IN THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY
Early morning of November 12, 3019

Note: PG-13 as always, but slightly mature content.

Lilandra portrayed by FreeFall
Narrator and Vartang portrayed by Wraith

LILANDRA

Lilandra's eyes are slightly rolled back in her head. Her toes scrape along the floor as the two orcs who escort from the torture chamber, support her weight with tightly clenched hands and lead her on a way she does not see clearly through her eyes. She is blinded by pain of all sorts. The words they speak, both known to her ears and not, are just muffled sounds in her ears. Every move her body makes hurts so badly and she longs for relief. Every thought her mind thinks hurts even more and she craves relief. But relief lies only in the arms of her husband....and this she was to be without...and the duration of his absence, a time that was unknown, gripped her heart like an angry, iron fist and the knife that stabbed through the suffering, throbbing heart, was the unknown fate of the life that grew inside her belly. Winces from the pain of her wounds and moans at the thought...if it still does grow.

The sound that takes her from thought is that of the unlocking bolt and creaking of the door to a room she was demanded to stay in. Nervous chills running over her as she is dragged inside...a cell to her...a place of unknown future horror.

She grows stiff with fright, trembling as she feels the cloak removed from her body and feels the draft on her bare, wounded skin. She shuts her eyes tightly and places her hands over her stomach, pressing her lips together which are stained with dry blood, and bracing for whatever might come. She tries to remain standing..forcing her legs to have strength and tries even harder to block their words from her ears. She gasps and her body jolts a bit when she feels their hands upon her and a cold salve which turns warm on her skin. Her jaw tightens at their comments, deep laughs, and their delight in the paths of the wounds they have to treat. She feels so ill and never lets her hands off of her stomach. She can smell their filth mixed with the smell of the salve on the hand that smoothes the ointment on her face. Then finally, after their roaming hands completed the task of covering her wounds she feels the cloak slipped back over her. She opens her eyes at last and takes the material and wraps it tightly around her body. She hears them say something about orc draught but cannot make it out.

They near the door and look back to her with lecherous eyes. "Sleep well...pretty." They laugh and open the door and exit and their laughter is heard in the halls until it fades with distance. She stands there...like a statue with wide eyes then finally exhales into a waling sob of mental anguish. She sees Aldir's face as he was being dragged away from her..and possibly out of her life forever. She balled the material up in her fists and thought of their child. She had never dreamed she would be telling him of their creation in a torture chamber while they both dripped blood. His eyes were so angry and sad. She never sensed more infuriated agony from him ever. He will be suffering as much as she would. The grim thoughts filled her mind that her unborn baby was dead within her..for how could it survive all of this stress. She cried out but tried to stifle it with a hand over her mouth.

She moved over to a wall for support for she felt she would double over..it hurt to lean against it on her back, so she rests against it on her arm..her head fall to it for support as well. She was so scared that this was only the beginning to a sentence of undetermined time. Anxiety for the inevitable arrival of Vartang. She cared only for the life of her husband and child.....the baby... Lilandra wept as she stood there...her legs bending...so weak...mind racing...Aldir...Aldir....seeing his face and trying so hard to picture him with a smile to ease her. But there would be no ease...there would not be smiles adorning their face for a long time to come....if ever again.

