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Mairon was not a being much concerned with fairness, except when it benefited him. But he could bare to play at it, both because he had his Ring back and because the little creature before him had done him a great service, however unwillingly. Mairon had ordered him and his servant spared because of that, and why not take the extra step? The halflings were quite sneaky, and could make good spies if bound to his will.
So, he smiled at the two.
“Hello, Frodo and Sam,” Mairon said warmly, crouching before them.
The two halflings had been brought to Barad-dur, and chained in a cell. Frodo, who had been quite upset at having the One Ring taken away from him, still had his hands cuffed behind his back. Sam, who had been apparently stunned by their hopeless situation, hadn’t struggled as much. He had no chains on him beyond the cuff around his ankle which chained him to the back wall, identical to the one around Frodo’s ankle.
“Stay away from Mr. Frodo,” Sam ordered shakily. Mairon chose to ignore that. He didn’t think the halfling really thought he could order Mairon and be obeyed; rather the halfling was doing the only thing he could to attempt to fend off forces beyond his comprehension, making his desires known in the vain hope that someone would respect them.
“No, Sam,” Frodo murmured. He was lying down, his head pillowed in Sam’s lap. His eyes were feverishly fixed on one of Mairon’s fingers, where the One Ring sparkled. “Don’t you see, Sam? He has the Ring. Precious… please…”
Ah, yes, the One Ring had done a number on Frodo. Just as Mairon had intended when he designed it. But the halfling was not the enemy leader Mairon had imagined when he thought of who might take his ring.
“I am sorry, Frodo, but you must know you cannot have it back,” Mairon said gently. Though he could not appear good, he could still sound it. “It is mine, for I made it, and I will not give it up.”
Frodo made a soft wailing sound and Sam glared at Mairon hatefully.
“Do not despair, little one,” Mairon cooed. “I know you miss the Ring, and I understand, so I made you a ring of your own.”
Mairon opened his hand to reveal a different ring. This one looked very similar to the One Ring, a band on pure gold without any stones. But on the inside of the ring, there was a carving that read, in Black Speech, ‘Lord of Halflings’. Sam’s eyes fixed on it and he glared suspiciously. Frodo’s eyes remained on Mairon’s Ring.
That was as expected, but Mairon made a mental note of it. He had not tested this ring on a man or elf in Frodo’s position, for there were none, but this ring would likely draw their attention, at least. He could feel it reaching out already to the wound in the halfling’s psyche. Despite that wound, the halfling’s mind was still too strong to be swayed from its focus.
“It’s not the Ring,” Frodo mumbled. “Not my precious…”
“But it is yours, unlike my Ring,” Mairon cajoled. This was probably unnecessary, but to get the best results, convincing the halfling to accept the ring would be far more effective than forcing it on him. “I promise, with this, you will not miss my Ring as much.”
Sam’s eyes sharpened and flicked up to Mairon’s face. Mairon made no reaction to that, though he smiled in his heart. If his test subject’s servant could be convinced, everything would be much easier.
“Pardon me, Mr. Dark Lord,” Sam spoke up, his tone much politer than before, “but why do you want Mr. Frodo to have that ring?”
Mairon met the little thing’s eyes.
“I greatly enjoy making and creating new objects,” Mairon launched into a sweet half-truth. “All the rings created before this one, Rings of Power both minor and major, are weapons, made to enforce the will of the wielder onto the world one way or another. This is the first made to heal the mind of its bearer. Is it any surprise that I wish to see the fruits of my labor?”
“I suppose it would be like making a wonderful potato stew that no one then eats if you didn’t give that ring away,” Sam said.
Part of Mairon wanted to make the little worm scream for the insult of comparing his beautiful art to a mere meal. The rest of him was too baffled to react or be offended – was the little creature trying to empathize with a Dark Maia, the Lord of Mordor?
“But, while I do wish for Mr. Frodo to heal,” Sam continued, “I don’t rightly see why you went to all that effort. We are your enemies, after all, aren’t we? And from what I’ve heard, you aren’t much given to niceness for the sake of it.”
An understatement if Mairon had ever heard one. Mairon suspected Sam meant that he expected never-ending torture instead of offered healing. The halfling wasn’t entirely stupid, then, since that would have been their fate if Mairon had not conceived of a use for them.
