Dark Judgement 19

Dark Judgement

Part 19 - Manwë’s Mystery

Posted: July 18, 2008

*****

I was dead, but Manwë soon put paid to that. I awoke with my neck at a strange angle, the Lord of Airs staring into my face. “He will be all right, Maglor,” he said and then looked at me. “This will be unpleasant, Sauron but unless you want Maglor to clean you, it is necessary.” He waved his hand and the soiling and vomit went into reverse. Not to put too delicate a point on it, my breakfast was once again inside my stomach and everything else that had been expelled was now back where it had come from. Manwë was correct, it was not an experience I would willingly choose but it meant that Maglor would not have to clean me. I was paralysed, unable to move even a finger and yet I did not care. I was beyond doing so. I had given up.

Manwë put his hands to the back of my neck and straightened my head. “Nienna tells me that you were extremely rude to her and callous about the fate of the elves also.” I started to protest but he told me to be quiet; throughout I was very aware that I remained paralysed from the neck down. I could feel, but all movement was beyond any capability. “Were it not for Maglor, I would throw you back into the void. You have done nothing but resist all attempts at rehabilitation.”

“That is not true, my Lord,” Maglor said. “Nienna punishes Sauron whether he has said anything or not. She says that it amuses her and then she makes me watch what she does to him.”

“What do you care,” Manwë thundered. “You snapped Sauron’s neck just now. Do we kill those we are supposed to love?”

Maglor cowered against the wall. “I did it because I love him,” he cried out in his fear. “I do not want him to suffer anymore. Even if that means I never feel his love again. Better that Sauron dies and does not exist, than for Nienna to keep hurting him.” He looked at Manwë, the fear plain on his face. “All she ever does it hurt him and it is killing me.”

“Both of you had better be telling the truth, or else I will throw you both into the void,” Manwë warned, his temper cooling with Maglor’s words. “It is a serious business of accusing a Valar, especially one whom the elves hold a deep reverence for.” He walked over to me and waved his hand over my body. I floated upwards and over towards the bed where I was placed down on the mattress. “Maglor, lay beside Sauron.”

Maglor lay beside me and I felt him hold my hand. It was a small comfort in the new despair of our lives and I welcomed it. “I am going to read both of your minds. There will be severe punishments for both of you if I find that you have lied to me. At this moment, I am prepared for you to carry on as you were before, but once I start to read your mind, it will be irreversible. Do you still want to proceed?”

“I do,” Maglor replied. I was not asked.

The Lord of Airs put his hand on Maglor’s forehead and I felt the grip of his hand loosen as he slipped into unconsciousness. “Sauron,” he asked. “Do you love Maglor?”

“Yes, my Lord,” I replied.

“Do you harbour any secret feelings for Melkor still?”

“No, my Lord, except that I hate him.”

“Hatred is very close to love,” he said as his hand moved to the top of Maglor’s head.

“Yes, my Lord.” I replied carefully in case he was trying to trick me. “I am convinced that as much as I love Maglor, I hate Melkor. They are the diametric opposites.”

“If you love Maglor, then why did you allow him to submit to my hand?” He seemed almost non-committal.

“My Lord, I do not seek to control Maglor; it would always be his choice. Also, he is telling the truth.”

“It seems that he is indeed telling the truth,” Manwë replied and took his hand away. “Wake up, Maglor.”

Maglor awoke instantly. “Is it over?” he asked.

“It is Sauron’s turn now,” Manwë said and put his hand over my forehead. I felt my eyelids closing and I was back in the void with the Lord of Airs beside me. The tentacled creatures shied away in terror as we walked along the path.

Melkor stood in the clearing, looking as stunningly beautiful as the last time I met him. My legs weakened and each step forward took a monumental effort of physical will to achieve. “Please my Lord,” I begged. “Please do not let him hurt me.”

“Look at how he whimpers,” Melkor sneered. “I will enjoy applying even more foul torments and I will not stay my hand. Look at him. How could I have ever hoped anything of such a lowly insect?”

“Be quiet,” Manwë ordered. “I will decide if he is for you or not.”

“This is my domain Manwë,” Melkor warned.

“And I can crush it in an instant,” The Lord of Airs spat back. I trembled beside him, hoping that I would not be left behind. A warm hand pressed against my forehead and I felt myself slipping into dark sleep.

