Sometimes it's the people we expect the least of that are the people who do the things we never expected. -the theory of everything

"We could surround the castle, letting no one in our out, they will last a few months but eventually they will die." One of Robb's Bannerman said, it was an Umber. So far the council meeting had gone horrible, everyone was calling each other names and scolding everyone who dared to fight back.

"That's the worst plan I've ever heard. If there's one thing we can't afford, it's time." Gillian protested, he absolutely hated the Umber. Karstark and Umber had always been true enemies, only by Starks could they be reunited.

"He's right, we can't wait any longer. Roose Bolton will sent reinforcements the second he knows we're hiding here. We will be dead in a matter of days." Robb said, looking at each of his councilmen. At this point he just wanted his mother back so that he could ask her for advice.

"We don't have any siege weapons, we can't break down their gates and we don't have ladders to climb up the wall. I say we're doomed." The Umber said, his hands waving in the air in defeat.

"We're not doomed, we only have to come up with a plan." Robb spoke sternly at the Umber, who immediately cowered away. Everyone concentrated on the map, looking if there were any answers written on the paper. Obviously there weren't, leaving the tent in silence.

"How do wolfs kill their preys?" Elena suddenly spoke up, an idea finally popping into her head.

"Silently, without any sign, in the night." Gillian summed up. "In a small pack."

"What are you trying to say?" Robb looked at Elena who immediately looked away from him. She hated to be near him after what had happened. In a way she was happy to be with him again yet everything felt different. If there was anything she was afraid of, it would be changes. She never liked the confrontation.

"You can say we're a small pack of wolfs, we should hunt like one." Elena said.

"So we should surprise them, in the midst of the night?" Umber said, straightening his back.

"Wow! That must've been the first intelligent thing you said this meeting!" Gillian's eyes widened sarcastically.

"One more time, Karstark, and you can spend a night in a cell." Robb sighed and glared at Gillian.

"So," Elena continued, ignoring everyone's death glares. "we attack them in the night. If we can somehow open the gates without too much noise, we will take Dreadfort without much trouble." 

"There's only one problem; you can't just magically open a gate." Someone said while rolling his eyes at Elena. "Why is she even in this council? She's a woman!"

"She's our Guardian and she's probably smarter than you." Gillian snapped at the man.

"She saved your live, you should be thanking her." Robb also defended Elena, much to her dismay. "And seriously Karstark, I don't care who you are but if you're going to say one more damn thing like that I swear I will send you to Ramsay himself."

"Did I say we need to break down a gate?" Elena looked up at the man and raised her eyebrows, still ignoring every comment.

"Not everyone can fly." He shot back, his eyes narrowing at the Guardian.

"But I can, silently. I can infiltrate their castle and open the gate."

"You can't raise a gate on your own, you will need to carry someone with you." Gillian stated with a concerned look in his face. "Besides, I can't let you go in there alone."

"I will come with her." Robb offered and straightened his back.

"No!" Gillian and Elena protested simultaneously. They looked at each other with a dumbfounded look on their face, both realizing that they protested for the same reason. That reason being to avoid Elena and Robb being together.

"You will need to wear armour, it will make you too heavy." Elena quickly thought of something, she actually just didn't want to be alone with Robb for the coming days. She sighed and looked down, knowing it wasn't much of an excuse.

"I'm the best choice, I'm quick and silent, I'd be better off without armour." Gillian stood up straight, letting everyone know he will be the one to come with Elena, no matter what.

"When you have opened the gate, light a fire to let us know it has opened, we will need to hide in the woods to avoid being seen." Robb pointed on the map where they will be waiting.

"In the meantime, when you're riding towards the gate, Elena and I could sneak into the castle and kill Ramsay." Gillian said enthusiastically.

"Too bad Roose Bolton is somewhere else." The Umber sighed and leaned on the table. Everyone hummed in agreement.

"So it's settled then, you two open the gate and light a fire, then we will enter Dreadfort and kill the guards." Robb raised his eyebrows, how could it be so easy?

"More or less." Gillian shrugged.

"Good, you can go now, I just need... I need time to think." Robb dismissed everyone. Elena quickly tiptoed away, afraid that Robb might notice her. It's not that they haven't touched before, not at all, she just didn't want to be near him. He had betrayed her and married another, Elena just still couldn't forget that.

"Gillian!" Elena joined Gillian in his tent.

"Yes?" He yawned while getting up from his bed, obviously tired.

