#⌞she who was ard rhena.�� headcanon

[lwiamatka-a]

The Elder Blood

What is the Elder Blood?

The Elder Blood or Hen Ichaer, later known as Lara Gene, was a genetic program, a mutation similar to these of Witchers, that was carried out by powerful elven mages, known as Sages, for the purpose of creating an extraordinarily gifted child whose power would exceed their own. According to the prophecy of the elven diviner Ithlinne, the Child of Elder blood will one day save the elves from annihilation. The first, and last, successfully created Child of Elder Blood was Lara Dorren Aep Shiadhal, the daughter of King Auberon Muircetach and his wife Queen Shiadhal, who decided to go against her destiny and bonded with a human instead of an elf, thus shattering all plans regarding her offspring. Because it is a mutation, it has both its perks and side-effects.

The splitting of the Elder Blood.

Lara Dorren’s daughter, Riannon, gave birth to twins - Fiona and Amavet, which led to the gene being split into the latent gene, and the activator. The gene became weak and was deteriorating with every passing generation. It was restored, however, in Calanthe, the Queen of Cintra, thanks to the union between Adalia, Countess Garramone and Dagorad, King of Cintra. The restoration of the gene was not accidental. It was a plan created carefully by Adalia and Tissaia de Vries, as a way to create the child of prophecy that would stop the world from destruction. As a result of the sorceresses’ scheming, Adalia was offered to marry Dagorad, and out of their union Calanthe was born - the First Red Apple, the first carrier of Elder Blood since Riannon. The Brotherhood planned to raise the child and teach her how to use the power of the Elder Blood to destroy the Empire of Nilfgaard and save the world from White Frost. Sadly, their plans fell flat when Calanthe refused to take on the path of a sorceress, and chose to be a Queen instead.

Beauty and fertility.

Similarly to the Witcher mutations, Elder Blood increases its carrier’s sex drive. But, because its very purpose was to create very powerful children, in opposite to Witcher mutations that cause infertility, the Elder Blood increases the carrier’s sex drive, fertility and attractiveness, making the daughters of elder blood the most beautiful women of their time, respectively.

- Lara Dorren was absolutely beautiful. Avallac'h was obsessed with her. She was so beautiful that she literally frightened mortal men.  - Riannon was stunningly beautiful, as well, her husband Goidemar was so in love with her some thought she cast an evil curse on him. She had twins, as a side-effect of the increased fertility. - Fiona and Amavet. Fiona’s husband, while not in love with her, treated her like an ornate statue, or a praise. Amavet was a casanova who slept with countless girls. He started with those that were a lot younger, but quickly got bored and moved on to more experienced ladies He got a married countess to fall in love with him, gave her bastard twins and got murdered for it.  - Corbett, son of Fiona and Muriel, daughter of Amavet. Corbett slept with everything and everyone, he was known for having almost ruined Cintra with how many both male and female lovers he had, handing power and honours to them. Muriel was called the lovely harlot and the doe-eyed Muriel because of how beautiful and promiscuous she was. - Dagorad, son of Corbett and Adalia, daughter of Muriel. The only quite decent bunch, even though Adalia was still extremely beautiful, known in her youth in Temeria as the Beautiful Adalia, having married Duke Ragbard of Ellander who died barely a year later before marrying Dagorad.  - Calanthe - she is where the gene connected and was restored. She was the first carrier of the full gene since Riannon and so beautiful that the people of Skellige believed her to be a goddess incarnate. Thirty men sailed to Cintra from Skellige to at least get a glance of her beauty. - Pavetta literally rendered men speechless with her beauty. - Ciri grew so beautiful that a man fell to his knees in front of her wondering if she’s a mortal woman, an otherworldly creature or a goddess.

Side-effects.

