𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 (r.bolton)

chapter ii.

 As time passed Elaena learnt to become the Lady of the Dreadfort. She was the most charming and captivating Lady in the North. Her handmaidens adored her and so did her husband's bannermen. She was cold hearted and emotionless at times just like her husband, but kind enough that her people still worshiped her. She was everything that Roose could ever have imagined for the Lady of the Dreadfort. Everything and more. His people loved her too, she was their Queen of the North.

But as Elaena had become more comfortable at her new home, Roose saw that she started to change. She was no longer the naïve little girl that he had married, she had grown into who she really was and that was his equal. She no longer came running to his every beck and call. She stood up for herself. She argued back when there was something she didn't agree with.

Roose knew that he shouldn't like the woman she had blossomed into. That she was too outspoken, too brusque for the Lady of the Dreadfort. But he couldn't help himself. He loved the woman she had become. Love? Did the Lord Bolton admit to love? Yes, yes, he did. He had told her once when he was sure she had fallen asleep in his arms. He had placed a kiss to her temple and whispered the three words. Hoping that she hadn't heard. But she had. He didn't know why he was afraid to tell her properly. Maybe because she made him have emotions and that scared him. Maybe because he was becoming soft. But he did love her. He loved that he finally had someone that would argue back, someone that wasn't afraid of him, someone that want afraid of voicing her opinion and maybe most of all because she wasn't afraid of loving him back.

"I am not going," Lady Elaena called leaving him standing in the corridor. This was the only this Roose wasn't the greatest fan of. Before she would have just nodded and agreed to go with him because she didn't know any different. But now she did, and this was a frequent occurrence. He had stopped asking for many of the feasts he was invited too. He didn't need her there. Most of the other Lords' wives wouldn't be there, but he liked her company, so he asked her on occasion. But this time it wasn't just another feast. It was a wedding, and she was expected to be there.

"Elaena," he called after her as he followed her into their bedchambers, closing the door behind him and following her across the room. "And you think you get a choice?" Lord Roose added sharply as he stood over the vanity she had sat down at,

"I don't?" she questioned as she started to pull at her hair before her maids came rushing over to attend to her,

"not now," Roose snapped dismissing her maids, beckoning them away, and they did because they were afraid of him. He hated having all of the people running around his chambers, but he understood why his wife needed them, so he had learnt to live with it. He had been very set in his ways before his wife came along, but now he found himself adapting to many things he never thought he would. "You are my wife, and you are the Lady of House Bolton you do not get a choice, you are coming!"

Roose Bolton rarely shed any emotion. He was cold and heartless and lacked any real human emotion. Many said he never smiled and many he said never even grew angry, but Elaena was very skilled at pissing her husband off.

When they were first married Elaena was young, and she was naive. She had married a great noble Lord who was cunning and ruthless and just his presence had terrified Elaena at times. But as the many years passed Elaena began to not feel threatened by her dear husband and began to challenge what he demanded of her.

"And as I am the Lady of House Bolton, I have duties I need to attend too," she replied not even looked phased by his raised voice. She was used to it. She pissed him of many times, and she enjoyed it, mostly.

"And what might those be, Elaena?" Roose asked with not a single emotion across his face, but by his voice it was clear she had aggravated the great Lord Bolton. She knew him too well.

"Are you really unaware of everything I do for this House?" she inquired looking to him. It had annoyed her slightly that he chose to throw this at her. Yes, she may not have given him an heir yet, but she didn't just sit around like most other ladies. Yes, she did do her fair bit of sewing, but she also ran the Blackfort because Roose had no intention of doing so. Nothing happened without her knowing of it. Every meeting, feast, or visit, Elaena had been a part of. He had used her on occasion to be an informant on his men and other noble Lords. She was seen as being invisible and had access to places that Roose and other men did not. She had also accompanied him on hunts when he asked, and she would go on trips to make alliances and treaties on his request too. She had told him on numerous occasions that 'women don't do 'men things' because they come to nasty ends' and he had told her in response that the world was not designed for women. She could come to a 'nasty end' doing anything. Elaena also made sure that she spent time in visiting the villages and towns that surrounded the Dreadfort. She had a duty to her husband's people as well.

"Please, enlighten me," her husband had replied with gritted teeth as he turned away from her and started pacing the room,

"you know my duties, Roose," Elaena snapped back not even bothering to look in the direction of her husband. She knew that she would go with him in the end because it was a required of her and also because she was fond of the girl that was being wed. But she wouldn't allow her husband to think he had her wrapped around his little finger.

"I cannot possibly attend by myself so unless you wish for me to find a new wife, I suggest you come," he said, "it's a wedding for crying out loud, Elaena, it's not like I'm taking you to something horrific,"

"I wouldn't put it past you," she scoffed.