The nis slowly nodded, her expression one of contemplation. "I believe I should take the ring."

Elrond bit out a curse and hit his open palm with a fist. "Why do I even bother?" he griped. "Perhaps the cold of Forodwaith has frozen your senses as well."

The redhead's brows met over the bridge of her nose in an angry frown. "You might want to hold your tongue."

"You're right. I've spoken too much and all to no avail."

"You believe that Galadriel walks in the dark now," Rima riposted. "I believe we should pull her back."

"Master Cirdan said something in a similar vein. But he, too, wears the ring. How am I to listen? Galadriel's mistake may have infected him too."

"You're right. Galadriel has made many mistakes in her quest, and she should face the consequences."

Elrond nodded, but the top corners of his lips were pulled back in a sneer. "At last. Something we can-"

"As should we," she said through clenched teeth. "We are as responsible for Galadriel bringing that impostor to Eregion as she is. You, me, my company, all those who have repeatedly cast aspersions upon her. We drove her into his path."

"How?" Gone was Elrond's carefully mastered composure. The ner was bristling in offense. "All we did was implore her to sheathe her sword, to see that the war was over. If only she had listened…"

"We would have been caught unaware by the Dark Lord, or any of his acolytes who shared in his ambition. Do you think we chose peace over vengeance? No. We chose to be complacent though we were living on borrowed time. We should have known better. We may not have seen what Galadriel has seen-"

This again. "We have seen more than our fair share!"

"And yet we chose to do less than ours!"

They were now shouting at each other. Elrond's mare tossed back its head, neighing anxiously at the wind. Rima was clenching and unclenching her fists, her face red in anger.

For his part, Elrond turned away from her only to turn back around once more. He wanted for the argument to be over. Rima had already made her choice.

But for the life of him, he could not bring himself to walk away. He glared at the sky that was rapidly turning purple. Has it always been so lurid?

Meanwhile, the redhaired soldier took a deep, trembling breath and let it out in a noisy exhale. "It is understandable," she began once more, holding up a hand as though to ask him to let her finish. "We all had a need to forget the wars. To indulge in the illusion that we had won and that peace is our just reward. I count myself among the many individuals who would much rather be picking off random bands of orcs still roaming the hillsides than looking over my shoulder lest a shadow of Morgoth falls over Middle-earth yet again."

She sighed. "I did not want to be wrong. As I'm sure that Galadriel did not want to be right. But…she is. And that is not of her choosing."

Elrond clenched his jaw and shook his head obstinately.

"You're the lore master, Elrond. What was it that the lore had taught us about Morgoth, when he was known as Melkor, and how the Valar chose to punish him for his crimes against Arda long before we elves ever awakened?"

"They cast him in chains and imprisoned him for eons. You know this already, Rima."

"And was that enough? No. He did not stop. He merely bided his time. He merely changed his ways to ones more subtle and far harder to discern.

"The Valar learned that lesson at a painful cost – evil, unless vanquished completely, will always return, in one form or another. We may be less than the Valar, but Eru has given us the same means by which to learn and grow wiser. Why did we refuse to learn from them?"

"Because our reality pointed to one conclusion: that when the Valar executed Morgoth, the evil, too, was gone. All that was left was for us to clean the filth left behind – orcs and fell beasts – and less we saw of them until we saw none at all." Elrond shook his head. "We are to believe in whispers of fear but not what we see with our own eyes?"

Rima rolled her lips between her teeth before speaking again. "Morgoth spread his evil through lies and dissension, and his captains do no less. We should have known better."

"Galadriel should have as well."

"Perhaps she might have had her judgment not been questioned and her instincts ridiculed so unceasingly." Rima's face crumpled into a grimace, as though she was stepping upon sharp rocks with her bare feet. "We weakened her, Elrond."