Return from the Void ~Míriel

Chapter 9 ~Little Barrel Saves the Day

~~~

Characters

Melkor= Dark Lord of the Silmarillion, also known as Morgoth, is going by the name        Lord Melki

Sauron=Ancient Lieutenant of Melkor, dark lord of the Third Age, is going by the name Salir.

Omar=One of the Haradrim, a rebel captain.

Saruman=Once one of the Istari, is now a fat black pony by the name of Little Barrel

Iorwen=a maid of the Citadel, married to Amandil, watching Eldarion until his parents deem it safe.

Amandil=Guard of the Citadel, married to Iorwen.

Eldarion=son of Aragorn and Arwen, is going by the name Darion

Aragorn= Elessar, King of Gondor, Ruler of the Free World, father of Eldarion

Arwen=Elf, Queen of Gondor, mother of Eldarion

~~~

            Melkor sighed.  It was dark in his cell.  Then again, it was dark everywhere.  How had he gotten himself into this mess?

            Leaning back against the wall of the cell, he shut his eyes and began to concentrate.  In his new physical form, his powers as a dark lord were limited.  However, he could still do several things.

            The first was bringing back the bloody light.

~~~

            Sauron looked cautiously around as he let go of the rope.  When the door had flown open, he had simply climbed out the window and held onto the rope.

            “So,” he thought to himself, “with Melkor imprisoned, this means I will have to take over Arda all by myself...shame.”

            “I think not.”

            “What?!  Who said that?”

            “Sauron, my insignificant little lieutenant, did you honestly think you could control the world by yourself?  Surely not.  Therefore, I propose that you get me out of this cell!”

            “Cell?”

            “Stop that laughing!  Yes, cell.  These mortals have locked me up to put me on trial later.  I need you to convince them to set me free.”

             “What is to stop me from simply leaving you there to rot?”

            “The fact that I am in your mind.”

            “I’ll be there immediately.”

            With an exasperated sigh, Sauron headed for the Citadel.  As he did, he noticed the dark clouds rolling back, exposing the stars overhead.

 ~~~

Plop.

Plop.

Plop.

            Melkor could take it no more.  “Stop that!” he screamed at the guard in front of his cell.

            The noise ceased.  Then the guard began to whistle.

            “Stop that too!”

            The whistling stopped.  Then the guard began to hum.

            “Is it protocol to torture your prisoners?”

            The guard ceased his humming, but before he could reply, another guard approached, accompanied by—

            “Salir!” exclaimed Melkor with joy.

            “You know this man?” the first guard asked Sauron.

            Sauron looked Melkor up and down with disdain.  “Yes,” he said in a bored tone, “This is my manservant, Melki.  Prone to fits of madness...what did you say he was doing, again?” 

            The second guard chuckled.  “Wrestling with a cat, ‘e was.  And not too well, if you follow me.”

            Sauron loftily waved a hand.  “Yes, another fit.  Nothing to do for them really, you just have to wait it out.  Sadly, I cannot simply leave him here; he is a relation of mine.”

            “Really?” asked the first guard.

            “Yes...my great aunt’s cousin’s son-in-law.  I would never hear the end of it if I left him.”

            The guards glanced at each other.  “Everything seems in order,” said the second guard.

            The first guard nodded.  “Not like he was doing anything harmful...and he’s not an orc.”

            They nodded at Sauron.  “’E’s free to go.”

            Sauron bowed.  “Thank you,” he said as the first guard unlocked Melkor’s cell.

            “Come on, Melki.  We shall go back home now.  I believe that it is someone’s bedtime.”

