Jocelyne Hart

**Jocelyne Hart** is the Duchess of Hartsmoor.

## Biography

### Early Life

Jocelyne Estelle Astra was born in her family’s mountain paradise, Starfall Court, in January of 2450. The second daughter of Earl Perseus Astra and his lady wife, Helene Hesper; Jocelyne, along with her older sister Josephine, truly had an idyllic childhood, sheltered from the cruel politics of the Northern Mountains. When Jocelyne was four, her family took in her cousin, Joyce Mason. Joyce was only 5 months younger than Jocelyne, and it didn’t take long for them to become inseparable sisters.

When not studying deportment, the three girls could often be found out on the grounds, pretending to be fairies; or putting on fantastical plays for the entertainment of the whole keep on rainy days. The halls of the castle were always echoing with the laughter of happy little girls. Even as they grew into teenagers, the three blonde beauties could always bring a smile to the face of even the most unhappy of residents of Starfall. Always kind, courteous, and caring; they were the perfect examples of young ladies as well as the embodiment of the magic of House Astra.

The wonderous childhood came to an end when at 18, Jocelyne and Joyce were presented at Hartsmoor Castle. It was a Mountain custom for all young ladies of marriageable age to be presented to the Duke of Hartsmoor. He always had first pick of wives for his sons (or for himself if in need of a new wife). The young ladies also had to receive his permission to be presented at the Royal Court of Cair Paravel. But Jocelyne and Joyce would not travel to the King’s Court. Duke Alisander Hart had two sons of marriageable age that he wished to see settled, and he thought a double alliance with House Astra would be perfect. He had wanted both Josephine and Jocelyne to marry his sons, however, Lord Perseus had a different match in mind for his heir. A lesser noble who would not usurp the Astra claim on Starfall Court.

Lady Helene did not wish for either of her daughters to marry the Hart sons. The Astra family had gained and kept their powers due to the magic of being descended from the North Star. They also carried a prophecy that foretold doom if their blood mixed with a son of slaughter. Lord Alisander had a reputation of slaughtering his enemies without mercy. He even went so far as to send raiding parties north to burn villages to the ground if he felt they were too close to the Narnian border, often while the inhabitants slept in their beds. She begged her husband to refuse the Duke, to send their daughters south. Lord Perseus replied that they had already refused the Duke once over Josephine. They could not risk his ire by refusing him Jocelyne or Joyce.

### Marriage and Sorrow

So, it came to be that the two cousins who were as close as sisters became sisters by law in a double ceremony. Jocelyne was married to the older brother, Lucan Hart; while Joyce was married to the younger, Royce. Lord Lucan, heir to Hartsmoor, was six years Jocelyne’s elder; a man grown and bled at 24. He was a cold man, who couldn’t hide his temper as well as his father did. But in the first years of their marriage, he largely ignored Jocelyne; apart from his marital duties, which were rough but quick. Jocelyne became pregnant early in her marriage, and relished the fact that her husband then paid her no mind at all. She gave birth to her son, Sebastien in June of 2469, less than a year after her wedding. She basked in the joy of motherhood, and thought she saw a flicker of happiness in Lucan’s eyes as well when he held his newborn son. His firstborn son. His heir.

But tragedy followed soon behind in September, when Duchess Alysanne died suddenly of a heart attack. Lucan became colder and nastier after his mother’s death. Jocelyne liked when he went out patrolling, as it meant he wasn’t in their apartments, berating her over every little thing. She had tried to comfort him, to treat him the way she had treated the inhabitants at Starfall, back when she could make anyone smile. But her caring and concern only seemed to make Lucan angrier, and he pulled away more and more. So, instead, she focused her energy on her good-sister, who was pregnant by this time.

As the months went by and her due date approached, Joyce did not become the happy, glowing mother-to-be like Jocelyne had been only a year before. Instead, Joyce became anxious, and then coldly resigned. She kept telling Jocelyne that she had a premonition that she was going to die in the child bed delivering a son; the same as her mother had 16 years before. Jocelyne tried to tell her that it was just nerves. That some mothers just felt like this before having their babies. She tried to stay positive for Joyce, but felt a pit in her stomach. Joyce had always been the most sensitive to intuition. It was a rare occurrence that something she thought was going to happen didn’t. But Jocelyne had to stay positive. She couldn’t bare the thought of losing her sister, her best friend. Couldn’t bare the thought of being trapped here all on her own.

Joyce gave birth to her son, Willian, in April of 2470. She died of childbed fever a week later. Jocelyne had tried everything in her power to nurse Joyce back to health. She had even sent a maid to go collect sacred water from Starfall Court; she had not returned in time. On her deathbed, Joyce made Jocelyne swear to take care of Willian as if he were her own. When Royce fell in battle that July, there was nothing left to prevent Jocelyne from formally adopting Willian as her son. He had never known any parents except for her and Lucan. Jocelyne was surprised that Lucan hadn’t resisted taking in Willian as his son. He only told her once that any other children they had would come before Will in the inheritance.

