Roswehn of Mirkwood

Andreth and Aegnor

"I think so, too. The Ring could actually be in his house." Elrond commented, after Roswehn had described her impressions about Bilbo Baggins.

It had taken her other four days to get back to Rivendell.
She had begun to wake up in the morning feeling nauseated. That was the way her child, or elfling, said to her: hey! I am here, mom!

Roswehn had initially planned to continue riding to the Far West, and visit those places she had dreamed of since childhood: the wide territory of Lindon, the Blue Mountains in the North, and then perhaps she could have reached the Mithlond, to see the Grey Havens, from which  the elven ships departed. She wanted to see the Elves' last goodbye to the Middle-earth.

But she felt sick.
Besides confusion and nausea, from time to time she forgot things she had heard or seen just a few hours before.

It was time to take her pregnancy seriously. Elrond had informed her that it would last twelve months.

"So...you too think Bilbo is hiding the One Ring?" Roswehn asked.

"For the moment, I can only suppose so, but from what you say there are good chances." Elrond admitted, stroking his chin gently with one hand. "When Mr. Baggins came here, he did not have the Ring with him yet, I would have felt its evil energy. The Hobbit might have found it in the Misty Mountains... in a cave maybe. He must have stolen it from that creature...that Gollum...as you say. " Elrond fell silent for a few moments, immersed in his thoughts. "Yes, it all makes sense."

"Then, perhaps, you should go in person to claim it from that Baggins. When I talked to him, he pretended he knew nothing, but he would not oppose your authority." the woman said.

She was sitting with Elrond on the porch that many years later would host the famous meeting that would lead to the formation of the Fellowship of the Ring .

"No. If it is there, it must stay there." the Lord of Rivendell answered.

"In the Shire ?!" Roswehn was incredulous. "How can they keep it?Hobbits are small and ... defenseless."

"Well, Sauron would never search for his Ring in a place like that, it's more secured there than in the chest of a great kingdom. Of course, if our assumptions are correct." he replied, sipping fresh water. "I do not want that Ring to be brought here, its negativity will poison the valley of Imladris."

"And what if it causes problems to the Hobbits?" the young woman asked polemically. In that moment, Elrond reminded her of Thranduil, who, over the years, had made of selfishness and "first of all the safety of my realm" two milestones of his personality and his way of understanding politics.

"Those halflings have good resistance to his malevolent energy: Bilbo should have changed his personality under the influence of the Ring, but he seemed perfectly normal to you." Elrond reflected.

"Yes. This is true." the girl admitted. "But aren't you worried that someone or something could go to the Shire and attack those halflings? A legion of Orcs, Trolls ... I don't know ... some monstrosity sent by Sauron."

"Why should they do it? No one can suppose it's there, apart from the two of us, Aragorn, Thranduil and his son Legolas, and I do not think any of those three would ever go to the Shire and take it." Elrond said.

A cold shiver shook Roswehn's body.
Thranduil did not have a personal ring of power and he felt a strong resentment towards Elrond mainly because he had one, Vilya.
To put his hands on the One, which could dominate the others, would have been an irresistible temptation ... even for the King of a population that was never tempted by anything.