***

Vartang: *Down the hall, the sounds of heavy boots are heard coming closer. A coarse laugh is heard and then quiet. The door opens and into the room comes Maugoth Vartang*
Lilandra: * At the sound of the laugh...her whole body froze...all but her heart...which pounded...and faster and more painfully as he entered*
Vartang: *He turns back to his bodyguard* Lads, when I have need of you, I will summon you
Vartang: *He waits until the door closes behind him before speaking* Good evening, madame
Lilandra: *she grabbed the cloak in clutching fists and pulled it as tightly around her as she could though it hurt her wounds and her head nodded unsteadily...the only response she could give*
Vartang: *As he walks towards her he says* Madame, there is no need for false modesty, for there is little of you I have not seen already
Lilandra: *she tries hard to find her voice..though she knows she should probably keep quiet. She does not humor him with words more about his comment..for she knows his delight in wise retort..and oddly... slipping from her mouth was just* Aldir.... is...what are you going to do to him... what are they doing to him?
Vartang: *He walks over to her* Your husband, Aldir... things could go either very bad for him, or perhaps, they can go not too unpleasant *he says and smiles*
Lilandra: *She thinks of the burning fury of Aldir in this situation and trembles at the thought that things will probably go very badly*
Lilandra: *she knows there is not a shred of decency or sympathy in Vartang but tears slide down her cheeks* Vartang....my child
Vartang: Lilandra.... that is your name, a most lovely name it is. Your child is safe.... And I know that you would do nothing to harm the Gondorian's pup, now, would you?
Lilandra: *a small, sad cry escapes her lips on an agonized exhale* no
Vartang: Certainly *he says, smiling, his voice pleased with the power he knows he holds over her and her husband* you would not. I know that
Lilandra: *her anger, for now, is overrun by fear...fear for herself and baby and for Aldir*
Vartang: Neither your unborn child nor your husband need to be hurt, madame, not at all *he moves closer to her*
Lilandra: *her lower lip quivers..and her puffy eyelids close on his approach*
Vartang: Your wounds, they have been tended.... Nothing more will happen to you
Lilandra: *her eyes open and she looks over his face..reading his features*
Vartang: Do not be afraid, Lilandra, I will not touch you. Your husband has told me all I needed to know
Lilandra: i...*she was going to say.."i don't believe you" but she chose not to...and she only nods. above her suffering she still must be smart.. for her....family*
Vartang: Lilandra, I chose you and your husband long before you ever reached the slave market, but I did not chose the pair of you entirely for your husband, though he is strong. My agents who told me of you and your husband told me you were a woman that was exceedingly fair, and when I saw you myself, I concurred with their estimate
Lilandra: *she tries hard to tame her shivering*
Vartang: A few words with you, Lilandra, and I will leave you be tonight, so stop your fears
Lilandra: *she lifts her chin and nods* all right *though fear still raced through ever corner of her mind*
Vartang: I will even let you sleep in my bed and think what a high honor that is to sleep in the bed of the steward of Forogondor *he says and grins*
Lilandra: *she bites her tongue..constantly reminding herself to not answer him back* Vartang...my wounds...they are very bad... i mean....my lord *she tenses a minute*
Vartang: Then, Lilandra, you must let me look at them
Lilandra: *she sucks in a breath* the orcs already tended to them
Vartang: But I would be assured for myself that they have tended them well, and you can relinquish that bloody cloak later, for I am sending serving women in to care for you
Lilandra: *her mind threw warning and fear throughout her and made her shake even more*
Vartang: Aye, Lilandra, you will receive very good care here, so let your mind be settled in that
Vartang: Let me look *he says as he stands in front of her*
Lilandra: *she knew he will do what he will anyway....her only concern was acting in the best manner...thinking wisely to receive the least amount of punishment that she knows he and others would give. oh how she wanted to challenge him!*
Vartang: *he puts his hands on the flaps of her cloak* Madame, I want to see for myself the severity of your wounds and their treatment *His eyes gleam as he looks at her*
Lilandra: *she hesitantly eases her grip on the material...her face and body like stone*
Vartang: *Gripping the flaps of the cloak, he violently pulls the cloak open*
Lilandra: *she gasps deeply and her body is jerked a bit and she shuts her eyes tightly*
Vartang: *He looks up and down her body* Aye, the orc did you some damage but I think it might heal. Such a lovely body to be marred in such a way, but madame, you and your husband brought it on yourselves
Lilandra: *again her hands moved to cover her stomach*
Vartang: *he lets loose of the cloak and watches as it slides down over her shoulders and onto the floor*
Vartang: Madame, do not fear for your unborn child *he says as he puts one hand on hers* It will be quite safe, I assure you, if... *he smiles again* If perhaps you change your manner of behavior towards me
Lilandra: *she tries to focus on the life she hopes and prays that grows inside her....trying hard to block out this horrible and cruel man's words and touch. she stares into his cold eyes*
Vartang: Madame.... Lilandra.... is being more pleasant to me such a hard thing to do? *He strokes her fingers over her stomach*
Lilandra: for what has been done to me...to us....do you not think i am being rather calm? *though it has taken everything inside of her to be so*
Vartang: Surprisingly so, for one in a situation that you are in *he says coldly*
Vartang: *His other hand goes up and touches the dried blood on her lip*
Lilandra: do my wounds and hurts bring you that much satisfaction? *her eyes spill new tears on her stained cheeks*
Vartang: Nay, madame, if it had been possible, your skin would still be perfect *He touches her cheek with his fingertips* Such a lovely face. I have wished to taste your lips for long
Lilandra: i am cold *her voice a clear indication of her pain and suffering and mental and physical exhaustion*
