Hi chaps, I just want to say thanks to EdorasLass for actually reading this and a massive thank-you to Leaward and Rhapsody who kicked me out my rut and convinced me it was worth posting!

Onward ficcing soldiers!


Haldir, who had lowered his bow upon seeing Legolas, now raised it again as Celeborn was shoved forward. Haldir took an automatic step backwards in disgust as the moonlight illuminated the bloodstains on Celeborn's clothes, they shone black and ugly in the pale glow.

"Send word to the Lady," Haldir ordered as another of his companions appeared.

The rest of the Fellowship had appeared at the edge of the clearing wearing variously looks of anger, fear and confusion. Legolas was speaking quickly to the two men; Aragorn's eyes had grown hard as diamond as the conversation continued. Gimli still stood with his axe hefted, ready to strike Celeborn if he should move.

Haldir struggled to concentrate on the matter at hand. His mind was in a whirl of disbelief. How could Celeborn have done this? What could have driven him to give into the ring? What would happen to Lorien without his steady, calming presence? He watched the cornered elf intensely, his hand remaining gripping his taut bowstring. He had fought alongside Celeborn many hundreds of times, defending the borders from the assaults of Dol Gulder, but never before had he seen fear in those depthless eyes. Celeborn turned sharply as Galadriel herself emerged from the trees. In her arms she carried a small dark form.

Samwise Gamgee, who until that moment had stood huddled with the other hobbits, gave a heart-wrenching cry of grief at the sight of Frodo's body. The other halflings held him back from rushing forward and eventually he ceased in his struggles and sobbed quietly on Pippin's shoulder.

The Lady paid neither him nor Celeborn any heed and instead walked slowly away from him out toward a growing gathering of elves was assembling. Her eyes were oddly focussed as if she were deep in sleep. She wept as she displayed her husband's hunting knife, still slippery with blood, before the assembly of elves. Eventually the crowd parted to allow her through and she stood facing Celeborn.

"There has been murder commited here this night," she whispered, her face white with shock. "The Ringbearer is dead."

Haldir looked from the distraught face of the Lady to Celeborn whose expression was not one of horror but of disbelief.

"So this is your plot? To frame me?"

"Husband what have you done?" Galadriel moved towards him with tears now flowing down her face. Celeborn flinched away from her touch as if stung.

"You would murder the hobbit, take the ring and have me painted black with the blame, is this it?"

"Why is it you? I had feared for myself but now it takes not me but you, my beloved. Why?"

Celeborn, who until this time had been calm, now flared with rage.

"Traitoress," he bellowed, "you would accuse me of murder?"

"It has taken even you, Celeborn the Wise," she said sadly. "The fellowship has been broken by treachery. Now we have the ring of power here and the enemy turns its face toward us. They will destroy Lorien. This is what you have done for your people Celeborn?"

She gave the merest nod and Haldir, still barely believing the evidence of his eyes, found himself seizing his Lord and holding his arms in a firm grip. But Celeborn, grandson of Elmo, Nephew to Elu Thingol and uncle to Dior Thingol was not to be held by common soldiers. With an almighty roar he wrenched free sending Haldir staggering backwards. Haldir reached desperately for his bow and was about to send an arrow to fell him when suddenly Celeborn stopped dead in his path and crashed to the ground.

Haldir watched in silent horror as Celeborn lay in the dirt and humiliation struggling against some unseen foe. Haldir tore his eyes away from the sight with great effort meaning to appeal to the Lady for help. What he saw in her eyes chilled him to his bones. They were hard and cruel and they were fixed upon the form of her husband.

It was horrifying but he could not turn away. She walked forward and held up the ring of power for all to see.

"No!" Celeborn gasped out, and at last his struggles ceased. Whatever the Lady had sought to do she had succeeded, and it had taken all the strength Celeborn possessed. He had to be dragged to his feet and once upright he sagged powerlessly in the arms of the guards that held him.

"Take him and lock him away, his mind is unbalanced pay no heed to what he tells you."


The elves that bound him did not look him in the face as they did so. There was no use in protesting his innocence and claiming that it was Galadriel who had murdered the Hobbit and taken the ring. Even before the events of the last few hours it would have made little sense to those under her protection that the Lady of the Wood might do such a thing. They were young most of them, and had not walked beneath the stars when Doriath had fallen and the Noldor had returned. They did not know that it was greed for the Silmarils which had driven the kin of Artanis to their deaths. Now he was a victim to the curse of that greed.

He heard her outside the room, speaking with the guards, dismissing them. And then she entered.

"Mell nín," She whispered, her eyes bright with sorrow. "I am sorry to see you reduced to this."

"As am I. Can you who betrayed me still call me your beloved?"

"Celeborn," She let the name hang in the air as if she struggled to find the words. "I am doing this for our people. We would have been swiftly overwhelmed by darkness if I had not taken the ring."

"You have not taken the ring," he said scornfully, "it has taken you! And it will consume you further and further until there is nothing of you left! Do you not see the folly in thinking that you command it?"

His voice had grown louder with each passing word until he shouted the last with a force of rage that surprised even him.

"Cast it away Galadriel, there is still time."

She smiled at him, as she used to do when he failed to agree to her latest pearl of wisdom.

"What has been set in motion cannot now be stopped. I will use the power of this ring to conquer Mordor and Isenguard, do you not see Celeborn?"

"Then you will destroy it I suppose?" Sarcasm ripped from his mouth, lashing out in the only way he could. The transformation his words envinced in her was frightening.

"The ring is mine," she spat, "and you desire it Celeborn of Lorien but you shall not have it. It is mine!"

Her fair form grew dark as she spoke as if she were drawing the light from the very air around her. The atmosphere crackled and sparked with jealousy and spite.

"You cannot bear to be overshadowed by me can you? That is why you want it? It is my ring and I shall not destroy it upon the command of a mere Sindar elf."

"And yet you cannot see how it consumes you already Galadriel. For what other reason would you say such things to me?" He kept his voice gentle, hoping that perhaps there was still time to reason.

She returned to herself once more, sadness radiating from her blue eyes. "I do not wish to harm you beloved and I do not say such things to hurt. Forgive my loss of control."

She moved forward to caress his cheek lightly. He could see it even then, glinting on her finger. As it brushed against his flesh it was if he had been pierced by cold and fire all at once.

"Ai, I beg of you do not touch me while you wear that!"

"If that is what you desire I shall never touch you again." She replied sourly.

"Cast the ring away before it is too late," he pleaded, "I will shoulder the blame for the Hobbit's death. I will go into exile for your sake if only you cast it off."

For one moment he saw something in her eyes that might have been his Galadriel but it vanished and her expression became cold and beautiful as diamond.

"Then you are weaker than I."