissaries from the emperor seemed to return rather often, they could be seen at every feast and he sensed that they were watching him in special. Why he didn't know but he feared the answer, he knew that his race to the people of the far east were a mere myth, that they probably saw him as a demon or worse and that that sha'al openly had claimed that Maglor kept him young was perhaps the most stupid thing he had ever done. The emperor was mighty, from what Maglor had learned the power of the sha'al was miniscule compared with it, and mighty men fear death, more than anything else. He was afraid of these men, more than he was of the sha'al.

Then one day Belerur came to the harem, one of the sha'al's followers wanted a private show, Maglor, Artemar and Negus were to perform and they were taken away from the harem and into one of the side wings of the palace. It was older than the rest of the building and poorly built, a fact that some hopelessly glary paint and some godawful repairs tried to camouflage. Negus hissed when he saw that masonry, the mortar was dry and brittle and the bricks not that strong since they had been made from what could only be described as desert sand mixed with cowshit. This was the part of the palace reserved for the followers the sha'al didn't deem as very important and Maglor did find it a bit odd that the sha'al let such a man borrow him and Artemar but Belerur did tell them that the sha'al owed this man a favor. Apparently the noble man had once cured the sha'als favorite horse of lameness and now he wanted to admire the sha'al's favorite slaves on his own.

The man was perhaps in his mi-forties but he did look older, with a bit of a belly and thin arms and legs. He did look like someone who has let himself go and Maglor saw that the skin was scarred by smallpox and other diseases. The clothes were nice though, the man had some wealth and the room was well decorated with good furniture. It showed that this man had a sense of taste the sha'al lacked completely. A musician sat in a corner and Negus did some acrobatic drills before Maglor and Artemar was to dance. The dwarf tried to behave the way he usually did, like a child or some tame ape and the man was laughing and clapping. Maglor did in fact pity him, it was obvious that the human was someone who desperately tried to suck up to the sha'al to stay in power and that this power could slide out of his hands at any minute, it probably made him terrified.

Maglor and Artemar did dance for a while, a very sensual dance they only did when there was a small crowd or a private session and it had its effect on the man. He sat there on his pillows and was breathing hard and Artemar gave Maglor a small nod. It was obvious what the man expected and wanted so they helped each other strip as they danced. When they were naked Artemar did sink down onto his knees in front of the man, gracefully as ever and Maglor knew that he had prepared himself well before they left the harem. They all did, every time. Maglor had become used to the sensation of being filled with oil by now and didn't find it uncomfortable anymore, and Artemar was even more used to it. Maglor found his position and entered the albino with a quick thrust and Artemar moaned and rocked back against him.

It was no different than the other shows they had performed in, the man sat there groaning and he was touching himself rather vigorously while watching the two fuck. There was little pleasure in this, it was a job, a means to stay alive. Maglor managed to moan and act as if he was mad with desire and Artemar had learned how to become aroused even when he felt horrible. After a while the albino came with a loud cry and spilled onto the tiles under him and the man came too, groaning and rolling his eyes.

Belerur had been waiting at the back of the room and Artemar sat there for a while, panting. His eyes were dark with pain and he was sweating. He leaned forward, pretended to be wiping the come off the floor with his sash. "Maglor, I…I cannot move"

Maglor felt ice cold, if Belerur discovered that Artemar in fact was sick he would make sure that the albino got sold immediately and horror filled his soul. Negus did understand the situation, he started dancing. It was an odd dance, filled with all sorts of wild gestures and it caught the noble man's attention and also that of Belerur who just gaped. The dwarf was rubbing himself up against Maglor in a very erotic manner, then he did the same to Artemar and thus he helped the albino get up. He whispered to Artemar. "Insult me, now! And I am sorry!"

Artemar didn't hesitate. He sort of growled and tried to pull the dwarf's braid. "Get off me you animal"

Negus sneered. "Animal? You darn sack of old flour!"

