A/N: I own nothing.
***Chapter 19***
**Deirdre's POV**
It only took about fifteen minutes before there was a knock at my door. I swung the door open and was met with an Uruk holding two swords with ornate hilts that were attached to a belt. I took them from the Uruk, nodding my head to signal his dismissal. I fastened the belt around my waist, allowing the swords to hang off of each of my hips. As soon as this was done, I strode from my chamber, slamming the door behind me. I walked to Saruman's study. Perhaps this time I should knock as he wasn't expecting me. I slammed my fist against the door three times. If I was going to knock, I wasn't going to be weak.
"Enter." Came the irritated voice of Saruman.
I threw the door open, striding confidently into the room. Wormtongue was still in the study, only this time he was sitting in a chair with a cloth pressed to his lip.
"Since I have my swords, I figured I should begin my assessment of your troops." I told him, my voice coming out steady under his harsh gaze.
"So you should. There should be a large group still in the underground training area." Saruman stated.
He then called out the door for an Orc. After a moment, an Orc appeared and was told to take me down to the troops. I nodded my head in farewell to Saruman, completely ignoring Wormtongue. The Orc lead me down into the pits of Isenguard, there was a training area with dozens of Uruks. The air rang with the sound of metal on metal, and heat radiated from the furnaces.
When I reached the training area, every Uruk turned to look at me. It was time to establish my dominance, I found a ledge that I could stand on. I towered over the Uruks by about a foot standing on the ledge. The Uruks stared at me curiously, wondering why I was there.
"I am Deirdre, and will be assessing your fighting abilities today. You will listen to the orders that I give you, or you will not have a place in this army." I ordered. Grunts and grumbles arose amongst the Uruks. "Any questions?"
"Why should we listen to you?" An Uruk standing just below me questioned.
I glowered down at the Uruk, my face an emotionless mask. But my eyes showed anger and hatred.
"Because I am in charge here." I said, kicking the Uruk in the face. "The only orders you are to follow above mine are Saruman's."
The Uruk fell backward, knocking into some of the Uruk behind him. There were grumbles going amongst the Uruks, who watched the other Uruks shove the Uruk back into his place.
"Am I clear?" I questioned in a commanding voice.
No one said a word. I think they got that I was serious. I grinned evilly down at the Uruks.
"Now that we have that established. You will show me your fighting ability." I demanded. "Pair off."
The Uruks did as I commanded, pairing off and beginning to fight one another. I watched in disgust as they began to beat each other. There was a chief Uruk to the side watching the exhibit that his men were displaying. I shook my head in shock. They were so rudimentary in their fighting ability. Not a single Uruk utilized any ability other than what they naturally had. It was no wonder that they would be cut down so effectively by the untrained people of Rohan.
"You there." I shouted at the Uruk standing to the side. "Here."
I pointed to the ground next to my ledge, he followed my order and came over to the place that I had indicated. He looked up at me proud of his troops.
"Do you think that your troops will be able to survive a fight?" I questioned.
"Of course, we have strength on our side." He grinned as he spoke.
"This is pathetic." I ground out, glaring at the grinning Uruk.
His smile left his face as I spoke. He looked as though he was about to object to what I said, when Saruman arrived and approached us.
"How did they do for your assessment?" he questioned.
The noise of the Uruks fighting was making it difficult to talk, as it added to the sound of the forging of the weapons.
"Halt." I yelled out, effectively stopping the fighting of the Uruks. "They will fall upon the blades of the most inexperienced fighter." I told Saruman.
"They seem to have accepted you as an authority figure." He commented, then seemed to contemplate what I had said. "How do you propose to fix that?"
"You," I spoke to the Uruk who was in charge. "Resume the exercises that you were leading your troops in before I arrived."
He nodded and began ordering his troops. I jumped off of my elevated platform and stood next to Saruman.
"Walk with me." I said, as I began to walk looking at the forges. "They have no skill, and are simply using brute strength to fight. It is an inefficient tactic."
"So train them." He told me.
"You have nearly ten thousand fighters, in the time before we will need to send them into battle, training will be impossible. I have a proposal that will solve many of your problems." I told him.
His eyebrow arched as I said this, an idea striking me that maybe I could make things a little easier on my friends.