Lucan became much more volatile after Royce’s death. Over Christmas of 2470, he hit Jocelyne for the first time; striking her in the face hard enough to knock her to the floor. Duke Alisander punished his son; not for hitting his wife, but for doing so in a way that left her obviously marked. What happened between a man and his wife was their business, the Duke said, the world should not be invited in by making it public knowledge. Lucan apologized for the black eye that she sported for weeks. And the next time he hit her, it was in the stomach where no one else would see.

### Duchess of Hartsmoor

Duke Alisander died in February of 2472, and there was no one left to reign in Lucan’s worst impulses. He was Duke of Hartsmoor, Warden of the North, Lord of the Northern Mountains. He only answered to the King himself, and the king paid him little mind. As long as the northern border was safe, who cared that the Duchess could barely hide her limp as she was presented to the king and queen for the first time when her husband made his fealty oath. Then, the king died and left a baby as his heir and there truly was no one left to save her.

Jocelyne lost three babies in the years after her husband inherited the Dukedom. Jocelyne was desperate to be pregnant; the duke wouldn’t beat her if she was pregnant. But her babies just wouldn’t seem to stay in her belly. She lost two before she had even begun to show, and the third just after she had thought this one was safe.

In October of 2474, Jocelyne traveled back to Starfall Court, begging for her mother’s help. Lady Helene told her this was a blessing in disguise. Jocelyne had had a son, not a daughter, and therefore could not fulfill the prophecy. Lady Helene also pondered why would she want to give Lucan more children? One day, she assured Jocelyne, Lucan would turn his ire on his offspring, why give him more victims?

Jocelyne, either blinded by her desperation to protect herself or truly convinced that her husband wouldn’t hurt their children, persisted. Her mother finally relented, telling her that if Jocelyne was to insist on this folly, she did not want to hear any complaints about the consequences. Jocelyne was to take a flask to the Sacred Shrine of Lady Ursula (the founder of their house), and gather water from the pool there. Then, she was to go home and consume the water just before she coupled with her husband. Afterwards, she was to light a candle under the stars and pray for the magic to help her.

Jocelyne followed the directions exactly, and was delighted when she became pregnant soon after. She had been right. Lucan would not touch her while she was pregnant. However, her mother had also been right, as Lucan instead focused his attention onto their 5 year old son, Sebastien. That spring, he declared that Sebastien was old enough to start training for his knighthood. Jocelyne felt powerless to stop him. But after Lucan struck Sebastien so hard with the wooden training sword that he broke the boy’s arm, she intervened. She fell to her knees in the mud, using her body to shield her sobbing son. Her swollen belly jutted out toward Lucan, and she knew she was risking her unborn child to save her living one. She begged Lucan to give him more time, that Sebastien wasn’t ready yet, wasn’t big enough yet. She told him that even the royal children stayed in the nursery until at least seven. Lucan looked at her with little expression on his face and she feared the worst. Instead, he agreed to give Sebastien until exactly his seventh birthday, and not a day more. Then, he promptly left Hartsmoor until it was time for Jocelyne to have her baby.

Jocelyne regretted her decisions as soon as her children were born in August of 2475. On the hottest day of the year, even in the normally cool mountains, she pushed out Phillipa first, followed by Percival. One girl, one boy. One fair, one dark. These were twins born of magic, the merging of ancient bloodlines. They would be important people, and they would suffer for it. Jocelyne got a chill up her spine as she realized this was the same sort of premonition Joyce had had, predicting her own death. The twins, born on the 18th day, in the 18th hour, 18 minutes apart, after 18 hours of labor. She felt her heart breaking on what should have been such a joyous day. The prophecy said her daughter would die at 18. What had she done?

It wasn’t until later, after everyone had been cleaned up and presented to the Duke that she saw the other side of the coin. Lucan was holding Percy while she clung to tiny Pippa. What a fortuitous day, Lucan declared. Born on the same day as the little queen’s first birthday. It had to be a good omen. Lucan gazed down at Percy, with that same almost loving expression he had shown when Sebastien was born. Maybe Percy and little Tamzin were destined for each other.

Jocelyne stayed up all night pondering. Could Lucan be right? Could this all actually be a good omen? The signs all pointed to her original conclusion. The prophecy spoke of a dark star and a second coming of Lilliandil. Percy had a mop of dark curls, much darker than his father’s brown hair. And Pippa, her hair was as pale as Jocelyne’s. Neither of them matched Sebastien, who had gotten his father’s hair. But maybe it was just the Astra blood. Ursula’s magic had always been stronger in daughters than sons. And maybe Percy’s hair was because of the magic; because he had to be the opposite of Pippa in every way. Maybe they weren’t the children of the prophecy. Deep down, she knew she was just clawing at anything out of desperation. But she clung to hope. She had to.