Vartang: Then, madame *he says stepping back from her* I might suggest you lie down on my couch. There are covers there and you will not be cold long
Lilandra: *her arms wrap around her quivering body* how long am i to stay here? tell me truthfully Var...my lord
Vartang: Until I grow tired of you, but not before *he says and laughs coldly*
Lilandra: *her head slumps forward and she feels anger rise in her..but still weighed with pain*
Vartang: Or until I am commanded to release you. When that will be, I am not sure, possibly in the spring, and surely I will not grow tired of you by then. You and your husband are slaves and he is a criminal. I can do anything I want with either of you
Lilandra: *she was hit again, hard, with the harsh reality of this all..and all hope of an early release quickly vanished with his answer. She was slapped with the seriousness of his power that he had over them in his menacing words. she felt as if she was going to fall over from her condition..and the situation*
Vartang: Madame, perhaps you do not understand, so I will make my words more clear
Lilandra: *she looks up*
Vartang: Your husband is a prisoner under my authority. I could either order him worked unmercifully.... or I could order the guards to go easier on him. The choice is yours
Vartang: I could order that he be fed nothing but moldy bread and water, or, on the other hand, I could command that he be given bread and wine mixed with water, even a piece of meat now and then
Lilandra: *her expression is marked with multiple emotions and she thinks of Aldir in his cell in the most dreadful conditions. She struggles to wipe the images from her mind* my lord....*she cries* the baby...it needs great care
Vartang: Madame, it is out of my hands *he stands there and looks at her* and it is all in yours. I can be very gentle if I want to be, or... *he laughs* I can be quite harsh, but it is my decision no longer. It is yours. Surely you will make the right decision *he chuckles*
Lilandra: *if she did not have the child within her..she would probably use her last bits of energy on lashing out at him. Then again she would still have her husband to worry about...she, at this moment, wished she was alone in life after all. but if they were all to escape this all right....perhaps there was still a chance for a life for them, but she despaired*
Lilandra: my lord *she hated to be so weak* i want to cover up
Vartang: The serving wenches will bring you suitable garments after I leave. *He takes off his cloak and drapes it around her shoulders* Now, madame, do you feel better? There are plenty more in my trunks. I have no need of this one
Lilandra: *she pulls it around her body more and nods...really she was, aside from hating to be naked before him, very cold indeed.*
Vartang: *He sighs* Madame, you might as well lie down on my bed now, for you will do so sooner or later. For here is where you will stay
Lilandra: *that sickening wave of reality washed over her again...creating the accelerated heartbeat and the slab of disgust in her throat. she moves away from him and over to the bed. she stops on the side of it and looks it over and then closes her eyes. I love you Aldir..her hands smooth over her belly*
Vartang: *He turns and looks at her* Madame, you will find me not so terrible.... if you will, forget your pride, and be nicer to me.... And I think you could be very nice to me, couldn't you? *he smiles*
Lilandra: *she looks over to Vartang*
Vartang: Surely, you can answer me, can you not? I do not want to.... use other methods
Lilandra: *Her voice is uneven* i will be....as nice as i can be *she swallows over that thick slab in her throat*
Vartang: But you should understand this and understand it perfectly. You are under my control. I find you a comely wench, and I will keep you as long as it is possible, and you will please me, Lilandra! Or your husband will suffer! But anger me, Lilandra, and you, your unborn child and your husband will suffer dearly!
Lilandra: *his threats causing her severe agony. She is so incredibly infuriated with him, but has not the energy nor effrontery to remark, protest or even glare. she moans in pain as she moves, climbing onto the bed, his threats causing her more severe agony*
Vartang: *His voice becomes more pleasant, soothing* Do you understand me now, Lilandra?
Lilandra: *she cries out in pain as she falls onto her side on the bed...every move she makes...every thought she thinks hurting so much...she wishes she could curl up into a ball... but her wounds prevent that and she has to keep her body as straight as she can...she cannot find the words nor speak over that lump in her throat...again..she can only nod in response. her love is the only thing dictating her*
Vartang: *He goes to his wardrobe, takes out another cloak and throws it around his shoulders and then stands above her and looks down at her on the bed* Then, madame, I will take your nod as your acquiescence in this matter and I will say good night to you
Lilandra: *she does not look up to his face...she does not want to see his expression...she does not want to anger and risk their safety. She, most of all does not want to amuse or please him further with a last gaze into her eyes laden with misery*
Vartang: Anything you want, any food, anything, if you wish a military doctor.... or a midwife... you have only to say it, and soon the serving maids will tend to you and bring you something to wear more pleasing to my eyes
Lilandra: *having to use sense now she answers* yes...i will need all of that
Vartang: Burz tor, madame, and perhaps you will come to enjoy me as much as I plan to enjoy you *He turns away and goes to the door and says to the bodyguards outside* I am ready to leave now
Lilandra: *she stares blankly at the wall. Overwhelmed. Spring....how was she to survive this for that long? Be without Aldir for that long. Wondering what is happening to him while she faces her own nightmare...the while trying to care for their baby.*
Vartang: *He goes through the door as it opens before him, and the door shuts softly behind him, and after a few moments, the echoing footfalls of Vartang and the guards die away and then there is silence*
Lilandra: *she places her face in her hands and the thoughts and anguish of the night...and future, play on incessantly in her pounding head until complete lassitude take over her and she falls asleep*

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