The Tenth Ringwraith: a Sauron x Bilbo

Judgment

The cheering was deafening as the four main prisoners of war were dragged by their Nazgûl captors through the streets of Barad-dûr, their humiliation being celebrated by not orcs but Men.

"Death to the Alliance!" The crowd jeered, throwing handfuls of dust and volcanic rocks at the chained prisoners

"Glory to Lord Sauron!" Several added, or variations of it like, "Praise to Lord Sauron!"

By the time they were dragged into Sauron's Tower and subsequently into his throne room, their faces, hair and clothing were filthy and they were bleeding from where the rocks had hit skin.

Despite the fact that it was sundown -or it would have been, if Mordor was exposed to the sky-, the throne room was impossibly dark with only the glow cast by Mount Doom and the few lanterns illuminating the room.

The Dark Lord sat on his throne, clad in simple black robes with ornate golden embroidery, a black spiked crown atop his head of long silvery blond hair, and the One Ring glimmering on a half-missing finger.

"You will not win, Sauron, faithless and accursed. You shall soon join your master in the Void." The Grey Wizard proclaimed before the other maia could say any of his evil

Sauron just smirked, a wicked thing that sent chills down the spine of all that saw it, his voice reverberating through the room, "I serve no one."

He was not lying, Gandalf quickly realized, there was no bond connecting him to either his first master -Aulё, the Great Smith- nor to the Great Foe, Morgoth.

A maiar with no master was an impossibility, they were made to serve the valar.

But, the Istari was also reminded of the time immediately after the Ainulindalë when the maiar had all chosen their masters, of how there had been a small crowd surrounding Mairon to try to bind to him who thought he was the weakest of the valar when he was actually the mightiest of the maiar.

"And I will not be defeated." The blond maia added, holding out his left hand

Nenya, Vilya, and Narya were ripped from the hands of Galadriel, Elrond and Gandalf, landing in Sauron's awaiting palm.

The previously uncorrupted Rings of Power, the rings Celebrimbor had died to keep from the maia, quickly fell under his sway and glowed orange momentarily.

Galadriel tried to get free of the chain that held her, "The rest of the White Council will defeat you!"

"I doubt that." The Dark Lord cackled, "The Blue Wizards are dead, have been for centuries, the people of Rhûn were quite vicious at their suggestion that they stop their worship of me."

Gandalf knew that to be plausible, when he had gone to Rhûn to try the same, he had seen firsthand how protective the Easterlings were of their idols of Sauron, how their marriages and conquests were all done in his name, how you could seldom go an hour without hearing of the Dark Lord with how deeply devout they were; and it would explain why no one had heard from Morinehtar and Rómestámo since they set out on their quest.

Sauron continued, "The Brown Wizard was eaten by trolls in his forests; and the White Wizard is my pawn. So please, enlighten me as to who is coming to defeat me?"

With the rest of the wizards gone and the One Ring amplifying the Dark Lord's already immense power it truly would take the Host of Valinor to defeat him -which Gandalf knew was not going to happen, King Manwë had declared the sending of the Istari the last help the valar was offering Middle Earth until the Dagor Dagorath.

When he got no answer, the victorious maia looked instead to the Witch King, "You have done well, as reward I leave the elves to you to dispose of however you please. For the Man, have the pillory assembled in the courtyard for the people to amuse themselves with."

"You are most generous, my Lord." The Lord of the Nazgûl replied, rising from where she knelt, "What of the wizard?"

"Put him in the dungeon." Sauron answered, leaving the fate he planned vague

***

In all honesty, death was not a terrifying concept to the elves as they knew exactly what happened to them upon it: their fëa would be transported to Mandos' Halls where they would heal and eventually be rebodied to continue life in Valinor.

So Galadriel and Elrond knew that whatever was done to them was temporary and that they would be joining their families in Valinor soon enough.

But for Éowyn, it was her introduction to torture and her new siblings guided her way.

***

As Aragorn was dragged from the throne room by a human guard, he tried his best to convince the guard to free him, offering to help him back to wherever he was from originally.

"I was born in Mordor." The guard replied, "My father was from Gondor and my mother from Rhûn. This is my home."

Sauron's Will had been swiftly obeyed, because by time Aragorn was taken to the main plaza of Barad-dûr the pillory was already assembled on a small wooden platform.

Aragorn tried again desperately, "Please, you would be a hero if you help me, the free lands will fall without what I know."

"Lord Sauron takes care of us here." The guard refused again, "My father often said it is better here than under the Steward's rule in Gondor."

"Not Gondor then, but the other kingdoms are good rulers. Rohan is a good place." Aragorn tried for his final attempt as he was forced onto the platform

The guard just shook his head, "The Lord's Consort is kind. One of my earliest memories is the day of the Lord's marriage, Consort Bilbo visited the school I attended and brought us sweets to celebrate. I still remember the taste of the rosewater cookies."

As the pillory locked on Aragorn's limbs, his eyes widened as he realized that the hobbit he had briefly met was his enemy's spouse and therefore the ultimate tool to force Sauron to negotiate.

He did not have long to ponder that thought, as a line formed for opportunities to throw things at him or otherwise harm him.

Unlike the elves, Men did not know where they went after death, not even Mandos himself was sure, but all that was known was that they left the Arda -hence why they were regarded as Guests to Middle Earth.