Negus kicked Artemar in the leg, seemingly very hard and Artemar let out a howl of pain and fell down onto one knee before Negus started hopping up and down, rubbing his foot. It was all a game and very comical and the noble man started laughing very hard. "How precious, such a rare creature. No Belerur, do not punish it, it doesn't know any better. "

Maglor went over and now Artemar had a reason to rest on Maglor. He was pretending to limp and Maglor let out a sigh of relief. They were saved in the nick of time. Belerur smacked his tongue, he did look annoyed. "Come now, it is time to return. Dwarf, if it hadn't been for this kind gentleman's plea for mercy I would have had you flogged! "

Negus rolled his eyes and pretended to be very scared. " Oh thank you most honorable and merciful master!"

Maglor had to snicker, Negus did know how to exaggerate, a lot. Belerud sort of bristled with pride by hearing the dwarf's words and they entered the corridor leading back to the harem. Only to find it filled with smoke.

Jarna and the two others stood by the window, outside it was dark but they had been there for hours and knew where to aim. They had hit the old part of the palace with three jars of flashfire and the old thatching had immediately caught fire. Now flames were reaching towards the havens, throwing an unreal red shine over everything and shouts and screams were being heard. Jarna bit her teeth together, she pulled out the medallion. "Come. It will show me the way to him."

Brima and Sapphire took collective breaths to gather their courage and then they ran down the stairs and got closer to the gates. There were gates to every part of the palace, most were not in use anymore or they were heavily guarded but this one wasn't. It was just a very plain gate made from hard wood and steel and it didn't look very impressive at all. Smoke filled the skies and Jarna bared her teeth. "Wait for it"

Brima looked confused. "What?"

Jarna smiled again, a narrow smile, her eyes were shining. "Panic"

It took a while, the shouts and screams got louder and then the doors were pushed open by gasping guards and servants and slaves ran into the street. Some came with some horses in a lead rope behind them and the horses were screaming and whinnying, scared by the commotion and the fire. Jarna nodded. "Now, he is in there, the medallion tells me so"

The opening in the wall was filled with black smoke and the three covered their faces with wet cloth before they ran, all armed and all ready to do whatever it took to get inn.

Maglor and the other two coughed, the smoke was very thick and dark and Belerur sort of squealed, he did seem very scared all of a sudden. "Oh no, a fire, I must get you back to the harem, now. Come come, don't hesitate"

Belerur grasped Maglor by the braid and pulled him along and Artemar moaned and had problems keeping up. He was coughing violently now and trembling and his eyes were huge and filled with fear. They heard cracking sounds and suddenly the corridor collapsed behind them, burning wood rained down and Belerur screamed and sounded like a small girl. He too was scared and shaking and they tried to move forth as fast as possible but the smoke was so thick and Maglor could feel himself choking. Artemar was unconscious, hanging in his arms and Belerur was tugging at them both. Maglor refused to let go of Artemar, he could easily save himself but he would never abandon his lover, and the smoke was horrible and made him feel very disoriented and was coughing and wheezing as well, and yet he was better off than the humans and the elf. Dwarves are very resilient to smoke since they spend so much time by the forges. Belerur saw that Maglor and Artemar were unable to move further, he swore. The sha'al would have his head if he let the most valuable of the slaves die but the need to rescue himself got too strong, he grasped Negus and ran.

Negus was fighting the huge human with desperation, he didn't want to leave his friends behind, Maglor and Artemar would die if he didn't get them out and Negus was about to reveal just how strong a dwarf really is when Belerur found a door and ran through it. They entered an open yard, a very small one but it was air there. And more so, as Negus prepared to really fight back a door at the back of the yard opened and three figures appeared. They were a bit short and covered all over and Negus knew them, by Mahal's beard how he knew them.

He tried to wrestle himself free but Belerur growled and kept a hard grip on the dwarf, he thought the three were servants trying to escape the fire and didn't react to the odd clothing and the stature of the three. Negus shouted. "Jarna, you found me!"

