Small deeds pays off
The Temple of Shadows, in Rhûn:
There was a strange difference in the atmosphere around the temple that unnerved everyone. Something had happened which had changed the mood of their Master, in a way that they were unfamiliar with.
"The Master is…happy?!" Tuya commented in disbelief to her fellow Consorts when they kept sensing the change.
"Really pleased, for some reason that we do not know yet."
Whatever it was, the Consorts and priests hoped that it would last for a while, because when the Master was in a bad mood…
They all shuddered in fear at the mere thought of such a mood swing.
"Do not fear," they heard Visenya say with a pleased smile on her face as she appeared out from a smaller chamber, having placed the black haired wig back where she had borrowed it to avoid Tywin seeing her tell-tale Targaryen silver-blonde hair, "Master is going to stay pleased for a very good reason."
Her ability to see the past, both here in Middle-earth and in Westeros, could sometimes be both a curse and a blessing. And this time, finding out that Tywin Lannister, of all people, to be the current reincarnation of Tar-Minatyr, the treacherous half-Nûmenorian son whose actions had led to Khamûl taking the final step and accepting to become a Nazgûl serving Sauron, had been too good to not reveal to her Master.
"Visa…please do not disobey the Master by using magic as you please. His wrath can become fatal if it gets really bad," Tuya pleaded, remembering how Lyanna Stark had died in agony after a brutal beating to death after Khamûl had found out her part in how Elia Martell and her children almost had died by the order of Tywin Lannister, by running away with Rhaegar. Not that this was a detail that the other inhabitants of the Temple knew about, but they had witnessed how Khamûl had stormed out in the main courtyard with a raised cudgel and given no mercy at all to Lyanna as she tried in vain to protect herself.
"I have tried my best to learn from the foolish mistakes of my birth mother and not to repeat them. After all, she learned the hard way that if you end up as a slave, your life can be ended brutally and no one dares to come to her help, else the wrath of the Master may be directed at them for trying to intervene."
Visenya bowed her head in respect for her foster mother, her way of showing that she would hear the warning.
"I won't anger the Master by being foolish, dear mother."
Even if it took a while for the Westerosi in Minas Tirith to notice that Tywin somehow had escaped from the ship during the battle, Visenya did not doubt that Khamûl really would enjoy watching Tywin getting tortured without allowing the former Lord Lannister mercy by death, whatever it was in Minas Morgul or somewhere in Mordor. Tywin may not know what his past self as Tar-Minyatur had done, but they still had two things in common: Letting innocents suffer for their wounded pride, and denial of the truth that they did not want to admit.
~X~X~X~X~X~X
About the same time in Dorne, the Old Palace in Sunspear:
Finishing the drawings of holy symbols from Kemet on the stone floor, some parchments were laid out as well.
"Quentyn, I fully understand if you want to back off, but this may be our best chance…"
At the moment, Ihsan and his grandson were preparing to use some of the older traps in the Old Palace, intended to stop invaders or other attackers from coming closer to the main buildings. It was a literal labyrinth of traps if one knew where they were, and there was even specially employed staff whose purpose was to keep the traps in good condition and regularly check that they were still working as they should.
"No, Abuelo, my ability to spirit walk in my sleep should allow me to sneak around unnoticed by the guards. It is a lot harder to try catching a spirit."
Laying himself down on a blanket and a pillow for some comfort, Quentyn began to take slow breaths as he also touched a wicker basket with a lid. Soon, he had fallen asleep and Ihsan could see a faint outline above the body of his grandson.
"Time to make use of my life-long interests in old languages and written scripts and try to make sure that this sort of knowledge does not fall into oblivion and one day be lost forever to future generations…."
Sitting with crossed legs next to Quentyn, Ihsan began a prayer in the almost extinct language which had been spoken in Kemet during the time as Khamûl had still been mortal.
Minas Morgul was as creepy and unsettling as last time Quentyn had been here in spirit form. He had preferred to not return, but for the plan he and Ihsan had talked about, it was needed.
"I need to keep looking around…"
While knowing that the few remaining orc guards could not see him, Quentyn still made a point of hiding himself whatever one of them appeared, because there was that little thing about scent that could reveal him.
"Careful, careful."
It was a plan that had spun out of a random idea, as Quentyn and Ihsan had talked about him witnessing how Sauron had used the trapped souls of Khamûl's wives and other children to keep him under the thumb of the Dark Lord. Somehow, it was nothing strange in how Ihsan had talked about how those poor people really deserved better than being trapped as hostages, and how it would be a lot easier to sneak around in Minas Morgul with neither the Ringwraiths or most of the orc army from Mordor in there…
Perhaps Mother Rhoyne and the Valar were showing him some mercy, for Quentyn was really lucky. After some searching, he heard the faint echo of a foreign song in the distance.
"That melody…a lullaby which Mara would sing to Morgan and his children!"
Following the song, he did find a closed chamber. But by being a spirit right now, that was no problem and Quentyn simply passed though. It was empty of anything else than the "spirit globs" where the souls were trapped.
