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Summary
A Question of Price
Geralt attends a banquet being held by Queen Calanthe of Cintra. He is disguised as a nobleman, but does not know why the queen has asked for a witcher to be present or why he sits beside her. The banquet is to welcome potential suitors of Princess Pavetta, who will soon be turning fifteen and be eligible for marriage. Because the queen is a widow and Cintran law dictates that women can’t rule, whoever marries Pavetta will take the throne as king. Several important figures are in attendance but the attention is on a group from Skellige because Calanthe wants Pavetta to marry someone from there. Calanthe only speaks to Geralt when the feast becomes loud enough that they won’t be overheard. She tells him she wants him stop someone who threatens the marriage alliance with Skellige, though she refuses to give him any details. Rather, she tells him that she is only interested in two results: Pavetta’s marriage to the right person, and Cintra getting a king from Skellige.
A strange guest in full armor arrives and introduces himself as Urcheon of Erlenwald. He explains that he must keep his face hidden as his knightly vows forbid revealing it before midnight. He tells the story of when he rescued Cintra’s late king, Roegner. As a reward, Roegner promised to give him whatever first greeted him at his home. When Roegner returned home, he met Pavetta, his newborn daughter, so Urcheon could claim her as his reward. Urcheon’s story causes an uproar among the suitors, but Eist Tuirseach, a warrior from Skellige, calms them. Geralt explains that the Law of Surprise underpins the promise Roegner made to Urcheon. For Roegner’s promise to be fulfilled, Pavetta must agree to it.
When the midnight bell rings, Calanthe insists that Urcheon remove his visor and show Pavetta his face. When he does, his face is revealed to have black button-like eyes, a long muzzle covered in reddish whiskers, sharp fangs, and gray fur. Calanthe asks Pavetta whether she chooses to marry Urcheon and Pavetta says yes. Enraged, the other suitors in the room rush at Urcheon and Calanthe calls for the guards. Geralt and Eist Tuirseach move to help Urcheon. Pavetta cries out in a horrifying wail that sounds as though it’s coming from numerous throats. All around the room, objects are sent scattering and even the throne smashes into a wall. Pavetta’s cries lash out like a whip and Mousesack, a druid, tells Geralt that Pavetta is using pure, primordial Force and that she has no control over it. The two pair up and use magic to subdue her, but it has no effect. Pavetta destroys more of the room until she is distracted by one of the banquet-goers throttling a bagpipe and making a terrible sound. At that moment, Geralt and Mousesack hit her with another volley of magic, which dispels the concentrated Force.
In the moments after the chaos, Eist Tuirseach embraces Calanthe and Pavetta goes to the wounded Urcheon’s side. Urcheon transforms into a handsome human man and Pavetta calls him “Duny.” Urcheon reveals that he was a noble cursed at birth to look like a monster from dawn to midnight and as a normal man from midnight to dawn. He was sent away to live with one of his father’s knights. He learned that the Law of Surprise could break his curse, so he followed through on Roegner’s promise. When Pavetta reveals that she has been romantically involved with Urcheon for a year, Calanthe agrees to let them be together. Calanthe also announces that she will be marrying Eist Tuirseach, who will reign beside her as King of Cintra. When Urcheon doesn’t turn back into a beast at dawn, Geralt and Mousesack point out that Calanthe lifted the curse by allowing them to be together. Calanthe gives Geralt an emerald necklace as payment. Urcheon also insists on paying him. Geralt tells him that Urcheon will give him something that he already has and does not know about. Urcheon looks at Pavetta and implies that she is pregnant. Pavetta does not deny it.
Analysis
Taking place in Cintra, this chapter ties back into the previous “Voice of Reason” section and helps establish a timeline for the stories in the novel. While talking with Iola, Geralt mentions Cintra, saying that he will never go back there even though he supposes the child has been born. Most importantly, this helps to establish something of a timeline. Geralt says that the child will be about six years old, meaning that the banquet took place six years before all the “Voice of Reason” chapters.
This section draws strongly on folklore and fairy tales, mirroring major elements of the fairy tale “Hans My Hedgehog” and other stories that feature men transforming into creatures. Urcheon’s story shares several elements with these types of stories, including his physical appearance and his deal with Roegner. As with the other parts of the book that use fairy tales as background, Urcheon’s story deviates significantly from folklore in that his primary desire is not to change back into a human. Rather, the chapter focuses on how Urcheon’s claim to Pavetta leads to their fateful bond and the chaotic events at the banquet.
Pavetta and Urcheon’s relationship is described as being forged by destiny because of the Law of Surprise, which adds to the theme of fate. While it was Roegner’s deal with Urcheon that created the connection between the couple, their bond is so powerful that even Geralt can feel it lingering as a force in the air around them when Urcheon arrives at the banquet. Their bond of destiny is so strong that it becomes tangible to people who are simply in the same room as them. This makes a strong argument that the story’s fate is less of a concept or metaphor, and more of a power that compels one to act. By inviting Geralt to the dinner and tasking him to stop their marriage, Calanthe acknowledges that Pavetta and Urcheon had an undeniable connection. Of course, in doing this, she created the perfect circumstances for their destiny to be fulfilled.
Calanthe’s scheme to secure a suitable husband for Pavetta occurs because of Cintra’s gendered political system. Calanthe is perfectly suited for the role of monarch and has ruled Cintra in her late husband’s absence. Despite this, Cintran law dictates that a queen cannot be the true ruler of the country. Despite the fact that Calanthe is a well-respected queen, she can’t become the leader of Cintra because she is a woman. Throughout the banquet, she displays the kind of command and diplomatic maneuvering necessary of a great leader. Even Geralt sees her as the final authority in the country. While Urcheon is revealed to be a good man, Calanthe hesitates to give up her power. Allowing Urcheon to be king would place her below him and Pavetta in the power structure. As the leader of Cintra since Roegner’s death, Calanthe chooses to hold onto whatever power she can. Her last-minute decision to marry Eist Tuirseach, allows her to rule as queen at his side, although he would become the true head of Cintra. This is the only way Calanthe is able to keep her power at all.
Pavetta’s strange and somewhat alarming shift from a barely audible, shy princess to a howling conduit of pure Force recalls other girls in the novel who have weaponized their voices in earlier chapters. The striga from “The Witcher” was a cursed teenager, but Vereena from “A Grain of Truth” was actually a monster. Both of them raised their voices to gain power and fight for their lives. For the third time in the book, a young woman screams with such a force that it causes physical damage to the area and people around her. Pavetta’s change is all the more notable because she is not a monster. She is a girl who’s reacting to the fact that her beloved Urcheon is in danger. She uses her voice to defend their future happiness. On instinct, she taps into the Force of magical energy that permeates everything and creates a kinetic field of anger fueled by her screams. Notably, she draws on this Force but is unable to control it, suggesting that Pavetta’s screams are an expression of that Force and come from somewhere beyond her. This also points to a fundamental difference between the attack that Pavetta uses and those used by the striga and Vereena because Pavetta did not choose to harm people.