"We need to do some research about The Dark One." Elena stated and grasped a book from the pile. "He might be our only hope for winning this war."

"You really think he would help us?" Gillian chuckled. "He would just kill us for fun, like he always does." He frowned as he stared up at the ceiling in thought.

"You really think that's true?" Elena raised her eyebrows, she didn't take Gillian for someone who believed in the things people told him. 

"Well, yes. Haven't heard anything else about him so why think he's not?" Gillian sounded unsure about himself, something he almost never was. Elena raised her eyebrows while inspecting him. He never lied to her and he never would, that's what she thought. Yet there was a strange look in his eyes, a look that told her that he knew more than he said he did.

"Listen, the Lannisters and the Targaryens want him dead. What better way to get that done is there than making everyone hate him? People will search for him and try to kill him, not only for the money but also for the honour of killing someone like that." Elena said, looking at Gillian. He just raised his eyebrow, still not convinced.

"Look, he's the most powerful being in Westeros. If we can get him on our side, we will undoubtedly win the war." She reasoned, plumbing down on the bed next to him.

"Elena." Gillian sighed and shook his head. "We can't search for him and search for your parents. You have to make a choice who you want to find."

"The Dark One. My parents have waited 23 years, I'm sure they can wait one more. Maybe they won't even be alive anymore if we don't end this war any time soon."

"Elena, they are your parents." Gillian urged on. 

"Don't you know me? You know that I won't do what I want to do, I only do what is right. Either way I still wouldn't because I don't want to be disappointed." Elena thought about who her parents could be. Who knows, maybe she was a Bolton herself. 

"Sometimes I forget how stupid you are." Gillian chuckled, giving up. He knew that Elena wouldn't change her mind. "There, that book over there, tells everything about which Kings lived, when and what they did."

"Thank you." Elena smiled at Gillian. She knew she could always count on him, no matter what she did. "He reigned before the Mad King, right?" Elena wondered when she opened the big and old book.

"Yep." Gillian sighed and dove into another book; the history of the guardians. Yet he didn't look like he was truly reading, his eyes only stared numbly at the pages. 

"Wait a second." Elena scrunched her eyebrows in confusion, not noticing Gillian's behavior. "There's nothing written about him here."

"You mustn't be looking correctly." Gillian rushed to her side and turned many pages, but found nothing about the dark Guardian. "What in the seven hells..." His eyes widened. "I don't get it." He took the book from Elena and almost turned the book upside down as his eyes quickly scanned through the pages. "There has to be something here, there has to be." 

"It doesn't matter." Elena said and walked away. Something had popped up in her head, something that was more important for now. "We will look again tomorrow."

"What are you going to do?" Gillian looked up from the book with a frown on his face, a single lock of dark hair hanging before his eyes. 

"I'm going to train some more. Don't want Ramsay to capture and torture me tomorrow." She smiled at Gillian. "Good night."

"Sleep well." Gillian smiled back, still with the book in his hands.

~

Elena's grunts and puffs filled the air while she was lashing away on a wooden target. All her anger, frustration and fear came booming out of her. She had already destroyed several dummies. She didn't notice Robb walking towards her. It was dark and she thought everyone had gone to sleep already. 

The cold Northern air waved through Robb's curls as he made his way over to Elena, who was practicing with his half-brother. Robb still didn't know how he should think about Elena after all that had happened. She had killed his friend but she also defended her innocent father.

"You're getting better every second." Jon laughed while dodging Elena's attacks. They would do this every day in the morning, just enjoying each other's company. Though it was still obvious Jon was a better swordsmen, Elena kept on trying to defeat him.

"Maybe one day I will finally see you drop in the mud." Elena laughed, her sword still battling with Jon's.

"I will look forward till that day." Robb chuckled. Elena and Jon dropped their swords in surprise, they hadn't noticed him walking towards them. Elena awkwardly looked down at her shuffling feet. She didn't know how to act around the oldest son of Eddard Stark.

"Jon." Robb smiled at his brother. They were much alike, both big eyes and dark curls. "Uncle Benjen is here, he would like to speak to you about the Night's Watch."

"Here, in Winterfell? What's he doing here?" Jon cleaned his hands from the sweat.

"He came to search for new recruits. He will be leaving again tomorrow." Robb told his brother, not looking at Elena.

