There is no darkness here; I feel it in the sun-warmed air and hear it from these fair, green trees. No Shadow overwhelms this land, no close menace binds these Elves. Yet still a chill prickles over me and I draw my cloak closer as I watch the Bruinen flow, clear and laughing. I carry the darkness within me, a shadow of guilt and shame. Aragorn’s reproaches burned no more than my own – and no excuse, no justification can quench these. We have indeed failed – and now, in this council on the edge of the world, I have darkened hope.