Leavetaking

Gilraen and her escort mount and prepare to depart. Dawn is near, but the grey mist of morning hides it.

The Master of the House has come to see them off, and she gives him her hand in farewell. "My thanks are little enough return for years of shelter, yet I offer them nonetheless."

"They are more than sufficient, Gilraen. But will you not remain?"

"There is no longer any victory it is possible for us to share, Master Elrond. In the end, one of us will lose a child. I will not stay to see who it must be."

(For Imhiriel, who wanted drabbles about "a meeting between Gilraen and Elrond, any time, any topic" for her birthday.)