| “ | Would you care for a drink? | ” |
— Ardee to ... well, almost everyone
| ||
Ardee West is the sister of Major Collem West. Bored with her station in life and what is expected of her gender, she finds distraction in self-centered young noble, Jezal dan Luthar.
Appearance and Personality
Ardee is quite a beautiful woman, with long dark hair, tanned skin, and dark-brown eyes tending towards black. She has a full figure - not skinny, but far from fat - and often wears a crooked smile on her face[1].
Ardee is clever, witty, and not afraid to speak her mind.[1] She was abused by her father since childhood. Then she arrives in Adua where she is an embarrassment to her brother, and ignored by polite society who oppress the lower classes and women in general. She becomes bored, depressed, and deeply cynical and self-destructive. Her relationships with the men in her life are always messy, and she likes a drink or eight.
History
Ardee was born and raised in Angland with her brother Collem. Their father was prone to drunken violence, often directed at his children. When her brother left home to join the Union Army, Ardee was left to endure her father's violent outbursts alone. In her teens she got pregnant, and her father beat her so badly she had a miscarriage. She used to dream that one day her brother would come back and rescue her. Her father eventually died, much to her relief. With the threat of war in Angland, Collem invites her to live with him in Adua[2].
The Blade Itself
Ardee arrives in Adua knowing no one in the city except her brother. However, Collem has little time to give her, being busy with his blossoming military career. He does introduce her to his friend Jezal dan Luthar, who is immediately enamoured by her. They spent a pleasant afternoon together seeing the sights of Adua, during which they run into the crippled Sand dan Glokta. She remembers him from his glory days before the Gurkish war, when he and Collem were close friends.[1]
Ardee attends the Open Council and witnesses first hand the growing threat of war that her brother had feared, when Fenris the Feared makes an ultimatum to the King of the Union - give the region of Angland to the King of the Northmen or face war with The North[3].
Considering quitting fencing, Captain Luthar seeks sympathy from Major West. In his rooms, he finds Ardee who is a little drunk. After a little banter, he admits he intentions to quit The Contest. Ardee reacts by busting into laughter and mocking him; if he quits, she will win a bet with her brother. Jezal storms off, angry and embarrassed, but it helps make him commit to his fencing[4].
One day while walking, Ardee meet a dangerous looking Northman called Logen Ninefingers near the University. The two shared a moment, both being new in the city and shunned by society[5][6].
Ardee starts a furtive romance with Jezal, writing him notes and meeting him in secret[7]. He begins to fall deeper and deeper in love with her[8]. When her brother finds one of her notes, he confronts her about the relationship that has little hope of leading to marriage. In his fury, he becomes violent and hits her. Unbowed, Ardee hits her brother back with some home truths: he really only cares how her actions will affect his standing in society; and is now no different from their abusive father. Reeling from the truth in her words, Collem’s apologies fall on deaf ears as Ardee leaves to meet Jezal anyway.[2]
Ardee meets Jezal for their last rendezvous before he heads to Angland and war. When she pulls down her hood, Jezal is shocked to see her bruises, but she brushes it off as the result of her own clumsiness. Jezal stammers out the words he’s been preparing, he loves her and wants her to wait for him. Ardee is amused by his foolishness, but agrees to wait.[9]
With Collem gone to war, Ardee gets a visit from Glokta who has promised to watch out for her welfare for her brother. Although she is cold at first, the two quickly warm to each other, seeing the same intelligence yet cynicism in each other.[10]
Before They Are Hanged
Soon after her brother leaves for Angland, Ardee receives a visit from a moneylender named Fallow, who claims to hold debts owed by her dead father. All of her money is not enough, so the collectors take her mother's jewels, and give her six weeks to come up with the remainder. Despite selling all she could, Ardee is unable to raise the funds, and Fallow returns and seizes everything she owned, apart from one dress and a chair. During this time, she also received news from Angland, that Prince Ladisla's division was routed and Collem is presumed dead.[11]
When Superior Glokta returns from Dagoska, and learns what has happened, he orders Practical Frost to find Fallow and explain to him who he has offended. The next day, Ardee finds things much changed in the house; full of expensive if gaudy new furniture. Glokta gives Ardee an opportunity to pay Fallow back, and she does with some gusto, kicking him in the face, until he crawls away[11].
Later, Ardee and Glokta attend the execution of the Gurkish Ambassador Tulkis for the murder of Crown Prince Raynault. As he’s dying, Glokta admits that the man is likely innocent. Shocked, Ardee wonders who really did the deed. That evening, the pair chat amicably in her home about how the succession to the throne will work. Ardee shows herself highly perceptive about the politics of the realm[12].
Last Argument of Kings
When Jezal returns from his journey to the Edge of the World, his first visit is to Ardee. After month apart, their reunion is less than tender, when she forces herself on him, in a rough and unromantic sexual encounter. Despite this, the pair become lovers. However, circumstances conspire against them, when Jezal is unexpectedly elected the new High King. Both Jezal and Ardee accept that she cannot be his Queen.
Later, caught between a rock and a hard place between Arch Lector Sult and Valint & Balk, Glokta explains his current predicament to Ardee, using the analogy of two rich and powerful suitors. Ardee ponders for a while, and in a flash of inspiration suggests finding a third suitor, richer and more powerful to destroy the other two. Glokta is taken aback by the astute idea.
With Adua under siege by the Gurkish and the Arch Lector having lost patience with Glokta, the Superior gathers Ardee, and Nicomo Cosca's motley company of mercenaries, and heads to a dilapidated mansion. While Cosca deals with the Practicals sent to kill him, Glokta takes the disloyal Practical Severard down below. When Frost reveals himself also to be disloyalty, Ardee hears the commotion, and with her help and a blade hidden in his cane, they kill his former assitant.
With the Gurkish in the street, Glokta has Brother Longfoot lead Ardee and his crew through the sewers to the House of Questions. They learn from Superior Goyle that Sult is in the University conducting demonic incantations to contact The Other Side. It is up to Ardee to write out Goyle's confession. At the University, they manage to end the ritual and arrest the Arch Lector for treason against the King.
At the end of the Battle of Adua, Ardee shares an awkward reunion with her wounded brother, and forgives him for hitting her. However, West soon begins to fall victim to the wasting disease sweeping the city.
In the end, it is revealed that Ardee is pregnant with Jezal’s bastard. Glokta insists he must marry her to protect her and her unborn baby. Surprisingly, she agrees without protest; Glokta was after all, the man of her dream when she was young. Once married, Ardee shows that she intends to make the most of their marriage.
| “ | Glokta: "I don’t deserve this." Ardee: "No one gets what they deserve." |
” |
— Glokta and Ardee
| ||
Illustrations
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Blade Itself, Part I, Fencing Practice
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Blade Itself, Part II, Nobody's Dog
- ↑ The Blade Itself, Part I, An Offer and a Gift
- ↑ The Blade Itself, Part I, The Course of True Love
- ↑ The Blade Itself, Part II, Sore Thumb
- ↑ The Blade Itself, Part II, Old Friends
- ↑ The Blade Itself, Part II, Nobility
- ↑ The Blade Itself, Part II, She Loves Me... Not
- ↑ The Blade Itself, Part II, Misery
- ↑ The Blade Itself, Part II, The Tools We Have
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Before They Are Hanged, Part II, The Hero's Welcome
- ↑ Before They Are Hanged, "A Fitting Punishment."