A Truth Spell To Trap You
Amara's body began to produce waves of shivers. She stood before a dark grand door that was inviting her in. Wormtongue was at her side giving her looks that said she should enter. There was no backing out of the mess she had gotten herself into now. There were thousands of urk-hai behind her and one slimy son of a gun to her side.
There wasn't a doubt that she could probably take out Wormtongue but the tons of urk-hai brigades would surely be her downfall. Escaping was something she didn't want to do anyway. This was what she wanted to do to help Frodo, to prove that she could help him. Risky? Yes. Stupid? Maybe. But she was doing it anyway, no matter what the others may at the moment think of her as.
She knew that Legolas would be beyond pissed off at her. She knew that Aragorn would be angry with her too for risking her life and not telling anyone her plan because she was his sister and he didn't want to see her risk her life more than she was already. They wouldn't see it from her point of view. She was tired of waiting around for the next event to happen. She was sick of being told what to do when she could do things to help.
All of the things Amara was about to do was for the sake of one purpose and that was to see the ring destroyed. No more could she or would she allow herself to be coddled by anyone. This amazing power was gifted to her and she was going to put it to good use just as she was destined to. As much as Amara liked to believe that she had grown up, she realized that she hadn't really up until this point. This was her real decision since joining the fellowship and she had asked no one if she could do it.
It was her decision and she was standing by it, no matter how frightening what she had to do in order for things to go right would be. She was nothing but a jumble of nerves but she took her first step into the tower. Wormtongue was close by her side, too close for her liking. She didn't say anything about his close proximity, too many other things going on in her head after all. The two dark doors closed behind Wormtongue and Amara.
The sound of the doors closing startled Amara. She jumped a bit and looked back as the dark doors began to seal her fate. There was definitely no turning back now. Sucking in air, she let her eyes look around at her surroundings. There wasn't much to Saurman's lair. A bunch of bookcases here a table or pedestal there. It wasn't impressing at all.
Also, it was quite cold. She hadn't expected the place to be nice and comforting but she had expected in the least some heat. Maybe cold evil wizards searching for a powerful ring didn't require heat? To her right there was a dark spiraling staircase that led to a floor she had already assured herself that she was not curious about seeing. Feigning off the nerve racking feeling she was getting was getting harder the more time she stood there.
Wormtongue sent her a reassuring look. It did nothing for the empath. The sound of light footfalls alerted her to the dim staircase. 'This is it.' Her brain was repeating the sentences over and over in her head and for a moment she thought she would loose control of her calm outer appearance.
When Saurman made his way down the staircase she rigged up and felt a lot tougher than she knew she was. A coldness she did not know she possessed took over and spread itself all over like a fresh wave of water coming to shore and spreading over sand. Amara watched the wizard descend the stairs and felt evil penetrating the mental walls she had put up. Saurman stopped at the end of the staircase; his eyes were drawn to Amara's steely blue ones. He was dressed head to toe in white robes that in Amara's opinion were no longer befitting.
The title of 'white wizard' belonged to Gandalf and not the wizard before her. She wanted to shoot him all sorts of dirty looks but currently she had a part to play and that was a potential bad ass looking for more power. Saurman walked forward towards her, a slight smirk gracing his old face. Amara failed to return his smile with one of her own. She couldn't bring herself to even if she was only playing a role. In her eyes he was a vile being and more of a coward than Wormtongue.
It was because at the moment the most powerful side was not good that Saurman had turned his interest to Sauron. Currently he was the one with the most power and Saurman had taken the coward's way out. Amara knew it felt it with every fiber of her being. Talking him into joining the good fight would have been useless because the wizard's mind was already made up and had been from the very beginning. Looking into his cold dark eyes, she knew that Saurman felt that Sauron would prevail and no one against him would even have a chance. Well, she would have to prove him wrong and give the right side the leverage it deserved.
"I want more," Amara said very bravely. The tone in her voice gave away nothing that she was feeling at the moment. It even in fact gave away a dark cold side of her that she hadn't known she had hidden away in herself. For the moment she didn't know whether to be proud of herself or afraid.