Jarna bared her teeth, she saw a mountain of a man holding her beloved like he was a goddamn ragdoll and something inside of her snapped. She grasped the Warhammer Brima carried in her belt and tore her veil and turban off. Belerur just gaped, what was this? A small woman with a beard? "You let go of my fiancée or prepare to meet your forefathers"

Belerur did the mistake of laughing at the angry dwarrowdam. It was his last mistake. Jarna was half of Belerur's height and probably only a fifth of his weight but she was angry and strong and she ran faster than anyone could imagine that it was possible to run for someone that stocky. She jumped and swung the hammer and it hit Belerur straight in the forehead. The man fell, letting go of Negus. Belerur roared and tried to grasp onto the female but Jarna swore and brought the hammer down one more time, this time there was a cracking sound and Belerur's eyes rolled up and he went limp. Negus gasped for air. "Jarna, sweetheart, light of my life, there is someone in there I must save, or else I can never live with myself."

Jarna put the veil back on. "Alright, lead the way"

Maglor was close to passing out, each breath of air stung like a thousand daggers and his eyes were burning too. He grasped Artemar's hand, if he was to die now then be it, at least he died with the one he loved, and they were together. He saw that the smoke moved a bit, looked up and for a moment he was sure he saw two figures, one tall and darkhaired clad in silver and one shorter with golden hair and what had to be a dress in a lovely color of mint green, then Negus came out of the smoke like some apparition. A cloth over his face, and by his side three other short stocky creatures. Maglor felt that Negus grasped him and hauled him up over his shoulders and Maglor was twice the dwarf's height and yet Negus carried him with ease. The other three carried Artemar and they rushed back to the yard and Maglor gasped desperately for air. He immediately grasped Artemar and put an ear to his chest, he was breathing but only just and he whimpered with despair. Negus stared at them. "Follow me, we can get out of here. This is my fiancée Jarna and her bridesmaids, they can lead us all to freedom."

Maglor felt as if his heart was made from stone, from ice. At that very moment he knew that there was no choice, no freedom. He shook his head, "No Negus, you go. I will lie, say you died back there. Artemar…Artemar is sick Negus, he is dying. I cannot leave him behind, and he cannot live without his medicine, not even a day. I have to stay, for him, for the others"

Negus stared down at him, there was a sort of silent acceptance in his eyes. "Then be it my friend, you are most brave. I will never again look at your kin as cowards and spit lickers. You are as bold as a dwarrow for sure"

Maglor swallowed hard, the thought of freedom was like a promise of heaven but he knew he wouldn't reach it, if he left now he would never be able to forgive himself. "Go Negus, live on and have good life, swear this!"

Negus knelt down, embraced the elf with an unusual amount of feeling. "I swear, I will tell my children and their children of you, and we will remember, we always will remember. Your name will not be forgotten but be honored. "

Maglor nodded and hugged the dwarf back. " And I will remember you my friend, stay safe"

There were the sound of shouting and Negus smiled. " Come to the Orocarni when you get away from here, you will always be welcome."

He took a small ring from Jarna and put it in Maglor's hand. "Keep it, show it to any dwarf and they will know you are a friend. "

Negus kissed Jarna once, winked at Maglor and then the dwarfs ran back through the door, cutting down a few guards on the way. The building was on fire now, the bodies would appear to have been the victims of the flames. Another door opened, and some of the harem guards came running, they stopped when they saw that Maglor was kneeling on the ground, holding Artemar. Belerur lay where he had fallen, he was dead. The lead guard grasped Maglor and another took Artemar. "Quick, we have to get you back before the whole wing goes up in flames. Where is the dwarf , and what happened to Belerur?"

Maglor coughed, it wasn't hard to lie now. "The dwarf got the roof over him, he was crushed. Belerur got a huge beam in his head, I dragged him out"

The guard just nodded, there was no reason not to believe him. The smoke was still thick and it made their eyes sting and run but they did get away from the burning buildings and now slaves and servants ran carrying water. Maglor didn't see at all when they ran the last stretch back to the harem. His eyes hurt so bad he had to close them and the guards sort of hauled him through the doors. There was no smoke in the harem and the others gathered immediately and started to wash the smoke and grime off the elf. Harbal threw himself over Artemar and started working on the albino and the guards left. They were needed elsewhere. Aerhan sat down next to Maglor, the elf was beside himself with worry, Artemar was in severe jeopardy now and he didn't want to lose his lover like this. There was no honor in this, no beauty. "Where is Negus? And what has happened to Belerur?"

