Do not hope! Aragorn admonishes himself. The wait now will be as nothing to what has gone before.

Gondor’s king, but Arnor still in disarray. He must earn the Sceptre before he has the right to Arwen’ s hand.

The crowd cheers, sound swelling as the concourse of elves draws near. He could not demand of the messengers, “Does Elrond carry a sceptre?”

Only Arwen claims his attention as Elrond leads her forward. A moment passes before Aragorn realises the warmth of his love’s hand is balanced by the cool smoothness of the rod.

“I am not so cruel,” Elrond whispers.