"Right. Now I must find out if they can still pass through the door if I can carry them in this form…"
Carefully taking the one which held the trapped soul of Nerfertari, the Great Royal Wife of Khamûl, Quentyn backed towards the door. To his joy, it was possible to pass though, like his soul being in spirit form somehow did the same with the spirit globs.
"I better hurry before someone of the remaining orc guards comes…!"
He had some luck in that all the spirit globs managed to fit into the wicker basket he had carried on his back, but now the difficult part was to come. Namely trying to sneak back home to the Old Palace without someone sensing that the trapped souls were no longer here in Minas Morgul.
"Who is there?" a cold voice suddenly spoke in the Black Speech behind him from the mirror, causing Quentyn to freeze in terror upon realizing that it sounded like Sauron from that time he had noticed where those souls were held captive. And if there had been any other in the Martell family present in that moment, there would be no bad thoughts about how Quentyn reacted in terror:
"GRANDFATHEEEEEEER!"
Of course, his terrified scream as Quentyn tried to cover as much distance between himself and the dark aura of Sauron in the chamber, did reveal that there was a intruder somewhere in Minas Morgul. But as the orcs followed the direction of where the human voice had come, Quentyn could hear Ihsan repeat a protective prayer against evil in the language of Kemet that sheltered him.
~X~X~X~X~X~X
Despite his panic at sensing Sauron, Quentyn did not quite lose all common sense. With the orc guards now chasing him though a small portal, he did not go straight for his body or anywhere there risked to be people.
"Abuelo, the traps!"
Hearing his grandson shouting for some help, Ihsan rushed towards a wall painting and turned a central flower 180 degrees, unlocking a hidden key that would trigger the underground traps scattered all around the ground level of the Old Palace. Those was a less known legacy of Princess Nymeria and the Rhoynar who had arrived to Dorne with her, intended both as a underground city where people could hide for months from enemies like the Valyrian dragonriders and further complicate a successful storming of Sunspear itself if the surrounding city walls was taken.
"Perfect timing to show any enemies that those trusted old defenses still work even in this era."
And with the amount of underground traps, it was plain impossible for everyone else to not notice the growing noises coming from the floors.
"Eh? What is triggering the hidden traps now of all times?!" Doran wondered in surprise as he and Mellario noticed that something was not quite as expected, both acting by instinct and holding the cradle with their sleeping grandson Ramses steady in case the new noises would wake him up.
"I have a strong feeling that it may be someone we know too well, and it is not Oberyn since he is in Minas Tirith at the moment…." Mellario admitted, before raising to her fleet and went off in search of her father-in-law, because Doran would take longer with his crutches.
"Sogro, we tested the underground traps and how well they still worked just last month! There is no need to do it so soon again!" Mellario called, just in case Ihsan was somewhere close.
It was a literal labyrinth of traps around the Old Palace. The Martell family had a tradition of always teaching their children how to use those traps in order to not only defend the Old Palace, but also the whole City of Sunspear if needed from attackers.
"Good thing that I am still a spirit, or it would be a lot harder now! And that we in House Martell must memorize where all those traps are!" Quentyn thought as he ran as fast as he could, hearing behind him how the orcs fell into a hidden pit trap along the tunnel floor that involved falling ten meters down and getting impaled on sharp spikes. Following this, a few meters ahead, was three long-narrow openings in the walls where two stone trapdoors fell down first, before a smooth stone door fell down in the third opening to completely block the way forward.
"That sound of water rushing inside…the opening of the water tunnels!"
By letting in sea water into those tunnels and filling them up until low tide, any trapped enemy was doomed to drown if they were still alive among all the other traps.
~X~X~X~X~X~X
With the orcs killed by the traps, Quentyn could return safely to his body.
"Easy there, grandson, take a few deep breaths before moving."
Opening the lid of the wicker basket gently for a quick look whether it had worked or not, Ihsan smiled at seeing the spirit globs inside, safe and not harmed in some way.
"I think some fresh air and proper sunlight out in the gardens, surrounded by life, is exactly what those poor souls needs after being prisoners in Minas Morgul and whatever place they have been, for so long in order to ensure that Khamûl obeys whatever order Sauron gives him, before we figure out how to free them from their respective prison."
Waving faintly with one hand, Quentyn showed his agreement to the suggestion of his grandfather. He was a little tired because he felt drained by using his spirit walking in this way, but the oldest son of Doran and Mellario felt proud that he had managed to do this.
"Ihsan! Quentyn! What sort of magical stuff from Kemet are you two trying to do now without telling us others?!" they heard Mellario say in a raised voice, as she had begun to search for them both after first looking around in the areas where her oldest son and father-in-law was most likely to be found.
"I will handle this talk as it originally was my random thought," Ihsan promised, giving Quentyn a goblet of fresh, cold water to drink as he went to meet his daughter-in-law. But the former Prince Consort of Dorne knew that Doran, Mellario and Arianne would be smart enough to realize the deeper meaning of this action. Sure, freeing the wives and children of Khamûl may not offer much outside allowing those poor souls to finally enter the afterlife, but Sauron would lose a powerful way of keeping the former Farao under his thumb as a Ringwrath without them as hostages.