Maglor kept his voice low. "Negus has escaped, his fiancée and two other dwarrowdams came for him. They think he is dead, nobody will bother looking for a corpse in the ruins. Belerur got killed by Negus fiancée, a formidable female I must say. They think he got hit by debris. "

Aerhan took a deep breath of air. "Oh Gods, well, not that he didn't deserve it, but I wonder who the sha'al will chose as his replacement. There has to be a harem master at all times."

Maglor just frowned. " I don't care right now, I just pray Artemar will make it"

Aerhan hugged him swiftly. "So do I my friend, so do we all"

Maglor remained sitting by Artemar's side. Harbal did all he could and used some methods other healers probably would have shunned but by the dawn Artenar was breathing rather well, and he was waking up slowly. Harbal had given him massive amounts of medicine and enough poppy milk to knock out a horse. Maglor heard the guards chatter about the fire, it was stopped, only the old wing of the palace had burned and the sha'al was already planning on replacing it with a grand new building. Twenty had died in the fire and many more were injured but the only thing the sha'al bothered with was the few valuable pieces of furniture which had burned and the loss of Belerur. Not that he wept over the eunuch, he just expressed his anger over losing such a skilled man, getting someone equally good at getting the best slaves for the harem wouldn't be easy.

Artemar couldn't talk for two days, and he was terribly weak and frail. Since Belerur wasn't there they could treat his injuries rather openly since the guards didn't understand but Maglor wept constantly. The smoke had been way too much for the already weakened lungs, Artemar had just days left and that was only because of Harbal. When Artemar finally got back on his legs everybody could see that he was ill, he had lost much weight and his eyes were sunken and the spark was gone from them. He did look like a corpse, and Maglor could only hold him and mourn and try to make him forget the pain. The sha'al wanted a feast, to celebrate his new palace. The fire came as ordered, he had wanted to get rid of the old buildings for a long time and now he was in a brilliant mood. Maglor knew that Artemar was unable to perform again, it was impossible and yet the albino insisted that he was allowed to dance one last time. Harbal seemed to know something the others didn't, and he did look rather mournful but even when Maglor begged him to sedate Artemar he didn't budge.

Artemar stayed with Maglor the night before the performance, the elf knew somehow that this was it, their last night together and he tried to forget his grief and make it a good memory but in the end he lay there, weeping, holding Artemar so close to his body as physically possible. Artemar sighed and kissed his brow. "Tomorrow I will dance as never before Maglor, please remember it, every moment, every move. It is my legacy."

Maglor nodded, trying to suppress a sob and Artemar smiled and stroked his hair, it was oceans of love in that simple gesture. " I will die dancing Maglor, it has always been my dream, and as I die it will be with one last effort to spite the sha'al."

Maglor had to scoff. "You are mad!"

Artemar shrugged. "Maybe, but it doesn't matter anymore now does it?"

Maglor sighed. "No, it doesn't. I miss Negus, he could have cheered me up, even now. I wonder if they made it out of the city?"

Artemar snickered. "Oh they did, be sure they did. The gods are with our friend Maglor, they won't deceive him. Some of my contacts claim that many fled the city during the fire, I can bet all the gold in this palace that Negus and the three others were among them. Don't worry about Negus Maglor, he is safe, and so will I be. At least I will rest"

Maglor gasped and whimpered and Artemar smiled, that soft seductive smile that always had made the elf's heart shudder. "Come now, dawn is yet far away. Love me while I still am alive, while I have a body to enjoy"

Maglor closed his eyes, swallowing his fear and the burning grief. "Yes, and may tomorrow never come"