The Elder Blood gene gives its carrier direct connection with the chaos, allowing them to draw from it and use its power raw, without having to pay back as much as regular sorceresses do. Or, so did the creators of the gene think. It hasn’t been observed yet, because all the carriers up to the current point in history had died young or (like Calanthe or Riannon) chose not to use their connection. If one was to, however, use the power excessively, they would sooner or later find themselves corrupted by the chaos. Slowly, but surely, the more energy they draw from it, the deeper they fall into its embrace. The Elder Blood teaches its carrier how to use itself. It feels like riding a bike, or re-visiting a place one had been to before, many, many years ago. It feels like memories slowly returning, as it pulls the carrier further into the chaos. Men cannot be the carriers of the full Elder Blood gene, only the latent or the activator, which is why Calanthe lost two of her unborn children - they both would have been boys, but they didn’t survive to term.

Calanthe’s Elder Blood.

Because of poor relationship with her mother and Calanthe’s distrust for mages and anything magic-related, she refused to even try and learn to use the magic that sleeps dormant inside of her. She knows not of the significance of the gene, nor does she care for it. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have the potential. If she only reached for the gift, she would possibly be the most powerful sorceress in history, similarly to Lara Dorren. Even without any training, when she’s scared or worried or mad, the aura of power around her can be overwhelming. She does happen to have the Elder Blood screaming episodes, although rare - when she yells at someone, even dogs go silent around the palace, the ceiling shakes. One of such screams happened to her during the Battle of Hochebuz. Back then, it was interpreted as a roar by the people, and earned her her title of the Lioness of Cintra.

[lionorsa-a]

“ i am not looking for a husband. “ her voice was cold and stern, certain, leaving no place for debate, or so she wanted it to sound. but how could she, if she was but a young girl, aged barely sixteen, and every single one of the men that now stood before her believed they knew better. “ as you wish, your majesty. “ one of the nobles spoke, lowering his head. “ but if i may, i do not believe it to be wise. without a king, cintra risks civil war... and you know how cruel civil war can be. especially to the civilians. “ the threat hung heavily in the air... calanthe knew what it meant. she couldn’t risk the lives of innocents, she could not... 

                                                          ------

she rode through the villages on her white horse, silver armor shining in the sun, reflecting in her ashen grey curls that now, after the battle, were set free. people left their houses to get a glimpse of their savior. their queen, their lioness. riding up a small hill, calanthe faced them finally. women, men and children. all staring at her with something that neared adoration in their eyes.  “ my beloved people... “ she spoke out, and silence fell on the villagers, they drank her words like she was a goddess. “ you are free of nazairian terror. they shan’t ever again kill your children, burn your houses and steal your crops. “ some women had tears in their eyes, she could tell. those were the mothers that lost their sons and watched their daughters defiled. “ you are all my children, and as i swore the day i took this crown before the gods, i swear to you now - as i am your queen, i shall protect you, every single one of you, and no harm will come to you. “  “ long live, queen calanthe! long live, lioness of cintra! “ the people begun to cry out and... gods, did it feel good. she slid off her horse, and turned to vissegerd. her loyal marshal.  “ how many did we lose? “ she asked, her tone sorrowful. “ just three thousands, my queen. minimal losses. “ “ how dare you. these were three thousands of my men. good men. “ “ my queen, don’t bother yourself with that. our forces were equal, we were looking at losing at least twice that many. “  “ i want to hear no more of this. “ she huffed. “ each of these men, i want their bodies brought back to their families, for proper burial. and then, each family that lost their son, husband, father, whatever it may be, shall be rewarded a hundred ducats. that’s the least we can do. ” the marshal didn’t dare to cut into her word again, only bowed his head and left. with that, calanthe begun to prepare herself for a ride back to the capital, when suddenly someone pulled at her sleeve. she had to look down, for it was a little girl, offering her a sewn doll, old and dirty, so unlike the dolls calanthe used to play with as a child... this girl who had so little, was offering her her toy as a sign of gratitude... it took a lot to keep her emerald green eyes from watering, and she leaned a little closer, hand resting on the top of the child’s head, and she pressed a tender kiss to her forehead. 

