Cecily Heartvale

Cecily Heartvale (nee Guillart) was born to a minor noble house in the Kingdom of Thranes capital. Despite her vast beauty she had always been sickly, but that hadn't stopped Ulric Heartvale from meeting her at a ball one night during peace talks with Thrane, and it hadn't stopped them from falling in love. Ulric didn't care that her family was barely considered nobility or about her poor health, he just cared about her and all of the amazing things she had done to help the people of Knotside during her visits. Once married they had set on trying to have a child together, the ultimate show of their love and something they both had always wanted. When Cecily was pronounced barren by the palace physician her entire world shattered. Her main concern was how the Kingdom and Magisterium pressured Ulric and Cecily to declare or produce an heir. She gave Ulric her blessing to produce a bastard heir, sure that she would never have a child and not willing to let the Heartvale name die with them. Then later in the year a very pregnant woman was brought into the palace, and Aleksandra Heartvale was born. She loved Aleksandra as her own daughter, and very happily raised her with Ulric as such. Despite not being her blood she had a lot in common with the young princess, both were strong willed and opinionated and refused to back down from an argument. They both did what they could to help those less fortunate, sewing and knitting clothes and blankets for orphanages and shelters, volunteering at the public kitchens, and bringing orphans on tours of opera houses, schools, knights academies, anything to show the youth of Knotside what their options were once they were school aged. In Aleksandra she saw a lot of her own kind soul.

A Princess is Born

When she discovered she was with child nearly a decade later, she was overjoyed. Her love for Aleksandra stayed as strong as before, and despite many complications she pulled through a difficult pregnancy. It left her weakened, her fiery spirit tamed by the physical toll it took on her body to carry and then deliver Ophelia Heartvale into the world. She went out less often and focused more on her needlework and knitting, now preferring the quiet over her political arguments. As the years passed her heart grew weaker and weaker, and she realized that Ophelia too suffered from the same condition as she. Death did not scare her, she was no stranger to it taking those she loved and now she welcomed it as an old friend. One night she passed quietly, a smile on her face, and the Kingdom mourned for weeks. In the wake of her death many began to perform random acts of kindness in her memory, and King Ulric dedicated the newly renovated Sanatorium in her honor.