But tomorrow did come and Maglor had problems facing it, he didn't want to let go of Artemar but he had to. There was no way around it. They got up and ate and he did notice that Artemar did eat more than usual, there was a carelessness in the albino's behavior which hadn't been there before, a sort of freedom almost. Artemar even ate stuff he normally never ate, stuff which would make you fat if you had it often and he didn't appear to care at all. He had wine and ale and Maglor just stared at his food, unable to force down even a bite. The others too were very somber, Aodh wept and Rial and Kenar were red eyed and were clinging to each other the whole time. Tharsul came to prepare everybody for the show, he had a hard time camouflaging the signs of sorrow and he started working on Artemar at the end. He took the albino into another room and it was clear that Artemar and he had a plan. When the albino got back everybody were stunned. Maglor had go gawk and he felt almost shocked. Artemar did wear some heavy makeup which camouflaged the fact that his eyes were rather sunken, and his body was covered with paint in a silver color Some places Thasul had attached tiny gems to the skin and his hair was lose and filled with rubies.

Artemar did look almost supernatural, like a God descended from heaven and his gauntness only made it even more apparent. Harbal came with medicine, and Artemar drank it all. It would give him the strength to perform one last time. Maglor was wearing some black lose pants this time, with diamonds attached to the thin fabric and nothing more, the contrast between the two was striking and Artemar smiled. "This dance will go down in history my friend, just follow my lead"

Maglor had to choke a whimper and Artemar caressed his cheek. "Do not cry my beautiful dark one, look, I am not crying. I have accepted it, I will go out in a blaze of glory and you will carry my name with you, into eternity. No greater honor can be given a mere mortal"

Maglor didn't know what to say and Artemar just embraced him, held him close. "Remember, I can feel no pain now. I have been so thoroughly drugged I feel nothing, except euphoria. I will be free Maglor, truly free. And one day you will all experience freedom again"

Maglor just sobbed and stood there, until one of the guards came to tell them that it was time to go. They went to the great hall and the others started their performances. Rial and Kenar were juggling each other, Aerhan and Kherfem told jokes, Demetry danced with Aodh, Noolar sang and then it was the elf and the albino, the height of the evening. Harbal had stayed there with them and now he took a small flask from his belt, handed it over to Artemar very discretely. Artemar smiled, a very sad and yet grateful smile and opened it, he emptied it slowly, with reverence and Maglor almost keened when he realized that it was poison.

Artemar did really intend to die this night, before the disease took the rest of what he was and reduced him to a shivering wreck. Harbal had tears in his eyes and Artemar kissed him on the brow, handed over something and Maglor saw that it was a very valuable ruby necklace. The payment for his help in hiding the illness.

Artemar came over, grasped Maglor by the hand. "Come now my love, let us dance the way it is supposed to be done, for love"

Maglor could only whisper, his heart felt like lava in his chest, he was close to passing out from sheer emotional stress. "Yes, for love"

They ran into the hall, the music was already playing and Artemar caught his gaze. "Don't let me down, let this be my finest moment"

Maglor swallowed all feelings, all fear, all sorrow. He became the dance, like so many times before and the crowd was watching in awe. This time the elf and the albino were outdoing themselves, each move so powerful and so elegant it wasn't hard to believe that these two in fact where divine beings sent from above. Artemar spun and jumped, discretely leading Maglor through the dance and this time it wasn't sexual, it was joyful, a celebration of life and the rhythm and the very force of the dance left nobody untouched. The sha'al was staring at them as if he was paralyzed, eyes wide open and his mouth ajar in awe and Artemar was flirting with the huge man rather shamelessly. He danced by the table and snatched the goblet of wine which stood in front of the sha'al with a wicked grin, emptied it and put it back on the table after having licked the rim very suggestively. Maglor almost lost it, the audacity was horrendous, he was willfully trying to give the sha'al the same illness that was killing him. The sha'al filled the cup again, drank it all down as if the touch somehow had transformed the cup into some part of the albino's godlike body.

