What Is and What Should Never Be by Kenaz

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Fanwork Notes

Written for curmudgeony for the 2015 Tolkien Secret Art Exchange on Tumblr.

Many thanks to Jaiden_S for the beta! Any remaining mistakes are my own.

Warning: Dark themes; some *canonical* non-con referenced but not graphically described.

 

Fanwork Information

Summary:

When he returned victorious from Middle-earth with Sauron as his trophy, Ar-Pharazôn kept this hostage naked, in chains, and under guard in the most remote of his cells. She had been enjoined from looking upon him then because Ar-Pharazôn mistrusted him, feared him as an asp not yet defanged. Later, still guarded but no longer in bonds, Ar-Pharazôn moved Sauron from the dungeon to a suite of unembellished rooms where he might interrogate him more conveniently, and he barred her from looking upon him then because he believed her weak and easily guiled by Sauron’s lies. Now the prisoner had been exalted, called Mairon rather than Sauron, given a seat of honor in the king’s house, and she was the one kept under guard, forbidden to look upon him because she might offend him as one of the Elendili. Ar-Pharazôn had been right the first count: whether in shackles or in silks, Mairon was not to be trusted. He had been very wrong on the second: it was not she who had been easily guiled. On the third...well, she would soon know for herself.

Major Characters: Númenóreans, Sauron, Tar-Míriel

Major Relationships:

Genre: Drama, Het, Horror

Challenges:

Rating: Adult

Warnings: Mature Themes, Sexual Content (Moderate), Violence (Graphic)
Chapters: 1 Word Count: 4, 644
Posted on 3 January 2016 Updated on 3 January 2016

This fanwork is complete.

Table of Contents

What Is and What Should Never Be

Written for curmudgeony for the 2015 Tolkien Secret Art Exchange on Tumblr.

Many thanks to Jaiden_S for the beta! Any remaining mistakes are my own.

Warning: Dark themes; some *canonical* non-con referenced but not graphically described.

 

Comments

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All righty, cross-posting from AO3 and with some additions:

Beautiful prose per usual, Kenaz, and as always is the case with your fic, I become immersed in the storybecause of it. The imagery is fabulous, very atmospheric. In particular, I thought the way Tar-Míriel perceives the temptation to power, to be the ruling queen she thinks she would have been, as well as Sauron's exploiting her desire to have a child was really well-executed. You've done a great job of taking the reader (me!) into her headspace in this tight third person narrative, and that's no small achievement.

And this bit: "The bayberry scent became brighter, more prominent. A homely smell, like the woods at dawn." Heh. Dark Muse Approved™. You know, Maiarin scent and all that. :^)

So yes, all of the above.  And replying a bit, too:

"OMG, is the bayberry actually Dark Muse Approved™?! I feel like I want to put that on a giant banner!! Did you use it somewhere and I missed it?"

Heh.  Oh, yes, approved.  The idea of a bayberry (as symbolic of illusions) fragrance is very cool, but it's a more general concept of scent associated with the Maiar that tickles me (and something I've exploited quite a bit in my fic).  Tolkien wrote this wonderful oddity in Parma Eldalamberon 17:

In QUENYA, owing to close relations of the Eldar in Valinor with the Valar and other lesser spirits of their order, fana developed a special sense. It was applied to the visible bodily forms adopted by these spirits, when they took up their abode on Earth, as the normal "raiment" of their otherwise invisible being. In these fanar they were seen and known by the Eldar, to whom glimpses of other and more awe-inspiring manifestations were seldom given. But the Elves of Valinor asserted that unclad and unveiled the Valar were perceived by some among them as lights (of different hues) which their eyes could not tolerate; whereas the Maiar were usually invisible unclad, but their presence was revealed by their fragrance.

I've run with it, so it's a lot of fun to find another "smelly" Annatar!

"Also makes one wonder in general why Sauron didn't try that method to consolidate his power (though this is a concept central to Spiced Wine's work!"

Similar, but not quite the same, to a concept that's central to my work, too. :^)

At any rate, quite a good read, and major hat's off to you for writing this - I know that this was not in your comfort zone but you carried it off with aplomb. Well done!