Saurman took her hand in his own and delivered a small kiss onto it. The feeling of his lips on her hand felt wrong on so many levels but she masked the disgust she was feeling and said once more that she wanted more.
"I want more power and I can't achieve that…"
There was no need to say anymore because she felt that Saurman knew what she was letting on to. He released her hand and she let it fall to her side her eyes never leaving Saurman's.
"You can't achieve what you were born to become with the company you have been keeping."
Amara wanted to ask how did he know about her but refrained from it. She had some idea.
"Come with me," Saurman said. The wizard ignored Wormtongue and ushered the girl up the spiraling staircase. His hand placed itself on Amara's shoulder seemingly in a friendly manner but Amara knew better. It was all an act to get what he wanted out of her. The forgotten servant of Saurman sauntered after them.
She was led down a long hall and into a room that she suspected all his evil doing was conducted. For a moment she took a minute to look around and one thing caught her eye. In the center of the murky room was a black crystal ball sitting on a pedestal. It completely slipped her mind what it was called but she knew it contained a power well beyond her understanding. Maybe if she had an afternoon to study it…NO!
That was the geeky dorky side of her coming out. That was the part of her that needed to be caged at the moment.
"Have a seat my dear," Saurman ordered.
A chair seemed to come from out of nowhere behind her and once more nerves kicked in. She hoped that her nervousness wasn't detectable or too obvious. She spied Wormtongue standing by a window. The man's eyes never left his master. As uncomfortable as she felt she masked it and took a seat. Her eyes mimicked that of Wormtongue's as she watched the wizard begin to pace up and down the room.
Obviously he was thinking about her. Probably whether or not she was to be trusted. She could guess all she wanted on the man's thoughts but she would never really know and reading his emotions wouldn't have been the most intelligent thing she could do at the moment. So she sat quietly pretending to be the tough solider that she wasn't and waited for him to make a move. Despite the situation she was pretty sure that Aragorn would have been proud of her.
Saurman took a minute to look at the young woman he had seated in his lair. Her face as fragile as it looked contained no emotion, nothing to give away her true status. Deciding not to waste anymore time he planted himself in front of the young woman. Saurman caught the quick look of surprise that manifested on her face before she wiped it away. This woman was afraid. It was all the ammunition he needed.
"You are kin to Aragorn?"
Amara flicked her eyes to Wormtongue. He did not notice her stare as he looked only at Saurman. Not wanting to seem weak she looked back at the wizard, her eyes turning into slits.
"Yes. Yes I am his sister."
Saurman turned so that he was no longer facing her. He clasped his hands behind his back and was staring at nothing particular. What Amara could not see nor detect was the menacing smile on his face.
"Why is it that you have come sister of Aragorn?"
"I told you already," the attitude in her voice was not hidden from the man. " I want-"
"More power," Saurman finished for her.
"Where is the Ring and the hobbit carrying it?"
'He sure didn't waste any time in the interrogation process,' she thought.
Resisting the urge to wiggle uncomfortably in her chair she said, "I don't know."
"You haven't a clue where the whereabouts of the Ring is? Have you not tried to seek it out?"
Amara narrowed her eyes. Of course she should have expected this from him. He was trying to pry information from her to see if she was truly willing to switch sides. Of course she wasn't going to give up any information. That just wasn't going to happen. He wouldn't get her to spill out the most vital information just by asking questions. He'd have to fight a little harder than that.
"Of course I've tried to seek it out. I don't have a strong handle on my powers yet."
"And," Saurman turned around facing her. "That is why you have come to me. You wish to know the full capabilities of your power."
Amara only nodded. Something was definitely up with the wizard. He had a plan no doubt and it spelled out trouble for her.
"Tell me, what is it that the grey wizard Gandalf up to?"
It was a question that she would have to go to great lengths to make up a lie for. The fact of the matter was that she knew a few key points of what was to happen thanks to her time on Earth, but some details were a bit fuzzy. She wouldn't let him know that she knew what would happen. Making up a lie about Gandalf proved harder than the actual concept. She racked her brain to come up with something wishing that she were a quick liar. Legolas always saw through the lies she had fed him, she only hoped that Saurman wasn't the same way.
