| “ | Would you care for a drink? | ” |
— Ardee to ... well, almost everyone
| ||
Ardee West is the sister of Major Collem West, a country girl new to the big city. 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 beauty with long dark hair, slightly tanned skin, and dark-brown eyes tending towards black. She has a shapely figure - not skinny, but far from fat - and often wears a crooked smile on her face. Her appearance is not what would traditionally be considered the beauty ideals in the Union, but men tend to find her attractive nevertheless[1].
Ardee is clever, witty, and not afraid to speak her mind.[1] Abused by her father since childhood, then ignored by polite society in Adua, and an embarrassment to her brother, she becomes cynical, bored, depressed, and self-destructive. Her relationships with the men in her life are always messy, and she's prone to drowning her sorrows, drinking heavily when she starts to contemplate the wreckage of her life. She can sometimes be quite a mean drunk.
History[]
Ardee was born and raised in Angland with her brother Collem. Their mother died when they were young, and their father was an abusive alcoholic, often directed at his children, though regretting it afterwards. Her brother eventually escaped, leaving home to join the Union Army. This left Ardee 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 always dreamed that her brother would one day return and rescue her, but he never did. Her father finally dies, much to her relief, and Ardee pisses on his grave[2].
The Blade Itself[]
With the threat of war in Angland against The North, Major Collem West invites his sister Ardee to move to Adua and live with him. This is something she has long dreamed of, but it proves a bitter disappointment. Ardee knows no one in the city except her brother, and is ignored by polite society who scorn the lower classes and women in general. Collem meanwhile has little time for her, being busy with his blossoming military career, and anyway fears his sister will embarrass him. He does introduce her to his friend Captain Jezal dan Luthar, who is immediately enamoured by her. They spend a pleasant afternoon together seeing the sights of Adua, during which she flirts with him, and basically winds him around her finger. On the walk, they run into the crippled Inquisitor Sand dan Glokta, who she remembers from his glory days before the Gurkish War, when he and Collem were close friends.[1]
One day, Ardee attends the Open Council and witnesses first hand the growing threat of war that her brother had feared, when the Northman emissary Fenris the Feared presents the King of the Union with an ultimatum; give-up Angland to the King Bethod or face war with The North[3].
Ardee West by YapAttack
Ardee becomes bored and depressed, and begins to drown her sorrows, often in Collem's rooms in the Agriont. On one occasion, Captain Luthar arrives seeking sympathy from Major West after another wretched fencing practice. In his rooms, he finds Ardee who is a little drunk. After a little banter, he admits he wants to quit training for The Contest with Lord Marshall Varuz. Unexpectedly Ardee reacts by busting into laughter and mocking him; if he quits, she will win a bet she's made with her brother. Jezal, angry and embarrassed, storms-off, but this incident is the one thing that finally makes him fully commit to his fencing[4].
One day, a bored Ardee is walking around Adua when she 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, and the young nobel slowly and unexpectedly begins to fall in love with her[7][8]. When her brother finds one of her notes, he confronts her about the relationship that has little hope of leading to marriage because of the different stations. 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 no different from their abusive father. Reeling from the truth in her words, Collem’s tries to apologies, but it fall on deaf ears as Ardee leaves to meet Jezal anyway.[2]
With Jezal due to depart for Angland and war, he meets Ardee for one last rendezvous. 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 eventually stammers out the words he’s been preparing, that he loves her and wants her to wait for him. Ardee is amused by his foolishness, but agrees to wait.[9]
With Collem also having gone off to war, Ardee gets a visit from Glokta, who has promised to watch out for her welfare for her brother. Ardee is quite cold at first, but the pair quickly warm to each other, seeing in one another a kindred-spirit; both are intelligent, cynical, and shunned by polite society.[10]
Before They Are Hanged[]
Soon after her brother has left for Angland, Ardee gets a visit from a moneylender named Fallow, who holds debts owed by her dead father. All the money she has is not enough to cover the debt, so the collectors take her mother's jewels, and give her six weeks to come up with the rest. Despite selling all she can, Ardee is still unable to raise the funds, so when Fallow returns he seizes her furniture and everything she owns save for one dress and a chair. During this time, she also received news from Angland, that Prince Ladisla's division was routed by the Northmen, and her brother 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; it is now full of expensive if gaudy new furniture. Glokta also gives Ardee the opportunity to pay Fallow back personally, and she does with some gusto, kicking him repeatedly until he crawls away[11].
