In My End Is My Beginning by Lilith

The Song

B2MeM Prompt: March 15: Begin your story in the middle of an important scene and watch how it unfolds from there! For non-story responses, choose a book from your shelf, open it to the middle, and choose a sentence from the middle of the page; create a fanwork starting from that point and see what develops.

Format: ficlet
Genre: alternate universe: gender swap
Rating: General
Warnings: n/a
Characters: Mairen (Lady!Sauron), Finrod, Draugluin
Pairings: n/a

Mairen faces Finrod in song.

“Bravely done,” Mairen said lazily, clapping slowly. “A song the bards will remember.”

She carefully kept her tone cool and light, allowing the words to fall from her lips like water from an icy spring. She shifted from where she’d sat lounging in her seat, that not quite throne the elves had left, and sat a little more upright. Draugluin had roused himself when the elf had begun to sing and sat upright at her side, growling faintly. Now, once she’d spoken, he settled and rested his head on her knee. She stroked his ears and laughed as he took her wrist in his jaw, shook it slightly and then released it. 

She was more shaken than she dared to show. The boy — she supposed that he was hardly a boy, given how he’s sung, but all of them seemed to be boys to her, whether they were Elves or Men, so young and naive they were —- had indeed sung bravely and powerfully. The room seemed to know him. The stones of the tower had shaken, the casements had rattled, the foundations trembled, but they had not fallen and had not been weakened, simply moved.

He stood, breathing heavily, the strain of his song showing upon him. She watched him appraisingly. Had he enough left to challenge her? She supposed they would learn and quickly too.

She smiled at him, slowly, and watched as he gathered himself as best he was able. She stroked Draugluin’s ears and whispered, “Stay here, friend. Stay here.” Then she rose and began to walk down the steps of the dais towards her challenger.

“Well,” she said, “shall we begin?” and raised her own voice in song.