                                                         ------  “ gentlemen, i have decided to follow your advice... i will find a man suited to become my husband and... a king, to cintra. “ that word barely left her throat, lips curled in disgust. but they seemed pleased with themselves. fuckers. one day soon, she’d have their heads on a silver platter. 

[marvellouslymadmim]

Hi!! I was wondering what your headcanons were about Calanthe after she loses Pavetta? Also do you have any plans to write a fic featuring Calanthe x Eist after Pavetta dies (whether it be in A Night With the Queen or otherwise)? I love your writing so much (I’ve reread every fic you have for them about 5 times each) and I’m curious about your take on Calanthe’s grief. I do love to feel pain 😭

oof. I have a few. And yes, we’re gonna see some of it in A Night with the Queen. But due to that story’s format, we won’t be able to go as in-depth as my actual headcanons are, so here we go:

I feel like Calanthe is someone who does two things when she is hit with a loss: instantly lash out at everyone around her (banquet scene, anyone?), and then immediately internalize it and blame herself for everything she didn’t do to prevent the situation. She’s used to getting her way (I mean, it’s canon that she was a spoiled child, and we definitely still see that she’s politically powerful enough to very rarely hear “no” by the time she’s ard rhena), and I think sometimes she truly has bought into her own mythos as the Lioness of Hochebuz--she was a child who triumphed over an army, and I think part of her believes in her own invincibility and therefore her own ability to truly make anything and everything go her way, regardless of the odds. So when things don’t go her way, it isn’t because they never could--but rather because she didn’t try hard enough. 

So when Pavetta is lost at sea, Calanthe does both of those things. In Blood of Elves, we see in a flashback from Ciri’s POV that Calanthe definitely lashed out at Crach (and most likely Eist, once he returned from searching) for ever allowing Pavetta to leave the isles with Duny. The book also talks of Eist’s “stony, pale face. And the queen’s silence.” So...definitely things were happening there. I think that after Calanthe blamed Crach and Eist for allowing Pavetta to go out to sea, she began blaming herself for not preventing it--for allowing Pavetta to travel to Skellige, for not searching long enough and hard enough for her afterwards, for not eventually bringing Pavetta’s body back home to rest.

In A Night with the Queen, we’re gonna see Calanthe becoming obsessed with the idea that until they find a body, there’s still a chance that Pavetta is alive. Because her daughter is powerful beyond anything anyone has ever seen--she can create her own tempest, so what could a tempest do to her, truly? She constantly pushes Eist to keep looking, to keep sending out search parties farther and farther away from the wreckage site, still convinced that Pavetta washed ashore, completely unharmed, and is merely waiting to be found and brought home. 

I think it takes a while for Calanthe to truly admit that her daughter is gone forever. And I think when she does, it creates a new grief spiral as she accepts it. That is the moment that she truly turns inward and shuts out the rest of the world.

As someone who, unfortunately, is very deeply acquainted with grief and loss, I can tell you that grieving is an extremely private process and even if you share a loss with someone, the journey of your grief is entirely solo. You heal at different rates, in different ways. You heal...apart, in a way. And then you have to figure out how to grow back inwards, together again. I think Eist and Calanthe grew apart in their grief and then did have to make a conscious decision to turn back into each other, to find and give comfort as a team. 

I think in the beginning, Calanthe is very unaware of how it affects Eist. She’s too wrapped up in her own grief and definitely relies on his support even as she pushes him away and continues lashing out. Ciri is definitely the main reason that she doesn’t freeze him out entirely during this time--just as she fixates on bringing Pavetta back, she obsesses over Ciri’s wellbeing to deflect from dealing with her own issues. 