Some time later, Ardee and Glokta spend a "pleasant" afternoon together, attending the execution of the Gurkish Ambassador Tulkis for the murder of Crown Prince Raynault. As he’s dying, Glokta admits that the man is almost certainly innocent. That evening, the pair chat amicably in her home about who really did murder the Crown Prince, and about how the succession to the throne will work with both princes dead. Ardee shows herself highly perceptive about the politics of the realm[12].
Last Argument of Kings[]
Jezal finally returns from his journey to the Edge of the World, and his first visit is to Ardee. After month apart, their reunion is less than tender. Somewhat drunk, she forces herself on him, in a rough and unromantic sexual encounter. Despite the difficult start, the pair become lovers. Both worry about where the relationship is going, with Ardee asking him to promise, "Don’t let me down." Unfortunately, circumstances conspire against them. First Jezal's military career takes-off when he's promoted to colonel, and then he is unexpectedly elected the new High King of the Union. Both accept that Ardee cannot be Queen, and they split, after Jezal tries to convince her to be his mistress, an idea she finds offensive.
Later, Glokta is increasingly caught between a rock and a hard place between Arch Lector Sult and Valint & Balk. In desperation, he explains his 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, even more rich and more powerful to destroy the other two. Glokta is taken aback by this astute idea.
Eventually, the Arch Lector loses patience with Glokta, and orders a band of Practicals to kill him, despite Adua being in the midst of a siege by the Gurkish. However, Glokta gathers Ardee and Nicomo Cosca's motley company of mercenaries, takes refuge in the dilapidated mansion near the docks. While Cosca deals with the Practicals, Glokta takes the disloyal Practical Severard down below to interrogate him. But Practical Frost reveals himself to be disloyal as well. Ardee however hears the commotion, and with her help and a blade hidden in his cane, they kill his former assistant.
Ardee by Jamie Sourwaether
With the Gurkish having broken through Arnault’s Wall, Glokta is forced to make his way to the House of Questions through the sewers, with Brother Longfoot as guide, and Ardee and Costa's crew in tow. There they learn from Superior Goyle that Arch Lector Sult is at the University, conducting demonic rituals to contact The Other Side. The bedraggled Ardee is now acting as his assistant, carrying his tools and writing out Goyle's confession. In the end, they manage to end the ritual at the University, and arrest the Arch Lector for treason against the King.
After Union victory in Battle of Adua, now Lord Marshal Collum West shares an awkward reunion with his sister, and she forgives him for hitting her. West however 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 has grown genuinely fond of her, and it wouldn't be safe for her to have his child unless she was married to someone else. So he insists that she must marry him, ensuring no one will be able to harm her or her unborn baby. Unexpectedly, she agrees without protest, after all Glokta was the man of her dream when she was young, and being of some use to someone has taken most of the sting out of her marriage. Ardee clearly intends to make the most of their marriage.
| “ | Glokta: I don’t deserve this. Ardee: No one gets what they deserve. |
” |
— Glokta and Ardee
| ||
A Little Hatred[]
Ardee is now Lady Ardee dan Glokta, wife of the most powerful and feared man in The Union. She hasn't regretted a day of her marriage to Glokta, though she still enjoys a drink or three and is apparently a scream at parties. Her daughter Savine is consumed by business, to her mother's consternation who would like her to have more fun and perhaps even marry. Then Savine announces that she does plan to marry Prince Orso, Ardee reacts with horror. Having kept the secret all these years, Ardee dejectedly admits that King Jezal is Savine's true biological father, making Orso her half-brother. Savine is sent reeling by the revelation, and breaks-up with him without giving any explanation.
The Trouble With Peace[]
Savine dan Glokta is a shadow of her former self; haunted by the knowledge of her true father, by the trauma of the Valbeck uprising, and by her pregnancy with Leo dan Brock's child. Ardee and Finree dan Brock come up with the ideal solution; a marriage between the one's daughter and the other's son. The two women ambush Savine and Leo in turn, and within a week the pair are married. The match is at once perfection and utter madness, leading to the rebellion against the crown which forces Arch Lector Glokta to resign. Ardee and Glokta decide to retire to the countryside, not wanting to become sad ghosts haunting the halls where they were once powerful.
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."