And Ar-Pharazôn said: 'Who is the Lord of the Darkness?'

Then behind locked doors Sauron spoke to the King, and he lied, saying: 'It is he whose name is not now spoken; for the Valar have deceived you concerning him. His name is Melkor, Lord of All, Giver of Freedom, and he shall make you stronger than they.'

I breathed in the cloying, choking smoke of the stick of incense I had lit a short while before and peered at the elaborate wooden altar, kneeling on the soft carpet before it. I began the long chanting prayer Zigûr had taught me. “Lord of Darkness, hear my plea…”

When I finished, pausing to regain my breath before I started the next chant, I glanced over my shoulder at the tall, smiling man standing at the back of the dimly lit room. I trusted Zigûr now, but I could not help but somehow feel that he was laughing at me.

Zigûr is the Adûnaic name for Sauron.

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