When I awoke, I was in the room watching myself treating an elf; it was the time that Nienna sent me back to the void and then pulled me out again; the one where the tentacled monsters killed me and tore my body to bits. He watched as I said the innocuous reply, after she accused me of being a pervert. She hit me across the head so hard that I fell from my chair onto the floor and she stood over me like some deranged harridan roaring her displeasure at me. The scene faded and then I saw the events of today being replayed.

I was wrong in one thing. She used my mind to see the creatures and then she summoned them up from the void and they appeared for real. I had assumed that I had imagined all of it. I watched my body being abused, yet again by creatures that were as real as I was. Shaking with terror, I clung to Manwë’s arm, looking to him for protection. He looked shocked and angry and I wondered exactly what the real story was behind it all.

“Sleep,” he said and again I fell into a deep dreamless sleep. I awoke on the bed with Maglor sitting beside me.

“Are you all right?” Maglor asked me and kissed my lips. Now that I was able to move again, I turned over, passed my arms around his waist, and buried my face in his hip.

Manwë told me to look at him and so I did, albeit reluctantly. “It seems that for the first time in your life you have been telling the truth. Neither of you have lied. You are safe from being sent into the void; however, I would like to know one thing Sauron.” I looked up, allowing myself a grateful smile. “How did Nienna manage to take a creature from the void and bring it here?”

“My Lord, I do not know; maybe the creatures were formed from my memories?” I suggested.

“Not possible, it is the first thing I tried when I put you back to sleep,” he seemed troubled. “This is not good, not good at all.”

“My Lord,” Maglor said. “Thank you for saving us. You have brought an incredible lightness to our hearts.”

“My Lord, I would like to add my thanks to that of Maglor’s,” I said. It seemed the right thing to do.

“I did what was right, nothing more.” He seemed preoccupied and I wondered what was wrong. “Until we clear this up, Nienna will not be overseeing your progress, I will supervise your progression instead.”

“Thank you my Lord,” I said with relief.

I have no choice but to change and to do it wholeheartedly, as Manwë is not easily fooled; he will know if I do not. He knows that I do not repent of my actions in the past, except with Maglor; however, he does not expect me to do so. He would rather that I left it behind and committed myself to a different future.

“I have read your mind, Sauron and I believe you have given your future a great deal of thought. You value Maglor’s love so much, that you would do anything for him and you are working on mentally giving up your past as well, so that you can have a future with the one you love. You have tried and as such I am satisfied that you have moved forward.” Manwë smiled at me. “I would not have believed it possible, but I am convinced that one day, you will be as your old self, when you were innocent and Eru’s creation was still young and incorrupt; before Melkor seduced you.”

“Thank you my Lord,” I replied.

“I think that we need to put aside this recent pain and concentrate fully on the future,” Manwë told us both and then he smiled. “I have decided that tomorrow, you shall both have a day of great happiness. You are soul mates. There is no reason why you should not be married. I will leave you now and in the morning, I expect you both to have your vows ready for the ceremony.”

Maglor whooped with joy and I looked dumbstruck, I never dared to believe in the past that I would be granted any sort of permanency; surely this must mean that I would not be sent back to the void. “I do not know what to say,” I said. “Thank you my Lord, I am overwhelmed.”

Maglor threw his arms around me and kissed me hard on the lips, “We have got all we ever wanted.”

“I am not sending you back through the void, Sauron. However, if you give me cause to punish you, I can be just as fearsome as Melkor. As your master you will find that I am fair and you will not be punished unjustly.”

“Thank you, my Lord,” I said with the joy showing on my face. “We have been given a second chance, meleth,” I said to Maglor.

Manwë stood beside me and took my chin with his hand. “I am your master and that is what you will call me. You will serve no other but me and I will reward you well. Do not fail me.” Before I could answer, he disappeared.

It makes no difference to me whom I call Master and in a way, having one is a protection for both Maglor and me. It is intriguing how Nienna was able to summon a creature from the void and bypass the Door of Night. I have my suspicions but dare not voice them, not even to Maglor, in case I displease Manwë, who has saved me from the two who would do me harm.

It is a mystery and one that I do not have the means to solve. Therefore, I will put it to the back of my mind and concentrate on what I am going to say to Maglor tomorrow when we marry. That is a much happier prospect than anything my old life could offer me.

*****

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