"To be honest, he does not know what to make of the situation."
Saurman raised an eyebrow.
"He and everyone else knows that something devastating is going to happen but they don't know how to handle it."
"What are your true intentions?"
"I told you already."
"You have not!" There was anger that began dripping its way into the wizard's voice. He stormed closer towards Amara so that they were toe to toe. "What you have told me is that you want more power. What you have failed to tell me is what your intentions are after you have acquired said power."
Saurman was deathly scary when was only being spoken about but he was even more so when he was in your face. She wasn't to be intimidated by him. Everything that made her life so great was what was going to hold her together during this ordeal. As Saurman stared daggers in her eyes, she stared back trying not to let the impulse for crying like a little girl come out. She stared back hard as steel and attempted to stand her ground. Amara was not going to fall for intimidation tactics. Now, she had gotten herself this far, she could lie to this evil bastard.
"Is it not obvious what I want to do with my power? I want to find the Ring. I-I want to bring down Gandalf and my brother. I want…I want Sauron to prevail!"
Amara hoped that what she had said sounded truthful and not too over the top. The words that left her mouth had left a bad taste. Everything would right itself once her plan worked. Amara was never much of an actress so when Saurman stepped away from her, his eyes leaving her she was sure something was wrong. She sat even m ore stiffly in that chair believing what she said, hoping against hope that she hadn't been grasping at straws or playing with fire she couldn't handle. The words she had just uttered she willed into her belief.
If she believed it hard enough then maybe the wizard would too. Amara watched every part of Saurman from his silvery white hair to his impeccable ivory boots. His gaze was cast off to the side and his face was unreadable. The silence between them began to lengthen and it began to disconcert the empath. Something was not right and that feeling crept through her bones.
There was something being conjured up in Saurman's head and it wouldn't be good in her favor. She had just come from the opposing side and for all she knew Saurman only was keeping her alive because he wanted to use her as a tool, just as Legolas had said. One small mistake on her part could mean the end. Saurman could very well decide that no empath on either side of the war was a good thing. That suspicion was based on the fact that her plan would not succeed.
Each second that Saurman allowed to pass the situation seemed more leery. Amara refrained from wiggling in her seat for what had to be the tenth time. The tension she felt at the current moment was so thick she didn't know whether or not she was holding her breath or just breathing in small amounts of air.
"Why," Saurman demanded breaking his silence. His eyes snapped back to her. "Why do you choose to abandon the ones that care for you?"
Did she have a good answer for that? Her thoughts were along the lines of what would an evil villain say?
Wasting close to no time she said, "Because they can not understand my power. They want to keep me hidden away. They don't want me involved in this war."
Partly it was the truth but it wasn't something that the empath had wanted to admit.
"So you have all of a sudden switched sides based on your allies wanting to keep you safe?"
The way he said it made her explanation sound stupid. Amara had no choice but to stick to her guns and make her lie seem more real.
She took a quick breath and began to talk. "I am not a child. I can care for myself and what I need is to get a handle on the ability that I have. I need to know what I'm capable of doing and if it means that I've got to join you to do it then I will!"
Saurman shook his head. He did not know her full intentions and the ones that came out of her mouth could be nothing more than a fluke. How did he know whether or not to trust her based upon her word? She could've been here to gather information, make herself stronger and convince himself that she was an ally, someone to be trusted. Before he knew it, she would be stabbing him in the back.
It was a risk that he could not and would not take.
He looked at the young woman with doubt. It was another scheme sent by Gandalf. Saurman had the urge to outsmart the newly acclaimed 'white wizard' at his own game. Well, Gandalf the White had given him a gift –if this in fact was all a lie the woman had been pre-empted to say-and he indeed was going to use it no matter what the circumstances were. Whether she was telling a tall tale or not he was going to use her. She was a unique key that could be used in the capture of the hobbit carrying the Ring.
