AN: I own nothing.

***Chapter 22***

**Deirdre's POV**

My throne wasn't comfortable. I came to that realization after watching the prisoners file in before me. Never shifting or showing expression on my face. It was decidedly uncomfortable. But unfortunately, the display of power was needed.

Finally, I saw the group of my old friends led to the front of the hall, forced to kneel directly before the thrones. Aragorn and Eomer were in the middle with Legolas to one side and Saffy to the other. My eyes rested just above where their heads were, not wanting to look directly at any of them. I felt the burn in my chest when my thoughts turned to how I wished they would swear fealty so I would not need to kill them, fearing that they would resist.

"Those of you before us have each been given the choice between life and death." Sauron began, rising from his throne and gazing impassively over the gathered masses. "You shall either swear your loyalty to the realm of Mordor, or you shall die."

All the movement of the prisoners in the hall died out, making the room quiet. The thud of Sauron's metal boots against the steps sounded as thunder clashing in the mountains, as he moved down to the base of his throne. He raised his armoured hand and pointed at Aragorn, causing an orc guard to move forward and drag him a few steps forward so that he stood before Sauron and me.

"You, Aragorn son of Arathorn, will you swear to serve the kingdom of Mordor and your Lord?" Sauron questioned, his flaming eyes glaring into the rangers grey ones.

"What is your answer, ranger?" I questioned, rising from my throne and moving to stand slightly behind Sauron to his right.

Aragorn looked from Sauron to me, his eyes moving from mine to linger for a moment on my neck before flicking back to mine. There was a look of determination within his gaze, and fear filled my chest at the sight. Then suddenly, he looked away back to Sauron and his knee lowered to the floor with a soft thud.

I barely managed to contain my look of shock at seeing the heir of Isildur kneeling before Sauron. He bent his head, hands resting on his knee.

"I, Aragorn son of Arathorn, heir to the throne of Gondor, do swear fealty to the kingdom of Mordor and the Lord Sauron." His voice began the pronouncement strongly, but faded with the sound of disgust and hatred in his tone.

A bark of laughter filled the air, as it erupted from Sauron's mouth. The sound harsh against the stunned silence of the hall. A malicious smile was on Sauron's face as he looked down at the ranger.

"You have chosen wisely." Sauron stated, glee evident in his voice.

A guard came up to Aragorn again at the hand motion Sauron gave and Aragorn was led over to the side of the hall to watch if the other prisoners would swear their loyalty as well. Sauron gave a nod in the direction of Eomer, who was then pulled forward as Aragorn had been.

"Eomer, Son of Eomund, will you swear fealty to Mordor?" Sauron questioned.

There was a moment of hesitation where I was afraid that Eomer would still decline. He didn't look at me though as Aragorn had done, which I was thankful for. Then he too dropped to his knee and bowed his head.

"I, Eomer, son of Eomund. Heir to the throne of Rohan, do swear fealty to the kingdom of Mordor and Lord Sauron." He swore.

Each one of my old friends was brought to the stand before Sauron. Then each bent their knee and swore their fealty. I could feel a burden being lifted from my shoulders. Though I wasn't sure why it seemed so important, as I still felt the anger at them from before. Once my old friends finished swearing fealty, the other prisoners were brought forward. Though thankfully after the first vows, I was able to retake my seat on my throne as Sauron did the same thing.

The day wore on in that fashion, the repetition of the process was incredibly irritating. For a moment I almost thought it would be quicker to just execute the whole lot of them. Then I glanced down at the place on the floor where Gandalf had been killed. A pang of remorse struck my heart, but it burnt out turning into annoyance that there was a slight stain on the floor of the throne room where the blood had pooled.

My thoughts were interrupted when Sauron rose from his throne and turned back to me, extending his hand out. I rose and accepted his hand, then looked out at the throne room. About half of the prisoners were already cleared out and had been taken to be assigned new tasks. Sauron led the way out of the throne room, not paying any attention to the remaining prisoners. We made our way into the private dining room next door, where lunch was set out on the table. I took my seat to the right of the head while Sauron sat in his regular place at the head. The servants around us began working to place food on our plates and filling our goblets with wine.

"That went better than anticipated. I half expected those fools to reject our offer, and the throne room floor would be slightly darker." Sauron broke the silence, chuckling with dark amusement.

"I think if some of them chose death it would be less tedious." I retorted, taking a drink of my wine.

"True. I doubt that we shall have such long sessions in the future. It is much too boring." He commented, digging in to the food before him.

I gave a smirk at that before I too began eating. We sat at the table in silence for a few minutes. I finished my glass of wine and signaled the servant to pour another before Sauron broke the silence once more.

"Have you given any thought to what our esteemed new subjects will do now that they have sworn their allegiance?" He questioned.

"Obviously we will need to keep them close at hand so that they cannot spread discontent throughout the realm." I began. " I think we should utilize their skill sets. Eomer can be used for the stables, the Rohirrim are good with horses. I think that the hobbit Sam should be used for gardening. Aragorn can serve as a healer, as he has training and will not be dangerous in that role. I was thinking that Nimiwen and Saffron can serve as my handmaidens, it would take some of the strain off of Morwen. Then the other hobbits might best serve as pages."