And I think she uses Cirilla as a shield, too. Constantly puts their granddaughter between her and Eist to avoid dealing with the growing gulf between them. Ciri has always spent a lot of time with her grandparents, but after Pavetta’s death, Calanthe keeps Ciri at her side at all times. For months, Ciri sleeps with them, and stays within Calanthe’s line of sight during her every waking moment. Eist misses having time to simply be with his wife and his best friend, but of course, how can he say anything when it’s for the wellbeing of their granddaughter, who just tragically lost her mother? And how can he say anything when Ciri obviously brings Calanthe comfort in turn?

Once Calanthe does realize that Eist has also experienced loss, and that he’s spent his time trying to take care of her, rather than deal with his own grief, a shift occurs. She acknowledges the burden she’s put on him and becomes apologetic--and from there, they gingerly and slowly start to move forward, together. Ultimately, I think it’s what strengthens their relationship past everything they were before. Because Calanthe recognizes that she has pushed him in ways that would cause most people to abandon her, and yet he stayed. I think that given her first marriage, she always kind of assumed that there was a chance things might fall apart between her and Eist--but when the worst possible thing imaginable happens and they survive it, she abandons all thought of them ever truly being separated, emotionally or physically. (and honestly, it makes her little Tommen toodley-boop out the window more understandable, too--because she doesn’t want to be in a world without him, because he’s been one of the only people who has ever seen her and made the world bearable....she’s done what she could to correct her folly with Geralt and has sent Ciri into safety, and now all she wants is to be with Eist again) After that, she truly becomes the all-in, completely devoted and adoring lover that we see in her final scenes with Eist. They understand and see each other on a level that no one else ever has or will, at that point, and they’re both highly aware of it--and eventually, they find a way to see it as something to relish and celebrate. 

As the years wear on and the grief become less startlingly painful, I think Calanthe is able to find comfort in seeing Cirilla become so much like her mother. We see there’s a stark difference in how Calanthe reigns/presents herself as queen between the time of the betrothal feast and the sacking of Cintra. I think some of it is due to the fact that Calanthe genuinely tries to be more of the influence that Pavetta would have been on her daughter. And she tries to honor Pavetta’s legacy by teaching Ciri in a kinder, softer way than she taught Pavetta. She tries to raise Cirilla not according to her own ideals (most of the time, at least)--but rather what she thinks Pavetta would have wanted. 

Ok, I feel like I’ve rambled enough for one post...thank you so much for dragging me down the headcanon rabbit hole (and for re-reading my fics, the thought brings such joy!) and hopefully we’ll actually get to see some of this come up in future fics. 

[lwiamatka-a]

i would just kindly like to remind everyone, that after her grandchild had been predestined to become a witcher, calanthe begun to study them. their history, their rituals, she learned everything there was to learn, and more - she learns of secrets that geralt is shocked, or terrified, she managed to somehow find out about. she knows of the trial of grasses, she knows that only one in TEN children survives, she knows of madness and exploding eyes and she learned about all of this, thinking that one day this may happen to CIRI. and she’s terrified. the day geralt comes to cintra, she’s absolutely terrified. but in all this, it is also clear that ciri’s wellbeing is what she cares about the most, as she even tells geralt:

“The result in my eyes is quite evident. If I knew that Pavetta's child would become someone like you, I wouldn't hesitate an instant." "The risk is very large," he said quickly. "It's just as you said: four in ten survive." "By the devil! Is there only danger in the event of these changes? Only the future witchers take risks? Life is full of hazards, Geralt. Life, too, is governed by selection: accidents, diseases, wars. Opposing destiny is perhaps as dangerous as abandoning it. Geralt... I would voluntarily give you this child, but.. I am also afraid."

this is also the only time in the books calanthe openly admits fear. 