"I was hesitant to alert you to this problem earlier, as you will not be happy with what I have to say." I began, attempting to sell this as much as possible. "Helm's Deep is taken by five thousand Uruks, but you sent ten thousand for the siege."
"I have not sent any troops to Helm's Deep." He stated, "But continue."
"I speak from the knowledge I have from my world. Half of the Uruks that you sent to Helm's Deep betray you."
"You mean to tell me that my own army will attack me?" he growled.
"Yes, I do." I told him with a blank expression. "Apparently, Uruk-hai are more human like than you originally thought. They decided that since they had the ability to take the stronghold of Helm's Deep without you there, they could take Orthanc just as easily. You would be locked in your tower as your Uruks control all around you. The only way that you get out of it is that Sauron sends troops to destroy your forces. Then you go on to take the Shire, though I'm not sure why you want the Shire. From what I can tell the place is a bunch of fat midgets and goats."
Internally, I hated saying the things that I did about the Shire, but right now it was a necessity. Saruman looked appalled at what I told him, and shocked that his Uruks would ever betray him.
"What is your solution to this problem?" he asked, his voice tight with anger.
"In my world, there was a great civilization. Ruled by warriors, trained from birth to live by the sword, these people ruled a large part of the ancient world. They were the Spartans." I told him.
"And these Spartans, they had the same strength as my Uruks?" Saruman verified.
"The Spartans were hardened warriors, strength was their forte. One of the most effective training methods developed by this sort of culture was the Gladiators." I was mixing the cultures a little on purpose, crossing the strong warriors together. "Gladiators would fight for their lives, generally the gladiators were debtors or criminals. It would be a one on one battle, developing the strongest, most brutal warriors imaginable."
"You propose that I do this with my troops?" he questioned, almost appalled that I would suggest having his warriors kill one another for the right to fight.
"You wanted the best way to create strong troops, did you not?" I questioned him, to which he nodded. "Then you breed them strong and make them fight for their very existence."
"And you guarantee that if I do as you suggest, I will win the battle and maintain my keep?" he verified.
"Yes."
"Very well. How long will it take?"
"We can start right now, if you like." I offered.
"Begin immediately. I want my troops strong."
I nodded my head and returned to the ledge where I towered over the Uruks once more. They all stopped what they were doing when I arrived. I observed the blood that was already caked on their black bodies from fighting.
"Your technique is lacking. Therefore, starting immediately, there will be an entirely new training program. Each of you will fight for your existence, your right to be the strongest warrior you can be. If you fail, you die. Are there any objections?" I questioned.
"Why should we consent to this?" Came the voice of an angry Uruk.
"Who said that?" I questioned, all the others pointed to the Uruk who spoke. "Come here."
He followed my order standing at the base of my ledge, he glared up at me. A sick smile crossed my face, within a second the sword that had hung on my left hip was in my right hand. The head of the Uruk rolled from the body, my draw had resulted in the slice across the neck of the Uruk. As the head hit the floor, every Uruk stopped every noise that they were making.
"You will consent to this order, because otherwise, your heads will suffer a permanent separation from your bodies." I shouted at them. "Now, if there are no more questions. We will begin."
I spent the rest of the evening before dinner setting up the gladiator battles with the Uruk-hai. Sure, I was giving them more training, but I was also cutting down their numbers drastically. By supper time, there were already ten dead Uruks. I cleaned my sword off before leaving the training field and ordered and Orc that passed by me on my way upstairs, to bring my dinner to my room, as well as to ensure that I had a bath drawn. I stopped by Saruman's study on my way back to my room. I knocked on the door, planning on reporting the "progress" to him.
"Enter." His voice rang out.
I swung the door open and stood just within the door, not planning on staying very long. He looked up and his voice showed some contentment at seeing it was me. My own face remained emotionless.
"Ten of your Uruks have proved they are rudimentarily battle ready. They would likely be able to take down at least one soldier before they fell. Not including archers." I told him.
"Good, and you will have many rounds of this training?" he questioned.
"Yes, your troops will be strong and battle ready soon. In other news, since Wormtongue has already reached us, the people of Rohan will be heading to Helm's Deep shortly. You will want to send your Warg Riders out to attack while they are traveling." I told him.
