abnormal tragedy

Chapter 35: white wizard

That morning-

For a moment Rowan stands still, awed by the light of the stars that shine down on her from behind the clouds and the dark smoke of the forges of Isengard. It is enough to forget all pain, all weariness – but then a cruel, heavy hand clenches around her shoulder and drags her forward, and she sees how far it is to the walls that encircle the wizard's home like a ring. She wants to weep when a warg rider prowls past her with a sneer, patrolling the large, open space. She's scared and it knows it.

But the orc keeps his grip on her shoulder, and she is pushed forward, well-guarded until they reach the tower of darkness where the White Wizard resides. Now, at last, she is left alone – and what harm can she do, she, a single prisoner wandering the wizard's home, with only her bare hands against Saruman?

"Come closer, Rowan sister of Aragorn heir to the throne of Gondor."

Rowan freezes, unable to tear her eyes away from where the White Wizard has appeared before her at last. It is a chamber like all the others – old books line the walls, tapestries cover dark stone, soft carpet beneath her weary feet makes her long to lie down and sleep. There is nothing about the room that seems frightening or imposing, and that is not needed. The White wizard overrules that. After the weeks of dirt and grey stone and bruised, scabbed flesh, it overwhelms all of her senses until all thoughts are gone and her awareness seems to pulsate, thoughts dimming and sharpening in time with the power that pulsates from the wizard's bright figure.

"Your own endeavour has ended in defeat, Rowan. You have ridden a long road, but have accomplished nothing. And what has it cost you? Your home. Your family. Abandon this foolish journey, Rowan. Join me in my pursuit."

Rowan laughed only managing to let a small sound escape.

There is a strange resonance to the wizard's words, as if she hears them with more senses than just her hearing. They penetrate her body easily, like rays of merciless light penetrating a hidden corner.  "It is my King who shall judge my deeds," Rowan replied, and her voice is firm, although her heart is filled with fear. "You have no King Rowan, you belong nowhere you're just a ranger." Saruman laughed causing the warg rider to laugh to before Saruman stopped it. "To your so called King, you will be just once more disappointment, another warrior who deserted and never returned. And your friends... They will think that you ran away in shame, and that you died in shame."

"Your name will be spoken in derision, and if you are remembered at all, it will be for the shame and fall of your House." Helplessly, Rowan shakes her head as if to get rid of the insidious words that fill her mind with such force, replacing all thoughts of hope and resolve. "My family will not doubt me," she says quietly, "neither will my friends."

"Will they? Your brother abandoned you. You are no Lady, Rowan. You are not even good enough for your brother to bear having you by his side as a servant. Your companions mock you to your face. He is no King and you are no Queen." She tenses at the mention of her brother. She was told if she ever came into contact with Saruman to not listen to him but it is too late, and the wizard's words are in her head, twisting and squirming as she helplessly battles against them. Like spider web, his words stick and cling and spread, until it feels as if every thought she can hold is tainted by their sweet poison.

"I am no Lady," she says at last, and as always, there is a last, hidden resort of pride at how humbly she bears the shame of Gondor. "I am no Lady," she repeats, her voice calm. "My King judges me by my deeds, and those shall always be honourable."

"Tell me everything you know about the Ring. Gandalf knew something of it, and you know Gandalf. I know the Ring was in the hands of a halfling. Where is it now? I can be very generous to those who serve me. I can give you anything you seek."

"Nothing you can offer will change the fact that I am a ranger of the North. Noble or not, my life belongs to my King regardless, and there is honour enough in that for me." Her voice only trembles a little as she pronounces this in the face of the wizard's wrath, the light that emanates from him harsh and painful in her eyes. "You can offer me nothing I desire that my King has not already given me freely."

Now Saruman's voice is violent like lightning, burning paths of painful power into her mind until Rowan falls to her knees, gripping her head with both hands as the wizard's words fill her until there is nothing left but bright cruelty and bitterest despair as she screams.

"Then we shall see how much honour you find in crawling, in weeping as you plead for mercy, in begging for a scrap of the food even my orcs refuse. We will see how much your promises to your king mean to you then, and we will see how grateful you are for a companion who has betrayed you and lied to you, a companion who cares so much about selfish revenge that he brought this down upon you. And when you lie awake at night, weeping and praying for a release that will never come, remember my offer, Rowan. Your honour and your name restored by your King. A rise to higher power than your family has ever held before. It's too late for you to save your friends and your brother, I have 10,000 Uruk-hai marching towards Helm's Deep right now. There'll be there by tonight and there's nothing you can do."

Rowan's hands are clasped over his ears in despair, but there is no way to escape the wizard's power. She then feels herself being dragged towards the balcony of Insengard. She felt the cold breeze travel up her torn blood-stained dress as she was forced to watch the tens of thousand Uruk-hai marching towards her friends.  And then the wizard is gone, and the pain in her head lessens, but the despair remains. Rowan presses her face into the carpet to block out the images, but they remain, bright and powerful and tempting against the bleak dust and blood of her imprisonment.

"ARRGGHHHH!" She screamed as tears flooded out of her eyes as she was forcefully dragged back to her cell in the deepest cell of Isengard unable to warn her friends.