"Then I'd better hurry." Jon smiled at the thought of seeing his uncle. He had always been one of his favourite relatives. Jon looked back at Elena, waved at her before he sprinted back towards the castle. "I will see you again tomorrow!" he yelled over his shoulder.

"My lady." Robb bowed slightly towards Elena, something his mother taught him to do in the company of highborn. Even though Elena wasn't one, he still felt the need to do it.

"My Lord." Elena bowed back awkwardly, she didn't even know how to curtsy. 

"Pick up your sword." Robb commanded as he took his own one out of its hold. He chuckled lightly at Elena's attempt of the curtsy.

"What?" Elena blinked several times as she looked at Robb. "You want to kill me again?"

"No." Robb laughed at Elena's confusion, she was truly adorable when she was confused. He looked at her for a few seconds, her long nearly white hair in a loose braid, hanging over her shoulder and the leather trousers she wore. Every woman in Winterfell would glance at her when she wore pants, Elena didn't care though, she liked the way they fit. Either way training in pants was a lot more effective than in a dress. "I'm going to teach you how to fight."

"Why? So you can beat me with an excuse?" Elena chuckled nervously, she wasn't sure how to feel about Robb's eyes scanning her like that.

"Maybe." Robb chuckled and shook his head. "My father told me you had to learn how to fight, so I volunteered."

"So it is because you want to hurt me." Elena smiled as she picked up her sword from the ground.

"Probably." Robb chuckled again. "one other thing though, my mother asks you to wear a dress, people are complaining about it."

"What? but I like these pants, I can't train in a dress." Elena complained. Robb looked sternly at her for a few seconds. "fine." Elena huffed and looked down. "I will wear those stupid dresses from now on."

"Good." Robb laughed at Elena's boyish behaviour. She kind of resembled Arya in a way. "Now, get ready. With me it's win or die."

"Yes my lord." Elena rolled her eyes. "I'm going to kick your ass in the mud." She mumbled, thinking Robb couldn't hear her. He could though and he chuckled at her, liking her even more.

Elena looked up when she heard several footsteps. When she looked around her though, she only saw Robb's silhouette turn around the corner and disappearing out of sight.

She raised her eyebrows, had he been watching her? It was weird, he hadn't said anything to her. She didn't mind that though, but the thought of Robb just standing there, watching her, too afraid to actually talk to her made Elena's heart shatter.

Elena sighed and turned around to the dummy again. She hoped they'd just win the battle tomorrow, maybe then Robb would finally relax a bit.

"You're not going to win, you know." A man with black hair and the darkest eyes Elena had ever seen walked out of the bushes and then leaned against one of the trees. He walked gracefully, yet he looked lazy and uninterested. 

"Win what?" Elena hold her sword a bit tighter, she didn't like the way the man looked. He had this dangerous smile on his face, he was handsome but Elena didn't acknowledge that.

"The battle tomorrow, the war in general. You're too weak." he smiled, he looked arrogant as he folded his muscled arms before his chest.

"Who are you?" Elena felt threatened, the man looked strong and her instinct told her he was more powerful than her. Maybe I should run back and call Robb. She thought.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The man shook his head while he chuckled.

"Do what?" Elena took some steps backwards, ready to run. Goosebumps formed on her skin, her heart beating faster than before. She hated the effect he had on her, hated that she was afraid just because he stood there. 

"Get your little king." The man chuckled and looked right into Elena's eyes, sending shivers running up her spine.

"Who are you?" Elena asked again, fear clearly audible in her voice. She felt like he had just read her mind. 

"I think you know." The man said. Suddenly dark feathers sprang free from his back, he smiled once more at Elena. Her mouth was wide open as she stared at his dark black enormous wings, they looked even stronger than hers.

"You're not going to win." He repeated and then swung his wings gracefully. He lifted off the ground and flew away. Soon after Elena heard a loud voice in her head, a voice that had the power to make her knees go weak just at the sound of it. "Goodbye, my dear Elena."

ooooooooh Snap!!

shit just got real!!

I want you guys to guess who that man was (it's the easiest thing to do like really, it's so obvious.) The one who guesses it right first, will get a dedication next chapter! Just comment what you think :)

Also, I would like to specially thank AGNIght again and for this chapter, also AIDreain!! Your comment really made my day and ... I just really want to thank you guys for your amazing support lately.

If you're wondering about the picture of this chapter, the one to the left is Gillian and the man next to him is Rickard Karstark, his father.

SO comment who you think the man is, and I will see you next chapter!! :)