He nodded his head, thinking for a moment. Then he apparently decided upon his plan.
"Tomorrow morning, you will use the palantir to communicate with Sauron. After all, you are part of this partnership now." He smirked evilly.
"Gladly, it will be an honor to speak with Sauron." I stated, my own dark smile appearing.
"You are dismissed, I will see you in the morning."
With that I left Saruman behind and returned to my chambers. When I entered there was a tray of food set out on the vanity and glancing into the bathroom, I saw that there was a steaming bath waiting for me. I stripped off the black gown and corset, climbing into the tub. It wasn't sunken into the ground as the baths were in the elven kingdoms, but it was nice and relaxing. There was only plain, unscented soap but I scrubbed my skin of the blood that had been sprayed on my over the evening. I dressed in the black nightgown that had been placed on the chair in the bathroom. It had a black lacy dressing gown to go with it, I was beginning to wonder how Saruman was ever white, as everything was black. Maybe everything in his chambers was white, but I wasn't planning on pondering this anymore.
I ate the food left out for me, it was actually really good. I guess it wasn't the sort of food that was served to the troops, but more to Saruman personally. After my meal, I retired to the bed, wanting to gain some more rest if I was going to have to hide parts of my mind from Sauron in the morning.
***Saffy's POV***
It was early morning. Today, once again we were packing up everything that was essential for the trip to Helm's Deep. And tomorrow we would be heading out on the road, for our two day journey to the mountain keep. I was spending the day with Eowyn once more, as we had packed up most of what the court would need the previous night, it was sad that so many beautiful things would have to be left abandoned because of the war. But that was just the cost of survival it seemed. Today though, Eowyn and I were packing up her personal things. Occasionally someone would come and ask Eowyn about something to do before we left the capital. She was always patient with the people, though I could tell by lunch time that she was tired of being the go to person. We talked for most of the morning and were getting to know one another rather well.
"So where is this Deirdre that you have been talking so much about?" Eowyn asked me as we continued to pack up her things.
It hadn't taken long for us to complete packing up her things, and now we were folding linens and organizing food.
"In Isenguard." I stated, knowing that this would not sit well with Eowyn.
"Isenguard?" Eowyn questioned with an angry undertone.
"When we were abducted by Uruk-hai, she had an arrow embedded in her shoulder. They left it there for three days before she regained consciousness. She opted to go ahead to Isenguard so that maybe she could get the wound taken care of." I said, avoiding that both DiDi and I knew what was going to happen.
"But how did you escape then?"
"Your brother actually. He and his men came and attacked the Uruk-hai who had taken us hostage." I explained.
Eowyn smiled a little at hearing that her brother was still helping people, even though he had been sent away. We continued our work for a little longer in silence, until once more Eowyn broke the silence.
"Saffron, pardon me if I am being forward, but are you and Aragorn courting?" she asked me.
"Why would you ask that?" I responded.
"Well, when you arrived in Edoras I couldn't help notice that you were riding with him." She said with a blush, it was becoming obvious that she had a crush on Aragorn.
"No, we are not courting. He was just the only other option to ride with. I'm actually courting an elf of Lothlorien." I admitted. Not disclosing Nimiwen's gender, as I was sure that homosexuality, or in my case bisexuality, was not entirely socially acceptable.
"Yet you are traveling with other men?" she asked.
"Well, I met the elf that I am courting on the journey. And I wasn't going to stop my journey because I began courtship. Besides, then I would have left DiDi alone."
"You are very close, aren't you? You and Deirdre?" she questioned.
"She's been my best friend for years now. She's the reason that I'm here really." I explained.
"Would you like to come with me to the stables? There is still much to be done there."
"I would love to."
We both headed out to the stables. There was chaos with all the horses, as the guards were all trying to get a different horse to do a different thing. Eowyn led me into the stall of her horse and we began tending to her horse. There was a lot of neighing and various noises as we worked in the stables. Both Eowyn and I had begun prepping saddles for the journey.
To one side of the stall we stood near, was a horse that was attempting to break the ropes holding him to the guards attempting to restrain him. Aragorn began to approach the rearing horse.
