Description
A young woman who has had greatness thrust upon her, Elena carries herself with the bearing of an older woman. She is in her mid-twenties, a strikingly beautiful woman, with fine Gospodar features, pale skin and black hair. As befits her station she is always dressed in fine clothes, though has a liking for more masculine military clothing when the situation does not demand she wear more traditional garb. She is missing her left arm just below the shoulder, something she makes no effort to disguise, wearing it rather as a badge of honour. She is never seen without the military sash and szabla of her dead husband, which she first donned during the siege of Erengrad.

History
Boyar Elena Nicholeyevna Yevschenko is the head of the most important noble family in Erengrad. The Yevschenkos used to be the undisputed rulers of Erengrad. Since the rise in the privileges granted by the Tsarina to Erengrad's guilds, however, they have lost much of their traditional power. Despite her youth and comparative inexperience, the Boyar is therefore a very important person, and well-regarded by the common people and especially the military. She owes her pre-eminence largely to the Storm. Like most of the Boyars, the Yevschenkos stayed in Erengrad, determined to defend it to their last breath. Elena was at that time the new wife of Boyar Gregor's youngest son, Bogdan. She had recently given him a son, Alexei. The Yevschenko family was almost completely destroyed in the defence of Erengrad. Bogdan fell in battle alongside his father Gregor. Elena, left in the castle with her son, took up arms herself and led a sortie out against the foe shortly before the fall of the castle itself. Although her attack failed to turn back the tide, it did allow a group to escape to another place of refuge. Elena herself was seriously injured, losing her arm. She and her son are the last surviving Yevschenkos in Erengrad (though other junior branches of the family live elsewhere in Kislev).

Her heroism, tragic loss, and her youth and beauty have made her an inspiration to many, and a figurehead for the rest of Erengrad's noble families.