Maglor and Artemar danced on, for a long time, slowly, faster, sensually, wild. Artemar looked almost drunk but Maglor knew it was the drugs, his eyes were shining, his cheeks were red and he was smiling, a wide smile filled with wild ecstasy and fierce joy. This was what Artemar loved doing, it was the core of who he was and suddenly Maglor felt a sense of deep reverence, almost a sort of religious awe. Who was he to decide how another living being chose to live or die? Artemar had embraced life wholeheartedly and now, in his final hour he was more beautiful than ever before, more alive, more vibrant. Artemar gave him a small signal and Maglor knelt down, swaying with the music and Artemar started dancing solo, making pirouettes and jumps that almost did defy gravity. It had to hurt but the albino was too far gone now to care, and the poppy milk did sedate him.

He swirled and spun, spun and jumped, leaped high into the air and looked so much like an angel some there almost covered their eyes in fear of invoking the wrath of the Gods. He leapt higher and higher, the music was building to a crescendo and Maglor knew, he just knew. He wanted to scream, to beg Artemar to stop, but he couldn't. This was the albino's ultimate triumph, his final escape, his moment of glory and freedom and he couldn't ruin it, even if his soul was screaming in denial. Artemar spun around, smiling down at the elf and then he let the music carry him into a leap so spectacular nobody was able to believe it. He seemed to hover, to have defied the very law of gravity, arms stretched, a blissful smile on his lips and his hair was like a halo of milk and blood around his head. The moment seemed to last forever, the music reached its climax and then it fell silent and Artemar fell.

He fell like a ragdoll, like a shot deer, collapsed into Maglor's arms as if it was planned and the crowd cheered, went almost crazy, believing that this was as it was meant to be. Maglor had managed to catch him but he knew that Artemar now was crossing the border between the world of the living and the world of the dead. He opened his eyes one last time, stared up at the elf with a faint smile on his lips, blood had started flowing from his nose and mouth, and he was cold, so very cold. He lifted a hand, let it run through the elf's long silky tresses and Maglor whimpered, tears filled his eyes. "Maglor, remember, I love you. If there is a way to return, I will. Then we may meet again."

Maglor kissed him, didn't bother with the blood and the bitter taste of the medicine. He kissed him as if he tried to pull some part of his soul into himself, to store it there forever. Artemar shuddered slightly. "Hold me, promise you'll live on, swear it"

Maglor had to take a deep breath. "I swear"

Artemar smiled, a very pleased smile. "Good, you have become a true masterpiece, use it for all it is worth. "

Maglor hid his face against the Albino's silky white locks. "I promise "

Artemar closed his eyes, he was barely breathing now. "And Maglor"

The elf stared at the beloved face one more time. "Yes?"

Artemar opened his eyes, a faint smile on his lips. "Beware of the eye"

Maglor frowned. "What, what do you mean, Artemar?"

He shook the albino but there was no response and the glow in the eyes that once had been like rubies were now extinguished forever. Maglor saw that the others had extinguished the lights, as planned and now they rushed forth, grasped Maglor and Artemar's body and pulled them out of the hall. Maglor wanted to scream, to wail, to protest but he couldn't. The crowd would think that this was a part of the show, a game. They carried Artemar back to the harem, and laid him on the bed of his room. He did look as if he was sleeping and Maglor bent down and pressed one last kiss onto the now cooling forehead. He hadn't known that such pain could be felt, and survived. Harbal entered and he was crying, he embraced the elf. " The sha'al was in awe of the performance, I sent one of the loyal guards to tell that Artemar has taken ill suddenly. That I suspect poisoning, that it could have been the wine he drank from the sha'al's cup."

Maglor keened, tears running freely down his cheeks. "Sick? He is dead!"

Harbal sent him a weak smile. "Not yet, I will leave in half an hour and give the sha'al's butler the sad news. The wine was poisoned, and meant for the sha'al. Artemar saved his life"

Maglor had to scoff, what a perfect plan, what a devious way of assuring one's legacy. Now the sha'al would most certainly think of Artemar as his savior, as a hero. And give the slave a royal funeral. It was so ironic it made Maglor grin, a swift and very sardonic grin. He remained by Artemar's side, crying and grieving and in the middle of the night slaves came to take the body away. Maglor almost lost it, he wanted to fight them, to keep Artemar there but there was no point in it. It was just an empty husk, a shell. The sha'al was in utter shock, his favorite slave had died to save him and suddenly there would be a grand funeral the next morning and Artemar would be prayed for in every temple in the city for a year ahead.

