I always considered myself lucky: born in a noble house allied to the most important one in the North, I always had everything.
Nonetheless, never consider myself spoiled, my younger self was always trying to get what I wanted while utilizing my own abilities. My insecurities always led me to believe I had to prove that I didn't need to have everything served in front of me. I needed challenges, I needed to know that what was mine I had gotten with my own strength and wits. When in reality, what my teenage self "fought" over, were futile battles that only a privileged lady would have to fight.
Eldest of three daughters, I lived my life painfully aware that had my father had the possibility to trade me for a male heir he would have done, without an afterthought. That was what my younger self ached over, I lived my first seventeen years in the shadow of an heir that was never born. Despite this, I had been trained to behave like the lady my father needed me to be, for, if he were to die, I would become the lady of the house. My greatest fear was that I would get everything taken away from me, that I would lose my position as lady of Woodsteep and that I would be forced marry a nobleman from somewhere unknown in the whole country; if that were to happen I would have had lost my surname and a part of me.
I was Annalys Woods, lady of Woodsteep and no one would take that away from me.

Since the death of my father and that of my dearest mother I had found myself ruling over one of the most powerful houses of the North, one of, if not the greatest, ally of house Stark.
I was only seventeen when my father died of disease, his death so sudden that he hadn't had the time to decide who my betrothed would be. Since a woman couldn't have any say in the matter, my dearest father decided to leave the choice to house Stark.
I was to marry whoever the Wardens of the North thought could make a great ally to the North.
I, as lady of my house, had to choose the husbands for my beloved sisters but at the same time I wasn't allowed to choose one for myself thus leaving the fate of my name and succession in the hands of another house. I was ruling over my house like I was taught to, waiting to be married to an insignificant man that lived somewhere in Westeros.
"Ser Olivar Flint will rule during the time of my absence" I announced as all of my most important subjects listened to me "I shall be back in less than a week. Justice will be served".
I made my way out of the great hall without saying another word, my exit as dramatic as I had always loved.
After saying my farewells to my sisters I made my way to the stables where my squire and a few of my most trusted men were waiting for me, my gray horse already saddled and ready to go.
I got hoisted on it carefully, my servants careful not to ruin my expensive dress - for a lady could not use a riding attire, making her look unpolished and lowly. Ignoring the uncomfortableness of it all, that would accompany me for the entire day's journey.
My men and I were to ride north, to Winterfell, there I was supposed to meet Robb Stark and stand by his house and the other lords in a moment of grief for the north: Eddard Stark had just been unfairly arrested and he were to be prosecuted.
I rode my horse for hours in silence, fixing my stare on the two men in front of me leading the way. On my right side I had Reila, my most trusted handmaiden, and on my right I had my squire. I watched as trees stormed past me, gold is what my father saw in those branches, money is what he saw in the timber, never had I heard him appreciate the beauty of that endless forest, with its short and burly trees that would allow you to see small fragments of the sky. But its beauty was secondary to its purpose given that our house was the main supplier of wood in Westeros, but it's our shields that made us rich, considered the finest and strongest in all of the Seven Kingdoms.
Winterfell was right at the eastern end of the Woodsteep, where the trees were the wildest and tallest. Reminiscences of Sansa Stark, the lady of the North, had always been terrified of them, begging both my father and I to cut them down every time she would pass us by the rooms of Winterfell; I smiled bitterly for this time she wouldn't be there to do so.

We entered the familiar castle right in time for the sun to set, bitterly remembering how there had always been an entire party waiting to welcome father and I inside the walls of the fort. No party awaited us this time, only Robb and Lady Catelyn Stark.
I hurriedly jumped down of my horse, leaving my men no time to help me down. I curtseyed towards the two Starks like I was taught to and then run into Robb's arms like a sister would do with her big brother. Once inside we rushed to the great hall where we found a few other lords already seated, they rose to greet me and then we all took our place at the wooden table, speaking, plotting and cursing the Lannister's regard for hours. By the end of the night, when the sun started to rise again and the candles became useless, we had decided that Robb would march on Kings Landing, his bannermen following him in battle.
The decision hadn't reassured me, for I had always disliked war and even the thought of it, but I had to do what needed to be done.
As everyone arose from the small council the maester hurried to the tower to send all the ravens to the houses of the north, I hurriedly followed Robb outside, trying to conceal my worry and tiredness.
We walked silently in the small garden, Grey Wind trotting at the Lord's side; our parents plotted for years the possibility of marriage between him and I, therefore I had spent most of my childhood in Winterfell, bonding with the Stark children and learning all about the fort.
Until, one day, my father called it off, "marriage was invented to make new alliances" my father had told me when I was fourteen of age "this alliance will not benefit anyone".
Eddard Stark was never offended for he truly understood the reasoning behind it, but from that moment on my visits to Winterfell became rare.
I scanned the grass beneath my feet, not knowing where to look or what to say, I could feel that Robb was expecting me to be the first to talk, for i had quickly followed him on what was supposed to be his moments alone.
"I will follow you in battle" I found myself blurting out, hands barely quivering, but my heart pounding with a shocking surety.
Robb scoffed, turning to look at me with a faint smile, we stared at each other as a knot formed in my stomach as I realized we had reached the Godswood, its silence engulfing us.
"No, my lady" he said after a while, I opened my mouth to retort that I would be willing to learn how to fight and shoot arrows and wield a sword, but he readily anticipated me "I need you here in the North, I need someone I truly trust to control the region".
I nodded, not knowing what to answer.
We just kept walking in silence.

