Days rolled by slowly as a new beginning came for everyone. The chance at a new life. The chance to fight for the good side. The chance to move on and leave the past behind. For Ella Snow, she was stuck in limbo. She didn't know where life would take her moving forward, but she knew she couldn't stay stuck in the past. The lone wolf suffered too much in her short life on earth, and it was time for her to do something for herself.
Three days after the Long Night, Ella found herself outside her ancestral home of Winterfell. The young girl never had time to process the new information given to her by Jon, and now it flooded her mind. Was she a Targaryen? Was she a Stark? What were her mother and father like? Her real mother and father. Would they have loved the woman she became? Would they be disgusted by her choices that led her to this point? All these thoughts swirled around Ella's head, distracting her from what was going on around her.
Piles of bodies from the Great War were collected and placed on pyres outside of Winterfell. Ella stood next to Jon and her siblings, fearful that she would lose them again. Asena and Ghost stood by their side as everyone said their final farewells. Ella was relieved when she saw Ghost and Asena survive the Long Night. Ghost was missing a huge chunk of his ear, and Asena had scratches all down her torso and back, though her injuries would heal over time.
Ella watched from the distance as everyone said their goodbyes. Sansa joined their ranks a mere moment ago, and Ella decided to say her goodbyes as well.
Tears streaked down Ella's face as she examined the pyres one by one. Faces of those she loved, Edd, Lady Lyanna Mormont, and Theon, just to name a few, caused Ella to fall apart. She never gave Edd a proper goodbye. Theon died protecting the Stark family, and Lyanna Mormont was just a child. Ella wept at the thought of losing a life so young, the life of a girl who had so much more to give to this miserable world.
Ella wiped her tears away as she bid farewell to Theon one last time. "I can never repay you for what you did for my family," Ella whispered. "Thank you for everything, Theon. And I'm so sorry that I didn't forgive you more quickly beforehand. You're a Stark through and through, Theon. I'll miss you so much."
Ella placed a kiss atop his forehead, and spun around on her heels. The small girl trudged through the snow and joined her siblings once more.
Jon stepped forward, addressing the remaining survivors of the Long Night. The lone wolf's eyes followed as Jon turned to everyone.
"We are here to say goodbye to brother and sisters. To our mothers and fathers. To our friends. Our fellow men and women who set aside their differences to fight together and die together so that others may live. Everyone in this world owes them a debt that can never be paid. It is our duty and honor to keep them alive in memory for those who come after us, and those who come after them, for as long as men draw breath. They were the shields that guarded the realms of men, and we shall never see their like again."
YOU ARE READING
Winter Winds
FantasyElla Snow and her twin brother are outsiders in the house of their father, Lord Eddard Stark. Ella has no one else in the world, except her brother Jon. Join Ella on her journey as she uncovers truths that could destroy her and those she loves.