Maglor almost sneered, Artemar hadn't cared about religion, not at all. But he was safe now, free from the hardship of this world and Maglor found some solace in that thought. He felt as if his heart had been ripped from his chest, and the others gathered in his room, they all slept there the rest of the night, in one huge heap. Comforting each other, finding some little glimpse of hope, of love.

The next morning Maglor was allowed to watch the funeral, the others weren't but he was regarded as loyal to the sha'al so he was taken outside, although in chains to watch it. Normal people were buried but royalty were burned and Artemar had been washed and put into some glorious clothing. Thasul had put make up on him and he looked as if he was about to open those sparkling eyes and grin as mischievous as ever. But he was dead, gone, as dead as Maglor's heart felt. The funeral pyre was large, in it they had placed everything the dead would want in the afterlife, clothes, food, jewelry, furniture. Some dolls to represent slaves were laid there too, a horse had been killed and placed at the bottom with tack and equipment and also some hunting dogs and a few goats. It was a royal funeral gift and Maglor saw some irony in it. Artemar had never been treated thus before, but now, when he supposedly had died instead of the sha'al he was turned into some sort of saint. The sha'al himself lit the fire and Maglor was shocked to see that the man in fact was crying, perhaps he did have feelings after all, but most likely it was just because he had lost valuable property.

The fire caught immediately, a good sign and they all stood there until it had burned down. Maglor felt a strange sort of light headedness. He was almost dizzy, now it was his job to keep the others safe, to make sure they survived to maybe one day taste freedom again. It was such a responsibility but one he had accepted, and had to fulfil, for the sake of his lost love. He was returned to the harem and it was a silent place now, a place of mourning. Aodh came to him and they laid together on the bed, holding each other. Maglor had never felt that alone before, even when he lived as a hermit along the weather worn beaches.

Some days later it was still quiet, the sha'al had put the palace in mourning for a month and it gave the men of the collection a good chance to recover. Maglor sat in the garden when he suddenly heard an odd sound, he looked up and saw a raven sitting on the roof. Ravens were rare in this land but it was really a raven and the bird made a croaking sound and jumped down into the garden. It cocked its head, stared at the elf with black eyes and Maglor felt a chill run down his spine. This was no ordinary animal, it was way too intelligent. The raven walked towards him with short dignified steps, then it bowed its head and opened its beak and what came out was Negus voice. "Maglor, my friend. I have returned safely to my people and I am to be wed soon. I wish you all the best in this world, and I am telling you this; if you send a message with the man named Hasul Fh'harak it will reach us. Should you ever want our help just send a note, and an army of dwarves will be at your command. Your friend, Negus"

The bird croaked and Maglor just stared, he knew that the dwarves had talking ravens, but he had never met one before and the bird just nodded and took to the wings, disappeared over the rooftops. Maglor felt an odd calm, somehow he knew that these promises were some he would find useful one day. Why he didn't know.

That night he went back to the garden and for the first time in ages he did sing the noldolante, softly and in a low voice. And then he let the song carry him, sweep him away. He sang of his love and his grief, of the loss and the pain and the terror. He sang of hope and despair and everything in between and in the rooms of the palace the guards did shiver and the sha'al was shifting in his bed, feeling uncomfortable. The horses were stomping in their stalls, restless and nervous. Dogs howled in their kennels, the cats sought shelter in the darkest corners of the rooms. Maglor kept singing, in a voice no human could even hear, he was lost in it, in a trance and just vaguely he remembered the tale of the songs of power, songs with the magic to change the world. Songs which could conquer even a God. He didn't stop until the soft first rays of morning light reached the roofs, then he got up and returned to his room. He had cleansed himself, now it was time to take on a new role, as protector and leader, a role he had held once before, when he had worn the cloak and the crown of a king.

Authors note: the vision Maglor sees in the smoke is of Negus descendant Narvi and her husband Celebrimbor, the dwarves in this story is a co-operation with the author Rogercat, and they are linked to her story An open door.