"That horse if half mad, my lord. There's nothing you can do. Leave him." One of the guards in the stable called to Aragorn, but his warning was ignored.
"Fæste, stille nú, fæste, stille nú. Lac is drefed, gefrægon." Fast, be quite now, fast, be quiet now. A battle is stirred up, they heard. Aragorn spoke, attempting to use elvish to calm the horse down.
The horse began to relax as Aragorn spoke to him in elvish. Aragorn took one of the ropes from the other men and soothed the horse. By the time that he had finished speaking, the horse had calmed and Aragorn was stroking the neck of the horse.
"Hwæt nemnað ðe? Hm? Hwæt nemnað ðe?" What is your name? Hm? What is your name? Aragorn continued murmuring elvish to the horse.
"His name is Brego. He was my cousin's horse." Eowyn told him, she had looked over and watched his interaction with Brego.
"Brego. Din nama is cynglic." Brego. Your name is kingly. Aragorn continued speaking elvish and soothing the horse. "Man le trasta, Brego? Man cenich?" What troubles you, Brego? What did you see?
By now, Eowyn had abandoned her work and approached Aragorn and her late cousin's horse. Aragorn was more focused upon the horse than he was on Eowyn.
"I have heard of the magic of Elves. But I did not look for it in a Ranger from the North. You speak as though you were one of their own." Eowyn stated, surprised.
"I was raised in Rivendell… for a time. Turn this fellow free. He's seen enough of war." Aragorn stated and then left the stables, leaving the rope that held Brego's bridle in Eowyn's hand.
Eowyn took Brego outside, unfastening his bridle. When Eowyn returned inside the stables, she was alone, having let Brego free. Eowyn came back over and we finished our work in the stables rather quickly. The only place left to do work right now was in the main room of the Golden Hall. There were people removing chests, and Eowyn immediately began sorting through a chest. She occasionally gave me something to fold and I placed several things in various piles on the nearby table. Though Eowyn got distracted when she found a sword in one of the chests, she began going through the motions of a sword fight. Until she brought her sword down after a turn and her blade was blocked by a small knife.
Aragorn was holding the knife, keeping the blade from striking him in the face. I decided that maybe I should let this play out, so I just sat back and watched the interaction.
"You have some skill with a blade." He commented.
Eowyn spun around, disengaging her sword from his knife. She re-sheathed the sword and put it back in the chest.
"Women of this country learned long ago: Those without swords can still die upon them. I fear neither pain nor death." Eowyn stated, she remained turned away from him.
"What do you fear, my lady?" he questioned curiously.
"A cage." She told him simply. "To stay behind bars until use and old and age accept them. And all chance of valor has gone beyond recall or desire."
"You're a daughter of king, a shield-maiden of Rohan. I do not think that would be your fate." He stated, he turned around and walked away.
"I wouldn't exactly call that working." I teased Eowyn. She blushed furiously.
Obviously she was embarrassed by what had transpired between her and Aragorn. I hoped that she didn't plan on a relationship forming between them, as Arwen was going to come back. I shook my head. She returned to her work, her fingers lingering over the sword once more.
"I understand, you know." I told her, to which she looked shocked. "Aragorn taught me how to fight."
"So you have fought in a battle?" she questioned curiously.
"Yes, a couple now." I told her, thinking back on the three battles that I had been in.
"So you have killed before?" she asked me, she was very curious about this whole thing.
"Some Orcs and some Uruk-hai." I told her.
She nodded her head, thinking about what I had said. We finished working for the rest of the day talking about all sorts of light things. I retired that night rather early, knowing that I was going to have to wake up early for the journey to Helm's Deep.
**Deirdre's POV**
My eyes fluttered open when I heard the pounding on my door. I didn't really want to get out of the bed, but I couldn't stay in my room all day. There was a lot that I had to do today.
"Mistress Deirdre." The voice of an Uruk came through my door. "Master Saruman wants you to see him as soon as possible."
"Very well." I called back in my dominating voice.
I slipped out of bed, stretching my back and yawning. There was once again a black dress laid out for me in the bathroom, but there was no bath. Instead a basin of water was set on the vanity. I washed my face in the water and brushed out my hair. When I was dressed and had eaten the food that was left for me once more, I headed to Saruman's study. Every Orc and Uruk that I passed on the way averted eye contact and paused when I passed them. I suppose it had gotten around that I was now giving orders and that they were to be followed.