[lwiamatka-a]

calanthe + bipolar disorder.

          ever since she was 15 years old, calanthe suffers of type 1 bipolar disorder. this means that her life is a constant struggle and emotional swing. bipolar disorder can be triggered by many traumatic events. in her case, it formed due to the coldness she suffered at the hands of her mother and, eventually, due to the death of her father. as king dagorad died, 14 year old princess calanthe sat by his deathbed, holding his hand for three days and three nights straight. 

          the easiest to notice, because that’s how we see her each time she physically appears in the books, are her manic phases. the symptoms of mania that calanthe clearly experiences are:

- relentlessness, exceptional energy, lack of sleep - she overfixates on her goal (5 years devoted to studying law of surprise, 6 years devoted to studying witchers), doesn’t sleep much, and yet always remains very energetic. 

- racing thoughts - she thinks about a lot of things at once, forms plans and ideas in a matter of seconds. we can see it in the way she handles duny in a question of price. every time her plan fails she comes up with something new on the spot. making him reveal his face, the clock, the council, setting the knights against him. she’s very quick-witted.

- risky behaviour - people with mania often make irrational decisions that they wouldn’t normally make (take huge loans, gamble, commit adultery) and calanthe does it, too. she made most of her major law changes in cintra, such as re-privatisation of land and lowering of taxes in the state of mania. to others, these ideas were absurd and risky while in fact, they helped cintra and its people thrive. 

- speech disruptions (rapid, incoherent speech, often impossible to interrupt) - that is something calanthe, in large, managed to control in her older years. she still, however, talks a lot (several monologues) and absolutely hates being interrupted. 

          other than that, calanthe also experiences irritability, or feelings of inflated self-esteem and self-importance, when in manic state. 

          in rare cases, mania can cause her to become psychotic and lose touch with reality. in these extreme cases, calanthe experiences delusional and paranoid thoughts. one such episode happened near to roegner’s death, when his constant absences paired with her manic state caused her to believe he was looking for a new, young wife who would give him a son and tried to poison her. 

          manic phases are often followed by moderate phase. that’s when calanthe begins to slow down. she needs more sleep, she has less energy. and she becomes frustrated with herself. she doesn’t know, that she had been overperforming when in the state of mania. she feels like she begins to underperform. the exhaustion of her body catches up to her. her inflated ego disappears and she becomes very critical of herself. She attempts to push herself to the same standard she’s been mantaining, when manic, and becomes frustrated when she cannot. this, in turn, always leads towards a depressive phase. 

          people with bipolar disorder, when in depressive phase, experience most of the same symptoms that people with clinical depression do: tiredness, irritability, trouble concentrating, changes in sleeping habits, changes in eating habits, extended periods of sadness and hopelessness, thoughts of suicide (in calanthe’s case, one failed attempt). 

          a change of phases can be caused by many things. alcohol, skipping sleep, some types of medicine or drugs, pregnancy, a fight, high stress, and even something as minor and natural as a change of seasons. phases can last anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of months (in calanthe’s case, up to six months). and while, due to the canonical era the witcher happens in, calanthe cannot identify her illness, in the 30 years she had to live with it, she learned to if not control it, then at least handle it fairly well.

[lwiamatka-a]

feainnewedd, the flowers that only grow where the elder blood had been spilled currently grow in two places in the continent - the hill lara dorren bled out to death on, and cintra’s court, where calanthe’s body hit the ground.

[lwiamatka-a]

my portrayal of calanthe (and, as per my suspicions, calanthe in the books in general) is heavily based upon jadwiga, the only female king of poland. so i’ve decided to compile the similarities between the two:

jadwiga:

“Men made her life hell. Today no one remembers that in her youth she was called a prostitute, a harlot, an adulteress.”

calanthe:

“At first, Lioness Calanthe did not want to marry at all, later however, when she agreed to marriage of convenience after many persuasions, it turned out there were not many volunteers. Too many gossips were spread of the princess - later queen - of Cintra. They spoke of incestuous relationships in the family, they spoke of “hot blood”, of numerous romances and adventures. They spoke even of a perverse relationship of Calanthe with her cousin, Queen Meve of Lyria. All of this caused many princes and kings to politely refuse, when they were proposed a union.”

jadwiga:

“Jadwiga stood in front line in a battle. She saddled a horse and led her soldiers to battle aged fourteen.  She won the battle and therefore returned the territory to her homeland after it was successfully taken by Hungary. Supposedly the Queen was known for her explosive temperament. She couldn’t stand idly by when her people were being raided.”

calanthe:

‘Hochebuz,’  said Calante, looking at Geralt,  'my first battle. Although I fear rousing the indignation and contempt of such a proud witcher, I confess that we were fighting for money. Our enemy was burning villages which paid us levies and we, greedy for our tributes, challenged them on the field.

jadwiga:

“Jadwiga could not only command an army. She was a skilled politician. She refused to be pushed away from power and give it up to her husband - she herself actively participated in politics.”

“Therefore, Jadwiga was not only known for the love and devotion of her subjects, who believed her to be a saint even in life. Together with her husband she built the Kingdom’s power.”

calanthe:

‘She chose the third option and she ruled the country … but at Roegner’s side. Naturally, she didn’t allow herself to be subjugated or bundled off to join the womenfolk. She was the Lioness of Cintra. But it was Roegner who was the formal ruler – though none ever called him “the Lion”.’

jadwiga took the throne of poland at a young age, much like calanthe. the battle also happened when they were approximately the same age. 

there is a story about jadwiga hearing a man crying out for his sick wife and begging for a single golden penny, to which she took a golden and jeweled pin that was worth a fortune off of her shoe and gave him that instead, which is similar to geralt asking for a sash and receiving an emerald necklace with stones the smallest of which were the size of a bumblebee. 

jadwiga was known as the spiritual mother of the poor, weak and ill of poland, and one of calanthe’s titles is mother calanthe. similarly, jadwiga would sometimes be called the highest queen, just like calanthe was (ard rhena). 

someone once said, “queen jadwiga truly was an angel on earth”, and i feel like the same could easily be said about calanthe.

[lwiamatka-a]

having a daughter with hair as long and thick as pavetta, calanthe is amazing at braiding. they’d often sit in the evening by the fireplace, pavetta reading a book and calanthe playing with her hair, making the most fancy and complicated hairdos for her. to calanthe, it was very relaxing, and to both of them, it was a good bonding moment. 

later, she would do the same for ciri, finding comfort in that simple act of affection, even though her granddaughter would have much less patience for sitting in one place, and would destroy any intricate hairstyles calanthe came up with very quickly.

[lwiamatka-a]

headcanon masterpost: cintra.

because i strongly believe that cintra is both meant to symbolise and based on poland (a politically strong country that had a strategically important position on the map, with access to the sea, that is conquered, ruined and oppressedby a big and cruel invader) i’ve decided to list a couple of polish traditions in context of cintra. i will be a also using poland’s culture in my further worldbuilding of the country. 

spring:

in cintra, spring is a very joyous time of the year. the official first day of spring is on the 20th of march. on that day, girls make flower crowns and walk around in them until sunset, when they then set them down yaruga river. legend says, that if their flower crown makes it all the way to the sea without sinking or being caught on the shore or in the debris, the girl would get happily married that same year. flower crowns have very significant meaning in cintra, specifically among the common folk. a young girl wearing a flower crown announces that she’s a maiden and seeking marriage. a man taking the flower crown off her head and throwing it into the river can be an equivalent to a proposal. on the first day of spring day, a big celebration is held in the main market of each city, where people can dance and sing songs about saying goodbye to winter and welcoming summer. on top of that, a doll of straw that symbolises winter is being made (marzanna) that is either being burned, or drowned, to ensure that winter leaves for good and the weather starts getting better for the crops. accidentally, 20th of March is also queen calanthe’s birthday.

summer:

the day of summer solstice, the 20th of june, is also known as the night of kupala. it’s the shortest night of the year. it’s the night when the sun, the moon, fire and water, fertility and plentiful harvest are celebrated. nobody sleeps on that night. a huge feast is held in the main market of the capital, where everyone, rich and poor, can come and sit at the table. massive pyres are burning, and people dance around them, holding hands. 