"What of the dwarf and the elf?" Sauron asked after a moment of consideration for what I had laid before him.

"The dwarf could serve in the armory, most dwarves have at least some skill with metal work. The elf might serve well in crafting arrows, there have been many times that I have seen him repair his arrows and his knowledge of archery is impressive."

There was a moment where he stared into his goblet, analyzing all that I had just said, before he took a drink finishing off his glass.

"I think that could work. Though should they prove worthless at those tasks there are always manual labor positions we could place them in."

I gave a nod and took another drink of my wine when a knock sounded softly against the door to the private dining area. I could see Sauron's face harden as he curtly replied that they could enter. When the door opened, Morwen stepped through dropping into a curtsey.

"I apologize for the interruption, my lord. But I needed to remind my lady that she has a dress fitting for her coronation gown this afternoon. The seamstresses need the time to ensure that if any changes are needed they are done." Morwen demurred.

Sauron paused for a moment before seeming to realize that the next day would be our wedding and my coronation as queen. He gave a nod, dismissing Morwen who quickly curtseyed and left the room. "I believe that I can handle the rest of the proclamations of loyalty alone."

"Of course, my lord." I responded, giving a slight nod of my head.

I took that as my dismissal and rose from the table and left the dining room. There were still prisoners waiting in the throne room waiting to swear their allegiance and they lowered their heads when I swept through the room. I made my way up to my quarters where there were several women, who like Morwen had been in Mordor for a while, waiting with masses of fabric. There were varying different colors, along with lots of black. I think there were probably around five dresses that they had put together to try out.

The process was overly long in my opinion and I had been jabbed by needles and pins several times by the time that we actually chose the perfect dress. It had been the last one that I tried on, I think they were saving it because they knew it would be my choice. The gown was midnight blue with a black overskirt, a long train, and silver stitching.

By the time that the dress fitting was done, the sun had long since sunk below the horizon and I deemed it time to retire for the night. Tomorrow would be a long day, not only my coronation but also the wedding. I had imagined my wedding since I was a little girl, the overall image changing as the years passed, but I knew that tomorrow wouldn't be like anything that I had ever imagined. I knew that the plan was a small ceremony which would extend into my coronation. I had not even needed to write my own vows, they were presented to me that were similar to swearing fealty.

During my contemplation, Morwen had helped me undress and had brushed out my hair. I climbed under the heavy covers thinking that it would be my last night in this room. I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the anxiety.

*Dream *

I was standing on the shore of a beautiful beach; the sand was the perfect white color, soft and warm beneath my bare feet. There was a warm breeze the ruffled my hair and the white shift dress that I was wearing. I looked out over the inviting, impossibly blue waters before and a grin broke out across my face. I began running for the water, unable to wait to dive beneath its crystal surface.

The second my feet touched the water everything changed.

The cool clear water changed, turning the thick red of blood and staining my pale skin. Shocked at the change, I fell into the water feeling the warm liquid coat my skin. I struggled to pull myself from the blood ocean, dragging myself back to the sand. Only to find that the soft, white sand had changed to coarse black sand as harsh as broken glass against my skin. My flesh split in places where it touched the sand and my blood mixed with the blood from the ocean. The tree line loomed before me, the depths teeming with dark shadows.

Panic began to set into my body, my breath became short and I was barely holding in a scream when I looked back at the bloody ocean behind me. I hadn't wanted to look back, but when I felt something warm wrap its way around my ankle. I looked back finding a ripped apart form trying to drag me back into the waters. Other bodies began slithering out of the water, aiding in pulling me back.

Though their bodies were tortured and misshapen, their faces were still somewhat recognizable. Saffron was the form which had grabbed onto my ankle, Frodo was clawing at the flesh on my calf, drawing fresh blood which mingled with a wave that crashed into me. Aragorn and Eomer muscled me back into the liquid, while the other hobbits scratched at my flesh. I felt fingers wrap around my throat, nails digging in as my oxygen was cut off. I was submerged beneath the blood, the viscous liquid clogging my eyes and muffling the world.

I flailed back and forth trying to escape my captors, but failing miserably as their attacks increased with my defense. The world around me had gone dark, my senses failing so that all remained of me was sensation. Pain ripped at me from every angle, my lungs burned for oxygen.

I gasped for air, panting from the nightmare that left me riddled with terror. My hands flew to my throat where I was certain that I would feel the cuts from the hands of my captor, or the very least the blood. But there was only sweat from the fear. The images of my old friends tearing me apart and drowning me flashed every time that I closed my eyes. There was no way that I would be able to sleep after that. I stumbled from the bed, moving over to the washbasin where there was thankfully some water and I splashed it on my face. The relief was instant, though it did little to ease my mind.

I looked up from the basin, noticing that there was light streaming in from the window, that it was just past dawn. I gave a sigh.

Today was my wedding day.

**End Chapter**

I hope you all like the new chapter. I'm going to try and update on a regular basis, probably only about once a week but at least something steady. I would love to hear what you all think of the story.

So Read and Review please.

-Serrah