The Consort of Mordor: a Sauron x Bilbo

Happiness

By the end of the day, the hobbit's security detail gained one more Black Rider, this one being the newest member, Talion.

When Bilbo had questioned him, he discovered that he was a former Ranger and that he had only been in the Nine for fifty years -which meant out of all the Nazgûl he had retained most of his personality and memories.

"It is like my past is a dream and I have just woken up." Talion explained, "It will fade away as I go through the day until it is gone, just like it has with the others. We only retain our names, a few remember where they were from, that all but I were lords or kings -the Witch King remembers nothing."

Bilbo found the entire situation depressing but knew he could not blame Sauron entirely for their strife as wraiths no matter their origin forgot their lives in the end.

***

The sun seemed so bright today as Bilbo walked along the black sanded beach, occasionally his feet were splashed by the incredibly salty water of the Sea of Núrnen.

Looking to his right, towards the sea he saw Sam and Frodo playing on the nearby shore with six of the Nine watching over them -the wraiths standing as far from the waves as they could.

He then turned to his left, to where Sauron walked beside him, the hem of his grey robes drenched and his feet free of the black leather boots he typically wore.

They had not spoken since they had arrived and Bilbo had convinced him to abandon his shoes while they walked.

Time was dwindling away and the end of their year's agreement was merely three months away.

"I still do not see why all has to be perfect, personally." The hobbit said, breaking the silence, "Last time you mentioned it was because of your promise to Melkor but it did not seem like the full story."

"I have known since I first became aware that I was, that I was different than the other Ainur." Mairon explained, "When the Ainulindalë ended and we were all given our tasks, all I saw were the imperfections and when I shared my knowledge with my peers to relay to our masters to fix it, I was accused of trying to sow discord, and that everything was already perfect. No one else saw it, no one ever saw it, and I alone see it."

"I agree with you on that, that the world is imperfect, and I will trust your assessment that it never was perfect." Bilbo began, "Have you heard of kintsugi?"

"I have heard the term." The Lord of Mordor replied

"I read about it the other day, it is a traditon in some Shen tribes to repair broken ceramics with gold or silver." The hobbit said, "To highlight the flaws as beautiful and one-of-a-kind."

"Pottery and the world are vastly different contrivances." Mairon denied

Bilbo took his hand, hesitating slightly as he laced their fingers together, "I like to think they are similar concepts. The way you described the beginning, it reminded me of how artisans imagine their creations."

"The Valar have abandoned the world, all but five of the maia -excluding myself- followed them." Sauron pointed out, "I can finally make everything perfect."

"Assuming you do take over Middle Earth, what do you plan on doing? Systematically destroying everything and rebuilding it?" Bilbo asked, growing bolder, "Who would be left to enjoy that new world? Orcs would not appreciate the beauty of it, and the Men that remain would be too busy trying to rebuild to notice the perfection, would the other races even be there?"

Sauron did not reply, for he did not know the answer himself.

"Would you even be happy ruling over an empty world?" The hobbit inquired

The maia did not speak for a long time after that; he had been so obsessed with trying to accomplish his master's final request that he never stopped to think of the after.

***

That evening, after the faunts had gone to bed and Bilbo sat in the study with a cup of tea, Sauron sitting in the chair across from him -the Maia having not spoken to him in hours.

He spoke to the silent Dark Lord, trying to reel him back in with a polite conversation, "What is this spice? I found it in the kitchen cabinet, I have never seen it before but it makes a very good tea."

"It is called saffron." Mairon replied, "It comes from Harad, they sent a chest full of it in their tribute to me, as well as what they brought to the market; so you will have plenty to experiment with."

Bilbo hummed in acknowledgment, "It is very good, I wonder why I have never encountered it before?"

"It is a very expensive crop, worth double its weight in gold." The maia answered, "The little jar you have in your cupboard is several hundred flowers worth since only the stigma of the flower is used and it only has three each, as well as the fact it must be collected by hand."

The writer looked down to his teacup in shock, he had never been one to skimp on good food before in the Shire, but he had never gotten anything that luxurious.

***

For as expensive of a spice saffron was, it was almost as common as salt in the months that followed.

Bilbo had asked one of the vendors for a few recipes to try that used saffron and his favorite was a milk cake.

They all had a slice after dinner, save for the Dark Lord in attendance who never ate anything -though sometimes when something smelled particularly scrumptious he would have a single bite.

Which, of course, was very odd to a hobbit, where it was very weird to not feed people regularly.

That was actually one of the hardest parts of cooking in Barad-dûr for Bilbo, making small portions of food for just himself and now the faunts as well; back in the Shire he would always make large amounts of food and share with his neighbors that weren't as well off as him like the Gamgees.

Food was so engrained in the hobbit culture that the concept of someone just not eating was insanity, yet Sauron claimed that Maia need but a few bites of subsistence and sips of water every so often -as needed, he had said.