“I never offer kindness for the sake of it,” Mairon confirmed, and smiled slightly and the confusion on Sam’s face. “But rewards, I do offer. Enemies or no, willing or no, you and your master did me a great service in bringing my Ring back to me.”
“Precious,” Frodo mumbled.
“Hush, Mr. Frodo, it’ll be all right,” Sam murmured. He petted his master’s hair and then looked up to meet Mairon’s eyes again. “Please, sir, will you promise this isn’t some awful trick, like the elves would say it is?”
Mairon nearly laughed aloud at the breathtaking naivety on display. The poor thing was navigating the situation to the best of his abilities, of course. But, by Melkor, the poor thing’s best was not anywhere near good enough! Mairon would not complain about that, though. Not when it suited his purpose.
“I promise, little one, this ring will help your master, and never harm him,” Mairon swore gently and, for once, truthfully. “You have nothing to fear from this.”
Sam started at Mairon for a few heartbeats, before shifting his focus to Frodo.
“Mr. Frodo, sir,” he said softly, stroking the other halfling’s hair, “did you hear all that?”
“I am sorry,” Frodo whispered. “It is… difficult, I suppose… to focus.”
“The Lord, there, has a gift for you, a ring,” Sam reminded him. “I think you should accept it.”
“If you think so,” Frodo said trustingly, without taking his eyes off the One Ring. “But my hands… you do it for me, Sam.”
Keeping the halfling’s hands bound behind his back did make it hard for him to accept the gift, but it was necessary to curb his occasional aggression. Hopefully, after this intervention, that would change.
Sam looked up at Mairon uncertainly. If the timeline of events were as Mairon suspected, the little creature had given up the One Ring willingly after carrying it for a bit, so Mairon did not hesitate to nod and pass the new ring over.
“Put it on him,” Mairon ordered.
With a bit of distracted help from Frodo, Sam managed to put the ring on one of the other halfling’s fingers. Immediately, the little ring went to work.
First, Mairon saw the shadows shiver almost imperceptivity. Now, whenever the halfling tried to hide in a shadow, it would welcome him, protect him, and shield him from any eyes. It was not as useful as true invisibility, but with the natural quietness of halflings, that did not matter much. Frodo would be more difficult to find when spying or sneaking than any other being on Arda, for anyone besides Mairon himself.
Second, Frodo sighed and closed his eyes. When they opened, they were no longer staring at the One Ring with such feverish obsession. Already, Frodo looked much more aware.
Third, Mairon felt a new set of senses on the edge of his perception. A careless thought, and they blossomed in his awareness. He felt the hardness of the stone under Frodo’s back, Sam’s gentle hand on Frodo’s head. He saw himself from Frodo’s perspective, and Sam from below. He heard the sounds of Barad-dur from a pair of lesser ears.
Mairon smiled down at his new, unwitting pair of eyes as the Maia stood.
“Sam. Sam, I can think again,” Frodo whispered wonderingly.
“It seems that it is working even faster than I hoped,” Mairon noted.
“Thank you,” Sam said, tears in his eyes.
“Yes, thank you,” Frodo agreed. “Thank you so much.”
“My pleasure,” Mairon said honestly. “I will leave you to continue your recovery. Eventually, I will ask for an oath from both of you to not seek my ring again. If you swear that oath, I will allow you to leave Barad-dur and Mordor.”
Mairon turned and swept away. What the two halflings decided on did not bother Mairon much. He did hope that they would accept the offer and become his unwitting spies in the Councils of the Wise, but that was unnecessary. Now that the test was complete, the test subject could be reused or disposed of as Mairon saw fit. Frodo was only the prototype, after all. Now that the proof of concept was complete, it was time for production. And the rest of the minor rings he would give to hobbits would not even need the extra functionality of healing a broken mind!
If Mairon were an Incarnate, he would be salivating at the vision. An army of innocent spies, all of whom would quite literally be Mairon’s eyes and ears. He began to laugh as he observed his two halfling captives discuss their options, as he watched them through Frodo’s eyes and listened through Frodo’s ears.
All he needed now, besides more minor rings, was more halflings to give said rings to. And he knew where to find them. He made a note to send Angmar and some elite forces to the Shire. These sneaky, stealthy halflings were too valuable a resource to leave to his enemies, after all.