"Lady Míriel, I believe you are late as usual," said a familiar voice.

Míriel turned around in her chair where she had sat and read a book. Behind her stood a tall handsome Elf with golden hair and dark blue eyes like the bottom of an ocean. He had his usual smirk on his face while looking at her with the confidence and fearless attitude he always had. Glorfindel had once been the Lord of the House of the Golden flower in Gondolin, one of the mighty of the Firstborn. He descended from a house of princes, a Noldor he was, but now he was a part of the Elves of Rivendell.

Míriel dared not think how long Glorfindel had been alive, even before the fall of Gondolin, but it never showed on his young face. Glorfindel had once died in battle, but the Valar re-embodied him and granted him powers almost as strong as the Maiar's. He had been Míriel's salvation when she returned to Rivendell from her quest to Erebor, as he had brought some joy into her life again. Glorfindel wanted to teach Míriel to control her powers and encouraged her to be proud and not scared of her magic. Unfortunately she refused to listen to him about it.

"What could I possibly be late for now?" Míriel said and closed her book, beamed against Glorfindel.

"Aragorn and the three Hobbits that you so kindly left in the woods for me to pick up have now arrived," Glorfindel said and chuckled lightly.

"Oh, have they?" Míriel said eagerly and stood up. "I will go greet them now."

"I will have some food ready, come to the hall later!" Glorfindel yelled at her while Míriel held her skirts to run to the courtyard.

It had been a while since Míriel met Aragorn which was why she was so disappointed that she didn't have time to greet him properly when they met in the woods. There had been no time then, but now Míriel hoped they could speak more. Aragorn had visited both Rivendell and Lórien many times to see Arwen the past years, and during that time Míriel had befriended him.

To have Hobbits in Rivendell would be a pleasure as well, as Míriel had grown even more fond of the creatures since she visited the Shire once decades ago. With the Hobbits and Aragorn finally back, perhaps Míriel would uncover the mystery of their presence once and for all. There was, after all, a reason they had all come to Imladris of all places and why the Ring Wraiths had chanced them through the wild.

Míriel stopped at the top of the staircase leading down to the courtyard where she had first seen the Dwarves of Thorin Oakenshield's company, the road from the Hidden Pass. Aragorn stood tall next to the three red-headed Hobbits, all young but their faces worn and tried for they had been travelling for quite some time now. Míriel knew they were worried sick for their friend and therefore wasted no time hurrying down the steps.

"Welcome to Rivendell," Míriel said and smiled at the four guests. Aragorn bowed his head towards Míriel instantly and the three Hobbits did the same hesitantly. Míriel smiled at them and chuckled.

"It has been long lady Míriel," Aragorn said and smiled a tired smile. Since his bride was beautiful and fair at all times, Míriel was always amazed by how dirty Aragorn became when he was out in the wild. Arwen never cared, though, which was amusing since they were such opposites but at the same time seemed to fit so well.

"Time has not set its mark on you."

"But it has on you," Míriel said playfully and laughed gently. Not much for being old in human years, though, for Aragorn looked fairly young. After all, he was one of the few Dunedaín and he aged slowly.

Míriel stepped closer to Aragorn and did not care how dirty he was from the long journey. She embraced him and sent him a happy smile. "Arwen will be waiting for you."

"I will find her as soon as these Hobbits are well cared for," Aragorn said and turned to the Hobbits. "I present to you Meriadoc Brandybuck- Merry, Peregrin Took - Pippin and Samwise Gamgee - Sam. This is Lady Míriel of Lothlórien." Míriel tried to memorise their names in her head quickly and managed to do so. The most red-haired of them all was Pippin, and the one with a little lighter red hair was Merry. The Hobbit who was a little rounder with those wide, doe eyes was Sam.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, milady," Merry said and smiled. Míriel smiled back and thought them to be very polite. She was sure they were going to become good friends.

"Milady, excuse me but how is Mr Frodo?" Samwise asked carefully.

"He is being cared for by Lord Elrond," Míriel assured him and smiled gently. "He will be quite alright. But I am sure you are tired and hungry, come with me and we will see to your wounds and feed you."

The Hobbits gladly followed her to the dining hall where they found that Glorfindel had almost emptied the shelves completely in their honour. Together they sat down and ate. The Hobbits of the Shire were really nice to talk to, and Arwen and Aragorn came to join them for dinner after a while of being alone. Merry and Pippin were keen on telling the two Elf maidens and the Elf lord about their journey to Rivendell.

"Gandalf came into Frodo's house a night after we had eaten at the inn," said Sam and placed his fork onto his place to tell them the story. "I... well I was cutting his roses and overheard what they were saying. Gandalf was panicked, he said that the ring that Frodo had inherited from Mr Baggins was, in fact, the One Ring, the Ring of the Dark Lord. He said that they needed to keep the ring safe, that it couldn't stay in the Shire since Sauron's wraiths would be looking for it. So Frodo prepared himself to leave, he was going to Bree while Gandalf travelled to Orthanc to meet the leader of all the Wizards. He discovered that I heard what he said and told me to go with Frodo, so I did, and we started to make our way out of the Shire. On our way, we met Merry and Pippin, and well, we went to Bree and rested in an inn. We were supposed to meet Gandalf there, but he never came and that was where we met Strider."

"So you're telling me that Frodo has been carrying the One Ring all this way?" Míriel said and widened her eyes. She glanced at Arwen who seemed as shocked as Míriel did. When they set out to look for Frodo, they had not known what he was carrying. "And Bilbo had it for all these years? I cannot believe it, all the time I spent with him I had no idea that he was carrying the most dangerous weapon of them all!"