Before any part of his plan could be carried into motion he would have to deal with the situation of whether or not the woman was lying. Fortunately for him that was going to be the easy. Lies were easily uncovered when there was the truth hiding behind them. Saurman had a feeling that extracting the truth from this woman was going to be a task that was easy. Sure as of now she appeared to be strong but there were insecurities within her that would be broken down by a simple spell.
Saurman stood close to her once more and waved his hand over her face. In an instant her eyes clouded over at the action and it looked as if she wasn't all there. Amara looked blank and the sparkle that had always been in her soft blue eyes was gone. Saurman seemed pleased with this and was even more so when he watched her hands that had once before held on tightly to the arms of the chair slowly loose its grip. The anger and tenseness that had been emitting from her was gone too. Everything had slowly left her and there looked to be nothing left from Amara save for an empty shell.
Saurman stooped to the level of the woman sitting in the chair. He placed both his hands on Amara's right arm.
Amara felt his cold touch but didn't know how to feel. It was as if all of her motor skills and emotions were on the fritz and as much as she tried she didn't know what to think or how to feel for that matter. At the best explanation she felt like a puppet; existing, knowing she was there but in the inside feeling nothing.
"Now," Saurman said in a low voice. He watched the shell of a person before him look ahead, not even acknowledging being spoken to. "Answer my questions and things should proceed smoothly."
He stood and placed his hands behind his back. Saurman looked down at her and felt something rise within himself.
"Tell me, what is your name?"
"Amara." The answer shot from her quick without a second thought. It was as if her brain no longer had to process things and the answer just spat itself out.
Saurman smiled. "Are you kin to Aragorn?"
"Yes. I am his sister."
"Why is it that you have come sister of Aragorn?"
There was no fighting against the spell that Saurman had cast against her. There was no way that she could when she had no perceptible thought. The Amara that would have fought against everything that was being done to her was gone and there wasn't a thing that could be done about it.
"I have come…I have come to bring you down."
At that, Saurman's slight smile faded into nothing. He had expected as much.
"In what way," the wizard asked.
"I have come to hinder you from sending armies to Rohan and to keep you from finding the Ring."
So his suspicions had been right. She had been sent on behave of Gandalf to ruin him. Gandalf would have no leverage on him this time. This time he was the one with the upper hand. He had been placed into a better position than he had when he had a hold on King Théoden. This girl would serve him as an open book to all the answers he needed and all he needed was to keep her as a vessel.
"Where is the Ring and the hobbit carrying it?"
"I don't know."
Saurman faltered thinking that maybe his spell was losing its effects on her. It had not though, as he saw she was still sitting lax as ever in the chair. Her eyes were still clouded over, a sure sign that his spell was still in effect.
"How can you not know where the Ring or the hobbit are?"
"I can not use my power as much as I want. It only extends so far."
'So she wasn't lying for the most part about some things,' Saurman mused.
The wizard turned to the forgotten Wormtongue and snapped for him to leave his presence. There was nothing more that the man could do for him at this time and he wanted every bit of himself to become focused on the woman before him and the plan that would accompany her.
"My lord," Wormtongue said walking from the wall he had been perched against. A strange worry embedded inside of him for the woman that sat in the chair. He wanted to know what would happen to her while in the company of Saurman.
"My lord, what is it that will become of her," he asked quickly.
Saurman smirked at the pale man. "She will become our ultimate weapon. Now leave." He stated this quite calmly and it unnerved Wormtongue.
The man left nonetheless and Saurman turned back to Amara. He waved a hand over her face and it was as if the life had been thrown back into her. Her eyes glowed once more and the stiff position she had held in the chair was back. Amara looked up coldly at Saurman knowing exactly what she had said and what had been done to her.
"A truth spell," she spat in disgust.
She hadn't put it passed the wizard, only counted it as a risk.
Saurman waved a hand at the open door and Amara spun around to see an orc come in. His back was hunched over and his ears were abnormally big and pointed.
"Take Amara to one of our…nicer rooms," Saurman ordered.
Too quick to even utter a protest Amara was pulled away by the orc and into the dark hall. She struggled against him the best she could but it was useless. She was pushed into a room after they had taken a flight of stairs down to another floor. It was when Amara heard a lock click in place behind her that she began to think she was screwed.
