The Dawn of the Dark Wolf (GoT Fan Fiction)

Prologue

To be able under all circumstances to practice five things constitutes perfect virtue; these five things are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness.

Confucius

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As the daughter of Brandon Stark and Ashara Dayne, Elana Stark was many things but gentle was not one of them. Even after the death of her husband, she never let herself publicly grieve for the great man she was tied to. Domeric Bolton was not like his father, a kind young man who had a thirst for knowledge and the arts. He shared that passion with his two oldest twin children, Torrhen and Sara Stark. The young children were a mix of their mother and father, the heirs to Winterfell and the North. Their youngest Cregan Bolton and Lynara Bolton were the heirs to the Dreadfort, and too young to ever remember their father.

Born in 293 AC, the five name-days old twins, were the apples of their parent's eyes. Both the opposites of each other, they balanced themselves easily in temperament and interests. The young heir, Torrhen was a wild little thing with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. He was seen either in the tiltyard starting his training or in the library pouring over different books. People would say he is a prodigy, as smart as he was when it came to his studies. Sara on the other hand was a quiet one with a love for music and the arts. She was often seen playing the lute and harp or dancing to a tune only known to her. She was a budding beauty with a heart of gold.

Cregan, born in 296 AC, was a little over a name-day old but was already showing signs of high intelligence. He started walking at eight moons old and liked to play with the puzzle toys that his mother would acquire for him every moon. Lynara was born after Domeric passed in 297 AC and it's a gamble what kind of lady she was going to turn into. For the most part, she was a quiet babe, unless something really displeased her like the appearance of her aunt-in-law Catelyn Stark née Tully. Though that caused no small amount of humor for Elana as she disliked the fish too. Ever since the woman tried to usurp her position as the Lady Paramount of the North, the two women never got along. Also, the way she taught her children was a subject of contention as she had a more realistic view of the world compared to the fairytale nonsense that the Faith of the Seven shoved down people's throats.

Elana was a follower of the Old Gods, following the religion of her ancestors and to have an upstart Southerner try to force her to make septs in the North for her did not fly well with the Northern Lords. She was quick to put a stop to the Tully woman's schemes and revoked any privileges she had as a Lady of House Stark in the North. The red-haired wench would simply be known as the wife of Lord Eddard Stark, Lord of Moat Cailan. This caused some disagreements as her uncle didn't want any conflict with his wife, but she stood her ground as much as a two name-day old toddler could. Though he was her regent and didn't have to listen to her, he respected his niece enough to rein in his wife before she made enemies with the Northern Houses.

By the time she married at fourteen, Elana had already taken the reins from her uncle and had him reside in Moat Cailan with his family. She was very well-liked by the Lords and introduced new reforms to better the lands and society as a whole. She introduced a new farming program, where it taught new farmers how to make their land more fertile for growing hardy foods in the cold North. She also produced more glasshouses to grow small amounts of grain to add to the stockpile for the winter. Cleaning up the roads was also addressed, making them more travel-friendly for traders to bring their goods to sell, as well as making new ones that connected the North more intimately than before.

All in all, she was a responsible and confident leader who cared deeply for her people and their well-being. Even leading her people during the Greyjoy Rebellion at ten name-days as her uncle was her sword, she showed her knack for strategy and leadership as they stormed Pyke to deal a finishing blow to Balon Greyjoy. Taking the young eight name-days old Theon Greyjoy as a ward, Elana gave him to her uncle to raise as he had the ability to raise a child unlike herself. During the rebellion, she came in possession of Valyrian Steel swords of House Harlaw's Nightfall and House Drumm's Red Rain and decided to gift the latter to Tywin Lannister to establish a relationship with the Western Lord. Thus starting a tense but profitable relationship between the two powers, despite her uncle's disapproval. But as the saying says, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."