Frodo walked into the council to see representatives from the different races: men, dwarves and elves. Gandalf was also there and he was relieved to see a familiar face. He looked over the other faces there and saw two other somewhat familiar faces. The male and female elf from earlier, who he saw with Strider and the other two elves. He then thought he'd ask Gandalf about the two elves once the wizard wasn't busy. He also noticed that Strider was also present.

Frodo soon found himself impatiently waiting for Gandalf to join him. The wizard was talking to the others nearby but he soon walked over to the empty chair next to the hobbit. Gandalf could sense some uneasiness in the hobbit. The wizard glanced at Frodo with a worried look. He was wondering what it was about.

"Frodo, what is wrong? You seem to have something on your mind. Is it about the ring?" the wizard wondered.

The hobbit looked up at him with curious eyes and sighed. He shook his head before looking over to where Nanaylia and Legolas were sitting nearby. The two elves were talking to each other and she nodding, as if agreeing or confirming something. The male elf placed a hand on her leg as they sat in the chairs. He looked away from her for a moment before he continued to talk.

"Gandalf, who are those two elves over there? The elf maiden and the one sitting next to her. I saw them earlier with Strider and two dark haired elves," Frodo asked him.

Gandalf looked over at the two and smiled before returning his stare to Frodo.

"That is Legolas and Nanaylia, the son and daughter of Thranduil, king of Mirkwood. The relationship between them is very close. So close that if either of their lives are threatened, watch out for the other one," Gandalf replied as he also watched them. "They will aide each other if their sibling is in need of it. They are greatly protective of each other. The two other elves you saw with them were probably Elladan and Elrohir, the twin sons of Elrond. The four of them have been friends for centuries. Strider only came into the circle later on. He's the most recent addition to their group."

"Why is she here?" Frodo wondered. "I never expected to see a woman here from any race. This is important business about the ring. How could a woman be involved in something like this?"

"I believe she is here because she requested to join her brother. I know something happened in their family a number of years ago but don't ask me about it. I do not know the entire story so I could not tell even if I wanted to," came the reply.

Frodo continued to keep an eye on the two as he listened to Elrond and placed the ring on the pedestal when asked to. He was glad to finally sit down and he continued to glance over at the two elven siblings. He could see that the elven woman was a bit uncomfortable with the presence of the ring. Everyone was when he looked around at the others.

"It is a gift. Let us use it against our enemies," a man suddenly said. "My people have protected your lands and kept them safe."

"You cannot use. None of us can. It answers to Sauron alone," came Strider's voice.

"What would a mere ranger know such matters?" wondered Boromir. "I do not know why you would know things such as these."

Nanaylia could tell her brother was upset. She watched as he suddenly climbed to his feet. She was a bit surprised by his action as she continued to watch him. She was trying not to do or say anything, just like Elrond requested of her.

"This is no mere ranger. He is Aragorn, son of Arathorn. You owe him your allegiance," Legolas replied.

Boromir looked over the elf, disbelieving on what he was hearing. He couldn't believe that the man standing before him was the heir to the throme of Gondor. The confrontation was soon ended and Legolas soon sat down when he was asked to and watched as Boromir did the same. He appeared to be very displeased as Gandalf began to talk.

"Aragorn is right. We cannot use it," the wizard said. "We will have to do something else."

"Then you have only one choice. The ring has to be destroyed," Elrond told them.

"What are we waiting for?" asked a dwarf as he jumped to his feet and grabbed an axe.

He raised it and tried to destroy the ring but the axe simply shattered. He was surprised as he looked at Elrond.

"Gimli, son of Gloin, no one here can destroy it with any craft that we here possess," Elrond told the dwarf as he looked over at Nanaylia, watching her.

The Lord of Rivendell was watching her the entire time. He could see now that one of her eyes was twitching ever so slightly. He became slightly worried as he continued on.

"It has to be destroyed in the place it was forged: Mount Doom," Elrond told him, still keeping an eye on the Mirkwood siblings.

"Then someone shall have to take it there," Gimli said in reply.

Legolas couldn't help but give a laugh in response. He couldn't believe the dwarf standing nearby. Gimli soon looked over at Legolas and growled, not even noticing Nanaylia sitting beside the elf.

"What is so funny, elf?" Gimli wondered.

"Nothing," replied Legolas.

"You're laughing at me. I know you are elf. You should laugh at yourself, you pointy-eared freak. It's amazing someone hasn't done something about the way you look," Gimli snarled back.

Legolas couldn't believe what he was hearing. He gave a deep sigh, an angry look in his eyes. He wasn't expecting what was about to happen.

The next thing he knew, Nanaylia had jumped out of her seat beside him and was storming towards the dwarf. He tried to reach for her arm but couldn't. She managed to get just out of his reach.

"Nanaylia!" cried Elrond as he stepped forward to try and stop her.

Both watched as she ran up to Gimli and grabbed him by the throat, almost strangling him. The others there climbed to their feet, prepared for anything now.

"You will die, dwarf, for saying that. No one, and I mean no one, insults my family and gets away with it," she whispered to him. "Particularly my brother."

"Nanaylia! Get away from him now!" demanded Elrond as Aragorn stood from his chair.

"Never. He insulted my brother and he will pay for it," Nanaylia replied looking up at the Lord of Rivendell.

"Get away from him Nanay. I will deal with this matter later. It is my problem to deal with, not yours. Do not worry yourself with my problems," Legolas told her quietly as he walked up behind her and placed a hand on the arm that held Gimli.

Nanaylia looked at her brother before releasing Gimli from her hold. He placed a hand over his throat and had a disbelieving on his face. He saw something appearing on the elf's arm and was curious on what it was.

"What was that on her arm?" he quietly wondered as he returned to his seat.

"Now that the incident has been taken care of, what about the ring?" Elrond said, very displeased with Nanaylia's recent actions.

"One does not simply walk into Mordor," Boromir said before explaining why.

"Have you heard nothing Lord Elrond has said?" Legolas wondered. "Something has to be done! The ring has to be destroyed once and for all before all our lands are overrun!"

"And I suppose you're the one to do it?" Gimli replied.

Nanaylia and Frodo watched as everyone began to argue about who should take the ring. She watched as Frodo stood up and offered to take the ring to Mordor himself. She also watched as her brother offer his bow to him. She couldn't believe what she was hearing as the other hobbits found their way into the council and joined the group.

Legolas glanced over at his sister and saw that she was slowly shaking her head and mouthing the word 'no'. He put on a sad face and the look on his face said that he had to go with them. She closed her eyes and placed a hand over them, not believing what she was seeing and hearing. She lifted her stare back towards her brother and saw that she was telling him something.

'I have to do this,' he mouthed to her.

She caught what he was telling her and lowered her head. She placed a hand over her eyes, trying to hold back the tears.

'Why didn't I tell him when I had the chance?' she asked herself. 'Why didn't I?'

TBC...