            Sauron stifled a laugh as he heard Melkor’s barely discernable growl.  He knew he would pay for it later, but oh!  This was priceless.

~~~ 

            “Morning!” crowed Eldarion happily.

            Iorwen moaned softly and blinked her eyes.  She felt the hard floor under her and winced.  After the light had so suddenly gone out, Amandil had left to see what had happened.  She must have fallen asleep on the floor as she waited for him to return.

            She sat up, running her fingers through her tangled hair.  Eldarion was standing in front of her, still in his clothes from the previous day.  To her surprise, light was streaming in the window.

            “Morning, love,” she said, smiling at Eldarion.  “Looks like the sun decided to come out of it’s hiding, eh?”

            He grinned at her.  Iorwen stood and scooped him into her arms.  Just then, the front door opened, and in walked Amandil.  Iorwen walked over to him and planted a kiss on his cheek.

            “Well?” she asked.

            Amandil kissed her; then ruffled Eldarion’s hair.  “Well,” he replied, “’Tis the strangest thing.  The sky went black, then in the wee hours of the morning, the clouds rolled away and the stars shone out!  And now,” he gestured toward the window, “It’s as bright as if the Two Trees had decided to shine their light again!”

            “No one knows why?”

            “No one.  I met with the men in my garrison, and my captain said that even King Elessar did not know the meaning of this.  So, I the rest of the night with the men, and when it was apparent no word was forthcoming, I came home.”

            “So, what are we going to do?”

            Amandil shrugged.  “Go about the day as one normally would, I suppose.  I just came back to briefly check on you and Darion, but I must return.”

            Iorwen nodded, then turned to Eldarion.  “Let’s get you in some clean clothes, and then we’ll go to the market!”

            “You are not working at the Citadel today?” Amandil asked.

            She shook her head.  “The King and Queen gave me leave from my duties, since I am watching their son.”

            Amandil nodded.  “Farewell, my lady!” he said, bowing.

            Iorwen giggled.  “My lord,” she replied with a courtesy.

            They kissed, and Amandil left.

            “Market?” piped Eldarion.  “What is a market?”

            Iorwen shook her head.  “Your parents really have not taught you anything, have they?  Well, come on, get dressed, and you shall soon see.”

~~~

            Omar angrily stood in the marketplace as he held the reins to Little Barrel.  Lord Melki and Salir were supposed to have met him here hours ago.  He wondered if they had gone back to the inn. 

            “I will wait one more hour,” he thought to himself, “And then I shall take matters into my own hands.”

~~~

            Little Barrel, a.k.a. Saruman, was not having a good day.  After being locked up in the stables, (which had been a traumatic experience in and of itself), he had been given oats to eat.  However, oats not being particularly appetizing, he had eaten the stable boy’s rather spicy stew when his back was turned.  Unfortunately, the spicy food had given him indigestion, which in turn had, well...it is sufficient to say that none of the other horses or stable boys would come near his stall.

            After that, Omar, had come and gotten him and taken him to the marketplace.  On the way, Saruman had been forced to hear Omar’s tragic, and quite boring, life story. 

            “Omar must be desperate for company indeed, if he is talking to his pony.” He had thought wryly.

            Once they arrived at the marketplace, Saruman had been quite bored.  They had been standing there, waiting, for what must have been five hours.

            Omar turned to Saruman.  “On no!”  Saruman thought wildly, “Not another story from his childhood!  I can’t take it anymore!  Lalalalalalalala!”

            “I shall return shortly.”  Omar said, and then simply walked away.

            “Well!”  Saruman thought huffily.  “This is certainly a fine turn of events.  Just walks off and leaves me, without any care at all for—Oh, my.  Is she not the lovely one?  If I were young and handsome, well, I would have someone like that.  Ah, she has a little boy with her.  I wonder if he is her son...Hm.  Something about him seems familiar...what is it now...those eyes...Isildur’s heir!  That’s his son!  The one that Melkor the Mad and Sauron the Stupid are after!  Ha-ha!  I have found him!”

            Saruman glanced around for Omar.  He was some distance away, and it looked like he had found Melkor and Sauron. 

            “Psst.  Little boy.”

            Eldarion looked around, curious.  Iorwen was busy haggling with the woman selling turnips.

            “Psst. Over here.”

            Eldarion walked over to Saruman, eyes wide. 

            “Yes, you.  Do you like ponies?”

            Eldarion nodded.  “Yes,” he said, having gotten over his surprise of hearing a pony speak.

            “Well, if you like, I shall give you a ride on my back.”

            Eldarion’s eyes sparkled.  He glanced at Iorwen, still busy. 

            “Good boy.  Now, here,” Saruman stepped close to a pile of boxes, “Climb up of these and get onto my back.”

            Eldarion did so, with little difficulty.

            “Good.  Now, let us go this way, shall we?”  Saruman carefully began to waddle towards Melkor and Sauron. 

            “By the way, lad, what is your name?”

            “Eldarion,” the little boy chirped.

            “Lovely.”

~~~

Author’s notes: I greatly apologize to all of my readers for this very long break between updates.  I shall hopefully be updating frequently. 

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