autumn:

the night on the 31st of october - 1st of november, is when cintra celebrates DZIADY (in loose translation -  grandfathers). the night when the dead and the living celebrate together. it is believed, that on this day the souls of the deceased relatives come back home, to warm themselves by the fire and  search for the commemoration meal prepared for them. candles are lit on the graves, as the light is supposed to remind those that left this world, that they are loved and remembered. sometimes, loafs of bread would be given out to those in need, or simply left on the grave together with the candles. it is a very quiet holiday, with not much music or laughter, most people lost in their own thoughts and memories, contemplating the fragility of life. on top of that, 30th of november is believed to be the day the line between the mortal world and the world of the spirits is the thinniest - it’s a good day to communicate with the gods, the loved ones that has passed on, and any prophecies, divinations and spells are believed to be stronger on that day.

winter:

the winter solstice festival is filled with revelry. processions of people masked like animals and dressed in costumes roam the villages. often such processions consisted of a person disguised as a half-human, half-goat, a child riding a horse and a man holding a solar symbol lit by a candle, meaning to symbolise the sun that would soon come. this group of revelers would go from house to house and stop to sing songs. these songs usually included invocations to the gods, praises and good wishes to those who listened, requests for gifts and threats if refused. the pranks played against those who would not give rewards could be brutal.  bonfires were sometimes lit, and the dead ancestors were invited inside to warm themselves. mock funerals were held where a person pretending to be dead was carried into the house amidst both laughter and feigned weeping. a young girl would be chosen and traditionally would kiss the “corpse” on the lips. the “corpse” would leap up after being kissed - a symbol of rebirth. later, in queen calanthe’s reign, that would also be time when bread, hot water and warm clothing was given out to those in need, whose harvest wasn’t good enough to survive the winter on their own.

[lwiamatka-a]

let us not forget that calanthe was like the first character in the entire saga to speak in a positive way about witchers; 

'It's true,' said Calanthe. 'Geralt, present here, is a witcher. His trade is worthy of respect and esteem. He has sacrificed himself to protect us from monsters and nightmares born in the night, those sent by powers ominous and harmful to man. He kills the horrors and monsters that await us in the forests and ravines. And those which have the audacity to enter our dwellings.'

[lwiamatka-a]

for months after pavetta’s death, calanthe would have mental breakdowns and rage attacks, when she’d scream and cry, turn over furniture in her room and destroy everything that came into her hands. ciri was then securely kept away from calanthe’s chambers, to not witness any of this. she also gained weight noticeably, undereating and overdoing on wine, as we see mentioned in the sword of destiny:

“As before, the queen wore emeralds matching the green of her dress and her eyes. As before, a thin gold crown encircled her ash-gray hair. But her hands, which he remembered as thin and white, were not as thin as before. Calanthe had put on weight.”

that wasn’t the end of it, however. mousesack would prepare drops for her - she was meant to be adding a drop to her tea before going to bed. two, if it was really bad.

after pavetta died, calanthe shut herself from the rest of the court, eist included, for half a year. one day, she didn’t answer the door when her handmaiden knocked on it. eist kicked the door in and they found her on the floor, empty vial in her hand. everyone knew what happened. 

gladly, mousesack managed to give her the antidote in the very last moment. she slept for three days. after she woke up, eist was furious. he yelled at her for the first and last time in their lives. for even considering such a thing. for being selfish. for leaving ciri alone in her grieving, when her granddaughter needed her the most.

ciri never learned about the incident. the court is forbidden of speaking about it. eist and calanthe never spoke about it again.

[lwiamatka-a]

‘Dear child,’ said Vesemir gravely, 'don’t let yourself get carried away by your emotions. You were brought up differently, you’ve seen children being brought up in another way. Ciri comes from the south where girls and boys are brought up in the same way, like the elves. She was put on a pony when she was five and when she was eight she was already riding out hunting. She was taught to use a bow, javelin and sword. A bruise is nothing new to Ciri—’ Andrzej Sapkowski, Blood of Elves.

