3. Rings

The door slammed shut and Halbrand bustled inside, still in his apron, cheeks flushed from the heat.

Galadriel looked up and smiled. She found few sights more enticing than her man after a day's work in the smithy.

"Change of plans!" He grabbed her around the waist and kissed her soundly on the mouth. "We leave tomorrow."

Bewildered, she pulled back. "What? Why?"

"You will see." He grinned shrewdly.

"No, I will not see because you will tell me." She gave him a stern look. "The ring is not finished yet; why would you want to leave now?"

His grin waned. "Must you know everything?"

"I must." She resisted the urge to put her hands on her hips.

"The fewer who know, the better." He glanced at the pale stone wall and lowered his voice. "The room has ears."

"It does not. Why are you so suspicious all the time?"

He shrugged. "It's how I survive."

"Well then." She took his hand. "Tell me outside."

Sighing in resignation he followed.

She led him to their favorite walk by the river, and when they were at the most secluded part she stopped, looking at him expectantly. "Well?"

"I have a new plan. A better one."

"And…?"

"We let the elves have the ring." His eyes gleamed.

"Whatever for? You put a lot of work into it; drawing the alloy together, shaping the mithril…"

"I've realized it's better to deceive than usurp." He pulled her closer, his voice becoming low and dark. "Just think of it, Galadriel. There is no way the high king would allow you or I to have the ring when it's finished, and if we try to take it by force there will be unnecessary bloodshed. But what if we…" His voice sank to a whisper, "…craft our own. In secret. A ring to control the others." He paused. "No. Make that two rings. One for us each."

It was hard to focus on his words when he stood so near and his breath tickled her ear. "How… can their ring be controlled?"

"Ours will be stronger. A ring forged in fire, alloyed with molten lava."

"Lava? You mean–"

"Yes. We must return to my land." He gave her earlobe a nip.

"What of Adar?" Sneaking her hands around him, she stroked his broad back and shoulders. His masculine scent filled her nostrils.

"I am not worried about him. With Rings… of Power… we control… him… too." He trailed light kisses down her neck in beat with his words.

She closed her eyes. "And where would we get metals for two more rings?" she murmured breathlessly, running her fingers through his hair. The loose strands were silky against her skin.

"We need gold." He pulled back. "… and of course this." A tiny clump of mithril appeared on his palm.

"You stole it?" she asked incredulously.

"Just this pebble. They won't notice." His eyes twinkled impishly. "I exchanged it with a scrap of Númenorean steel from my armor. It makes their ring slightly weaker but when they realize that it will be too late."

"And for the gold… you want my dagger?" she guessed.

He nodded.

"But I dropped it."

He nimbly produced an oblong object from a fold in his clothes. "And I picked it up."

She could not help laughing. "You thought of everything."

"Of course." He smirked. "You should have trusted me from the beginning."

"Perhaps I should." Then she pulled his face down to a kiss and they didn't speak for a long time.

oOo

Some weeks later…

The air was hot and dry, the smell nauseating. A clang of metal on metal filled the narrow shaft. Not long ago this tunnel had been used to channel water into the belly of Mount Doom, causing the eruption that had changed the Southlands forever. Now it was a makeshift smithy where Halbrand busily pounded out the alloy he had created, shaping it into rings. In the dull light of the fire his eyes gleamed red.

Galadriel left the doorway she had been guarding to get a closer look on his work. The rings appeared to be of ordinary gold, but she knew they were anything but.

"When do you think my people will understand what we have done?" she asked, feigning a calmness she didn't feel.

"As soon as we put these on," he grunted and wiped his grimy face. "When we do, the rings will be connected in the Seen and Unseen world, and the elves will feel it." He put the hammer down and picked up a file.

With the tinny sound of metal filing in her ears Galadriel returned to her post, nervously fiddling with the hem of her once elegant dress. She tried to suppress her unease, but it was difficult in this perilous hiding place right under Adar's nose, and then of course she worried over the impending treason against the high king and all elfkind. After crossing that line she could never return; nobody would understand she had done it to save the world.

"I hope this will work," she mumbled.

"It will." He held a ring up to admire its luster. "Almost done. Just needs some polishing."

oOo

They stood together at the foot of the volcano under a sky still dark with ash. The ring was cool against Galadriel's palm when she traced its simple, yet beautiful shape with her finger.

"Two rings to rule them all," Halbrand murmured, proudly regarding his own, "two rings to find them…"

"Two rings to heal the lands," Galadriel cut in, "and in the light revive them."

His brow furrowed. "That is not what I had intended."

"Then what had you intended?"

"To chain them to us."

Now it was her turn to frown. "Chain who?"

"Everyone. Adar, the orcs, the elves, the men… Even the dwarves. With the power in these rings we can control all the kings of Middle-earth. Make them our eternal servants." His gaze had grown bright and eager.

Galadriel met his eyes, looking deep into them. As if they were a mirror of his soul, she saw what he had planned – but she also saw something else. A glimpse of the future.

"No," she said, slowly shaking her head.

"It is too late to stop me now, Galadriel." He clenched his fist protectively around the ring.

"I know. And you will try to get your way, just as I will always try to get mine." Suddenly she smiled, the distress she had felt since they came here leaving her completely. "Two rings. Two wills. In the end, the world will be as it always has; not perfect, not ruined. In equilibrium."

"You…" Halbrand choked, making a grab for her ring but it was too late. She had already put the golden band on her finger.

"Two rings," she purred. "Two rings to bring darkness to light, and in perfect balance bind them."


A/N:

I normally avoid using names in conversation (such as in "just think of it, Galadriel…") because in real life most people don't speak like that. But in this case I had to make an exception; I just LOVE when Halbrand says Galadriel with a rolling R.

Galadriel… Galadriel… GALADRRRIEL. *chef's kiss*