Ella 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.
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Ella Snow sat in the stables away far away from her family, reading her favorite novel The Dance of Dragons. Her father's wife, Lady Catelyn, scolded her earlier for tracking mud throughout the castle after her early morning ride. Ella thought it was in her best intentions to avoid the Lady of Winterfell when she was in her moods.
Lord Eddard Stark raised his children to be honorable and respectful of everyone, from peasants to highborn lords and ladies. Ella swore to always respect everyone she came across. However, the girl found it difficult to follow the guidelines her father instilled in her to Lady Catelyn. Ella admired the love Lady Stark showed for her own children, but she and her twin brother, Jon, were never shown any ounce of love by her.
Of course, Ella never expected Lady Catelyn to love her and Jon. For they were bastards, born from Ned Stark and a woman they never knew. Ever since Ella was a young child, she felt an emptiness inside, the emptiness she thought only a mother could fill. When the Stark children were sick, Lady Stark sat by their beds, until they were well. When she or Jon fell sick, they stayed next to each other. No mother to comfort them. The twins only had each other. They had the love of their half siblings, yes, but the bastards of Winterfell would never be fully accepted by Lady Catelyn.
Ella was a great beauty, skin soft and as white as snow. Blue eyes that were so pale they were almost silver a when light hit them in just the right way, which Ella always found odd. And a strong jawline she inherited from her father. Her dark brown curly hair was a stark contrast from her pale skin, but Ella thought her hair complemented her skin well enough.
The bastard girl wondered how her brother Jon wound up with brown eyes and she with blue ones. She assumed that she inherited her blue eyes from the maternal side. Obviously she did not receive them from Lord Eddard Stark, so it had to be from her mother. Though, Ella did not know for certain, for her father never spoke of their mother. The girl did not even know her name, or what she looked like, where she was, or even if she was alive. Ella had a feeling he loved her very much, maybe even more than Catelyn. But the girl would never say that out loud. No matter how poorly Catelyn Stark treated her or her brother, Ella would never disrespect the Lady in her own household. She was too kind to do that.
"Ella," Jon called to his sister as he entered the stables. The girl looked to her brother, noticing that he held a large fur cloak in his hands.
The young girl tucked her book under her arm as her brother inched closer. Ella rose from her seat in the dirt, smoothing the creases in her cream colored dress. She approached Jon.
"What is under the cloak?" She asked.
He pulled back the furs, only to reveal two small pups, one black as night with striking blue eyes and the other white as snow with red glowing orbs. But they weren't normal puppies, Ella noticed. They were wolves, direwolves. The sigil for House Stark.
"One is for you," Jon smiled. "Whichever one you want. They're both runts, the forgotten onea. Kind of like us."
"Where did they come from?" She asked her brother, looking from each pup, then to Jon.
"We found them on the way back from the execution," Jon said. "The mother was killed by a stag, and I found the pups alive. There are seven in total, three girls and four boys. Just like how many children Lord Stark has."
Ella smiled at her brother. They were all each other had in this world. Ella did love her brother dearly, but she couldn't help but feel a ping of sadness and jealousy wash over her whenever their father chose Jon for tasks and adventures and not her. Today happened to be a day where their father was summoned away from Winterfell, in order to execute a man who deserted the Night's Watch. As Warden of the North, it was Ned Stark's duty to carry out the laws set forth by King Robert Baratheon. Nonetheless, their father allowed Jon to attend, as well as their younger brother Bran, and Ella was not allowed to go. She looked to the ground, remembering the conversation between her and her father just that morning.
"It's no place for a young lady to be," her father stated as he climbed onto his horse. Ella just returned from her ride, and now her father and brothers were leaving. Leaving Ella alone in the castle with Lady Stark. "Why don't you go join Sansa and the other girls in sewing lessons?"
"I'm no lady though, am I?" Ella asked her father, sadness filling her voice. "I'm a bastard, Father. I'll never be anything more. You know that I'm not a true lady, and Sansa and her friends don't want me there. They're afraid I'll ruin their precious dresses."
Ella blinked away her tears, then ran away from her father and through the castle. The mud clinging to her boots sloughed off as she ran into the Great Hall. She slid to the ground and cried into her knees.
The poor girl heard Lady Catelyn shouting down the corridor before she entered the Hall. Her eyes landed on Ella, who was covered in mud. The Lady of Winterfell cursed Ella for dirtying the halls with her boots.
Ella quickly scurried away, running to her room to grab a book. Then she dashed outside to hide from Lady Stark, hoping to avoid anyone until her family returned.
As she ran down the halls, she bumped into a hard wall. Her book fell from her arms, and Ella's small frame landed on the ground with a hard thud. She looked through the red in her eyes to see her younger half-sister, Sansa, standing over her, with three of her ladies in waiting surrounding her. Ella noticed the anger spread across Sansa's face, causing Ella to shrink beneath their hateful glares.
"What do you think you're doing?" Sansa snarled. "You'll be in big trouble once my mother and father see the mess you created. Mud throughout the hallways, and you bumped into me. They will not appreciate it when I tell them you pushed me."
"But I didn't," Ella breathed. "I bumped into you. That's all I did."
"My ladies behind me saw you push me. Once Mother and Father learn of your disgusting behavior, I'm sure they'll send you away. Maybe to live on a pig farm in the middle of the woods where you belong."
Tears fell from Ella's eyes as she scrambled to her feet. The girl picked her book off the stone floor and dashed through the corridor, away from her despicable younger sister. Sansa had it out for Ella, because of the relationship she had with their father, and for her beauty. Ella was much prettier than Sansa, and Sansa decided long ago to make Ella's life a living hell on earth.
Shaking her head, Ella picked up the black pup by the scruff of its neck and held it close to her. She began to rub the tiny pup's belly as the wolf licked her face.
"I'm naming him Ghost," Jon said. "What will you call yours?"
Ella pondered for a moment, searching for a name that would be perfect for the pup. The girl recalled a story she read as a child, about a girl alone in the woods, living off the land, with only a sword on her back and a wolf at her side. The wolf was called Asena by the girl. The wolf was a fighter, strong, and independent. Didn't let anyone mess with her. And Ella hoped she could be like that one day. Not afraid of anything and could stand up for herself.
"Asena," Ella smiled down at the wolf. "That's what I'll call her."