This is important okay! In Cintra, boys and girls are brought up in the same way. They are allowed to be what they want to be. Girls can be warriors. Girls can be fighters. There are no gender roles pushed on them. They can be girly if they want to be girly, but if they want to pick up a sword, they are more than welcome to. And I love it.

[lwiamatka-a]

the people of calanthe’s court:

haxo - royal castellan. a womanizer and cassanova, as well as the master of gossips,bringing every whisper from the palace straight into calanthe’s ear. vissegerd - the marshal, the highest military position in cintra right after king and queen. having served under calanthe’s father, he taught her swordfighting as well as war strategy. he felt unrequited love towards the princess and later queen of cintra and betrayed her after her death. drogodar - royal minstrel, serving in calanthe’s court for over 20 years, ever since he was a young and aspiring bard. he often accompanied the queen and her handmaidens, playing for them in the gardens. he wrote several songs about the beauty and bravery of the queen, including the song of hochebuz, as well as played for calanthe the last few days of her life while she commanded the defence of the castle from her deathbed. rowan - a girl born and raised in ebbing, the one who brought the news of nilfgaard’s invasion on roegner’s land to cintra. having nowhere to go, she stayed in the royal palace and quickly proved herself as a skilled warrior, deeloping undying devotion to calanthe, she became the captain of the castle guard. beatrice - calanthe’s favourite handmaiden. young and quiet, beatrice lost her parents during the big smallpox outbreak in cintra in 1247. calanthe took her in and ever since treated her nearly as her own daughter. beatrice is also the only one of calanthe’s handmaidens tolerated by ciri. magdalene - one of calanthe’s handmaidens, a daughter of one of the old houses. gossip girl, spreading rumours not only to calanthe, but also about her. secretly, haxo’s lover. after the fall of cintra she ran away with her parents and settled down in temeria. mousesack - while brought to calanthe’s court rather late in her reign, the druid quickly earned the queen’s trust and undying friendship with the way he treated her daughter, with his wisdom and his kindness.

[lwiamatka-a]

the thing calanthe is most afraid of is… loneliness.

she can’t stand being alone, it drives her crazy. 

she was alone before, when her father died and her mother abandoned her. this is why, later, the idea of someone taking pavetta from her, and then later still, the idea of geralt taking ciri away from her, drives her completely mad and fills her with dread.

because first pavetta, and then cirilla - were both everything she had left at some point. 

and let me tell you, if pavetta was taken from cintra by emhyr, or if ciri was taken from cintra by geralt, or if both pavetta and ciri were kidnapped the way emhyr planned - calanthe would follow her ancestor riannon and die of heartbreak.

[lwiamatka-a]

also, can we talk about how calanthe never really got to enjoy the prospect of being a grandmother.

the thoughts ‘pavetta is pregnant, she will have a child, i will have a grandchild’ never came with joy to her. somewhere, in the back of her mind, there was always that knowledge that geralt was out there and would come when ciri was 6 and take her away. 

she was right back in the same state of fear she had been in about the urcheon ever since roegner died. counting days, reading books and scrolls about the law of surprise and destiny, never finding an answer, every story ending the same way - destiny coming true, or something bad happening to the one trying to defy it.

and at first, she tried to make her peace with it. but she couldn’t. when ciri was born, when she held her in her arms for the first time, she knew she couldn’t. she called for mousesack and ordered him to seek out and kill geralt. eventually, obviously, she recalled that order. 

[lwiamatka-a]

okay but you don’t even know what a huge deal it was that calanthe allowed crach and his children to address her modron. both crach’s mother and first wife were dead and that was basically calanthe saying ‘yup. im adopting the lot of you.’ because after all she married into the family through eist and even though they were not blood she cared for them like her own.