Míriel looked at Glorfindel who did not look the least surprised. Of course, Elrond had told him everything for he trusted him immensely. Míriel did not understand why she had not been told, if not by Lord Elrond then by Glorfindel. He was her friend, a very close friend.

"My lady Arwen, my lady Míriel," said Lindir who had shown up in the dining room. "Mithrandir has arrived and wishes to speak to you."

Gandalf the Grey did not wait for the Elves to invite him in before he trumped inside, as dirty and tired as ever. By the looks of him, it had not been an easy journey to Rivendell. They all hurried to greet him happily, especially the Hobbits who had worried about the Wizard since he did not turn up by the inn in Bree. They attacked him with questions, but it was not until he was invited to sit down and tell them everything from the beginning that the pieces started to fall together.

Gandalf confirmed that the One Ring, Sauron's ring that he had forged in secrecy so long ago, was indeed in Rivendell hanging around Frodo's neck on a golden chain. The ring had been lost long ago, but apparently Bilbo had stumbled upon it during the time that he was on the quest for Erebor. Bilbo had kept the Ring without telling anyone of its power of making him invisible, and it had slowed his age which was why he appeared so young for being an old Hobbit. When Bilbo left the Shire for Rivendell, the Ring passed onto Frodo and Gandalf had then realised that it could be the One Ring after seeing it in action, making Bilbo invisible. He travelled to Gondor to make sure and then sent Frodo on his way with Sam and left to find Saruman the White.

"I barely left Orthanc alive," Gandalf said bitterly and Míriel frowned. "It appears that Saruman has betrayed us for Sauron, he will not be our ally anymore. He locked me in his tower and tried to force me to join him, but as I refused he tortured me. I fled from there, but Saruman will not give in, he has decided which side he is on. Why he has done this, I don't know, but he knows that a Hobbit has the Ring. I told him this before I discovered that he betrayed us."

"I can't believe it," Míriel mumbled and shook her head in disbelief. Her head was spinning after all the information that Gandalf had just given them. Saruman as a traitor, someone she had once called her friend, was now a monster. Perhaps he had always been bad, or he had turned weak and given into the dark...

"You must believe it, Míriel," Aragorn said and sighed. "We all must, though we would rather not. Saruman is not our ally anymore and we cannot know how much he has revealed to our enemy already."

"He knows much," Arwen said with a worried frown on her forehead. "Sauron will benefit from having the Wizard in his grip. He will know that the Ring is in Rivendell, what if they attack us?"

"I do not see why we alone should worry about this," Gandalf said to Arwen in an attempt to calm her. "I must speak to lord Elrond and decide with him on what is to be done. There is no need for you to worry, Lady Arwen when I am certain that your father will have answers."

"I hope you are right, Mithrandir," said Arwen and sighed.

Gandalf changed the subject by starting to talk about Frodo, and Glorfindel assured that they were doing everything they could to help him. Lord Elrond himself was tending to him, and Arwen had spoken to her father and heard from his own lips that Frodo was a very strong Hobbit. It seemed that Frodo was going to be alright which came as a relief to the very worried Wizard.

Míriel tried to listen to what Gandalf was saying to Aragorn, Glorfindel and Arwen, but her mind was soon somewhere else, and she could not hear a word of what was said. The fact that her very dull life had suddenly taken a turn was something she should have been happy with, but it scared her as well. For long they had known of Sauron's existence and his return, but they had done nothing to stop him from growing in power.

It made Míriel angry to think that they listened to Saruman and ignored Gandalf's warnings just because Saruman was the leader of the White Council. Now he was a traitor and perhaps he had been ever since the time when they first came to know about the Necromancer. Either way, there was nothing that could be done now, but Míriel still had a very strange feeling that she was heading into something that could very well turn into a war.

"Are you alright, Míriel?" Glorfindel asked Míriel in a low voice. The others did not seem to have noticed her worried frown but of course, Glorfindel had. He placed his hand on her arm and looked her in the eye kindly.

"Yes," Míriel whispered and nodded. "I... I am just a little overwhelmed I assume. It is much to take in."

"Let us get some air," Glorfindel said and stood up. Míriel followed suit and excused herself from the others. When Míriel walked past Arwen, she met her cousin's eyes and her grin made Míriel uncomfortable.

Lately, Arwen had been very persistent when it came to Glorfindel and wanted Míriel to give him a chance of marriage. Míriel knew that it could never be possible though, for not only was Glorfindel and herself very different, but also nothing more than dear friends. Míriel could not forget about Legolas and knew that she would never marry anyone but him. She would rather die all alone than to betray the memory of them together.

Glorfindel led the way slowly out of the dining hall and out toward the garden by the waterfall. The night had come, and the moon was high in the sky. The breeze kissing their cheeks and blowing through their hair was slightly chilly, but it did not bother Míriel much.

"Are you frightened?" Glorfindel asked her suddenly. "About what Gandalf has said?"

"No," said Míriel and shook her head. "Not really. I'm just worried, aren't you? I just feel that it has something to do with me, I have a very strange feeling and I can't explain it."

"You shouldn't worry, Míriel," said Glorfindel and placed his hand on her shoulder. She looked him in the eye and smiled, nodded. "Whatever happens, you will have me, and I will always protect you. Even though I have immense trust in your strength, you will have me by your side no matter what."