I opened the door to Saruman's study without knocking again. He didn't seem perturbed to see me. He was sitting behind his desk, but when I walked in, he rose from his seat. He opened a door on the side of his study, leading into a great chamber with a pedestal in the center of the room. There was a round shape covered with a cloth. He walked to the pedestal and pulled the cover off.
"In order to look into the palantir and communicate with Sauron, you need only touch the palantir." He said, I moved forward toward the palantir. "I will leave you now."
I barely contained a frown of confusion when he said this, but it would have blown my act if I lost my cool now. He shut the door behind me, leaving me in the almost entirely empty room.
I moved forward and my hand hovered hesitantly over the palantir, as much as I didn't want to touch it, I knew that I had to. I took a deep breath and cleared my mind of every thought possible, taking particular care not to think of the lies that I had been telling Sauron and the truth that I wasn't planning on telling.
My hand descended upon the palantir, making contact with the cold stone. My eyes shot open, but I wasn't seeing the room that was around me anymore. I was standing on the top of the dark tower, but there was no eye here. Instead there was only a man in dark armor. It was the same armor that I had seen in the movie where it looked back on Isildur taking the ring.
"Hello, Deirdre." The armored man said.
"You must be Sauron." I stated, with a slight nod of my head.
"That I am. And you are the little elf that is helping our side now. I must say that I was unsure of your loyalty to begin with. But you seem to have earned the trust of Saruman." He stated.
"I am glad to hear it." I said, not really sound to happy. "Was there a specific reason that you wanted to speak with me?"
"Saruman's use will soon run out, do you not agree?" The figure circled around me.
I stood in the center of the tower, watching as the armored man stalked around me. My head remained high, which I was rather proud of, as I was circled like prey.
"He is useful until the fall of Rohan." I stated, not exactly sure if I should be going along with what Sauron was saying or not.
"But after that, he will just be another that wants power." Sauron continued circling me. I was beginning to think that he was studying me for weaknesses. "You however, will still have purpose."
Sauron stood behind me, his words ghosting past my ear. I had to work to suppress the revulsion flowing through me. He didn't notice at all.
"After Saruman sends his army to lay siege to Rohan, his life will end. And you will come to me in Mordor. Your knowledge of the future will be most valuable." Sauron whispered lowly in my ear.
"Are you sure that this is your wish, my liege?" I questioned, not wanting to sign on to this too early. "Saruman will still have some power."
"His power will be spent. Once Rohan has fallen, I will have no need of him." He ground out, irritated that I would question his orders.
"Very well, lord Sauron. Forgive me for ensuring that this was your wish." I stated, I took on a slightly apologetic tone, but there was still that undertone of strength.
His gauntlets traced my bared shoulder. Leave it to Saruman to provide me with an off the shoulder dress. I refrained from wincing as the sharp tip of his gauntlets scraped across my skin. He stayed behind me, making me a little nervous. I did not look behind me to face him though.
"When this is through, and I have control of Middle Earth. If you have proven your loyalty, you will be my queen. And rule Middle Earth by my side, with an iron fist." He declared, his voice authoritative.
"As you wish, my liege." I responded, covering the fear that was bubbling within me.
"Good," I could hear the dark smile in his voice, "You are dismissed, return to Saruman and tell him to come and speak to me."
I nodded my head, then suddenly I was released from the palantir. I hadn't realized how tight a hold on my mind it had had, but to have created an entirely different scene for me to be in must have shown how strong the connection was. I took a deep breath, feeling as though there was an iron band around my chest. I took a few more deep breaths, then steadied myself and walked over to the door. I swung it open and walked back into Saruman's study. He was sitting in the chair behind his desk. When I walked in he glanced over at me.
"Sauron requested you to speak with him." I stated flatly.
"Very well, you will go and work with the army once more. Report back here when you are finished for the day." He dismissed, to which I nodded and left.
I walked back down to the underground labyrinth, which housed the thousands of Uruk-hai. I found a new unit to work with today, and quickly set to work shrinking Saruman's army.
***End Chapter 19***
Alright there it is. Read and Review. :D