Aridea was Prince Fredefalk of Creyden's second wife and stepmother to Renfri Vellga.[2]
Quick Answers
What role did Aridea play in Renfri Vellga's life?
How did Aridea become Prince Fredefalk's second wife?
What is known about Aridea's relationship with Prince Fredefalk?
Biography
Important note: As the only information on Aridea is secondhand through two people who had very different opinions regarding her, it's hard to know what's really true and what's biased information.
It's unknown what happened to Prince Fredefalk's first wife (the mother of Renfri) but eventually the prince met Aridea and the two enter a romantic relationship before marrying and having children together.[N 1] Described by Stregobor as a wise, educated woman, Aridea also possessed one of Nehalenia's Mirrors, though it was claimed instead of using it for vain questions, Aridea was interested in her country's fate. She was thus informed that she and a great number of other people would die a horrible death at the hands of Fredefalk's beloved firstborn daughter, Renfri, and made sure this news reached the Council, who in turn sent Stregobor to investigate.
After spying on Aridea's stepdaughter, he claimed she'd tortured several creatures, severely harmed a servant and, after he performed a few curses, confirmed Renfri was a mutant as she'd been born during an eclipse.[N 2] He then reported this to Aridea as he believed she was smart and Fredefalk wouldn't listen because he adored his daughter. With this, the queen then decided to take matters into her own hands and hired a thug to take Renfri out into the forest and kill her. However, the thug decided he'd try to rape the girl instead, allowing Renfri to kill him with her brooch while he was occupied, before running away.
Four years later, Aridea sent word to Stregobor that she'd tracked down Renfri in Mahakam. Still intent on getting rid of her stepdaughter, Aridea also sent numerous assassins after the princess, but none of them ever returned. She then summoned for Stregobor but by the time the sorcerer arrived in Creyden, Aridea had been killed by a poison.[N 3]
Trivia
- She was to appear in Netflix's The Witcher, played by Inge Beckmann, but her scenes were cut after the first episode reshots.
Gallery
Footnotes
- ↑ According to Renfri, Fredefalk and Aridea actually had at least some children together before they were married, meaning those children shouldn't have had any claim to the throne and another reason Renfri believed her stepmother wanted her out of the picture.
- ↑ As Stregobor is a strong believer in Eltibald's idea about the Curse of the Black Sun, one can't be certain if there's any truth to his reports.
- ↑ Rumors believe Fredefalk killed her after he found a younger mistress, but Stregobor believes it was Renfri. However, on talking to Geralt, Renfri proclaims she didn't kill her stepmother and she was lucky she died in her bed as Renfri had special plans to kill her.