"My lady" said maester Volarik, I raised my head slightly, looking at him unfazed "Robb Stark just proclaimed himself King in the North".
I immediately arose from my seat, grabbing the letter from the maester's old hands. I scanned the entire scroll in a fast manner, catching only the key words. The words catching me off guard, I confusedly looked at my maester for help, hoping he would reassure me, his soft and well calculated words filled with wisdom. Instead he urged me to take action "My lady" he repeated "He wants to know if you'll swear loyalty to him".
I sat back down on my chair, closing my eyes and rubbing my face nervously. Gone were the times when my maester's soft words would fix the world around me, gone were the times when his counsel would be enough for me to have a clear idea of the matters at hand.
"Write" I started, quivering and unsure "that i swear loyalty to the King in the North, that I - no, that the Woods always will".
The old man nodded, exiting the room.
Rising once again from my seat, I tried to quiet my uncertainties, my trust in Lord Stark fighting with my deepest fears; maybe, I told myself naively, this will work out and no one I truly care about will get hurt.
My thoughts veered to my men, my soldiers, those I had sent to war without a real commander, following one of my most trusted knights, but left without a true guide.
Smoothing my dress, preventing it from getting too messy and wrinkly, I grabbed my fur coat and made my way through dimly lit corridors and dozens of servants and maidens. Once in the main courtyard I lost myself staring at our coats of arms, the simplicity of it had always bothered me, its dull green and a dirty grey colors under a plain black leafless tree weren't as memorable and powerful as those of other houses; its plainness was now emblematic of how I felt: unsure, dull and indolent.
Our bold motto, "Conquered By None" stood underneath the tree's silhouette, mocking me as fear and uncertainty crept into my bones. For the first time in my life, I felt unworthy of it.

I woke up to a light knocking on my door, I groggily sat up in my comfortable bed and muttered a feeble "Come in". My younger sister slipped in the room, swiftly closing the door behind her.
"What is it sweetling?" her doe-like eyes started welling up with tears as she stood right by the door.
My heart broke in a thousand pieces looking at her like this "Lunae, what's wrong?" I urged, my voice full of concern.
She inched closer to my bed, I patted the space next to me and she obeyed.
"I'm scared" she sniffled, I pulled her closer.
"Of what?
"I'm scared that you will send me away" I raised my eyebrows in confusion, waiting for her to keep going "I heard a maid talking about my possible husbands and they live so far away, I don't want to leave".
Lunae was now sobbing, gripping my nightgown tightly, I made sure she could see my face clearly before speaking.
"My sweet sister, you're only nine of age, far too young to marry" I said reassuringly "Also, you cannot marry until I am, and I still don't have a betrothed, so do not be scared". As I hugged her tightly I avoided telling her about the impending war, that now was the least likely time we would be thinking of her betrothal, but I hardly doubted it would make any of us two feel any better.

Hello!
It's the first time that I post a fanfiction in English on a website, so I'm a little nervous.
I'm Italian so, even though writing is my passion, it's a tiny bit hard to do it in another language. If, while reading, you find some mistakes you are more than welcome to tell me!
Also I don't know how fanfictions work on here, but in my country we post the next chapter when we reach a certain number of reviews, now I'm probably not going to do it here, BUT remember that reviews are what keep a story going ((especially for me, writing a chapter takes a looong time, because I have to translate words, search for idioms and work on it a lot more than I would with a ff in my native language)).
So yeah, this is my first chapter and my, even longer, authors note!
If you're concerned, don't worry, Ramsay will appear in the next chapters, I just wanted to set the story and a general idea before ACTUALLY starting with the real story if that makes sense.
Oh also, just a heads up: while the first chapters will be extremely PG-13, don't expect all of them to be, I mean, this is still a Ramsay Bolton fanfiction so…
Okay, see you next chapter!
Love,
Nicole

[chapter edited on 1/05/19]