Lady of the Lake (novel)
| Author | Andrzej Sapkowski |
|---|---|
| Original title | Pani Jeziora |
| Country | Poland |
| Language | Polish |
| Series | The Witcher |
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Published | |
| Media type | Paperback |
| Preceded by | Wieża Jaskółki (The Tower of Swallows) |
The Lady of the Lake (Polish original title: Pani Jeziora) is the fifth novel in the Witcher Saga written by Polish fantasy writer Andrzej Sapkowski, first published in Poland in 1999. It is a sequel to the fourth Witcher novel The Swallow's Tower (Wieża Jaskółki).
The story opens with Ciri bathing in a pond in an unknown world. As she does so, Sir Galahad of the Arthurian legend stumbles upon her. After mistaking her for the Lady of the Lake, they then talk and Ciri recounts her story.
The story cuts to a distant point in time that takes place after the story, where a young maiden, Condwiramurs, meets Nimue, the Lady of the Lake to study the legend of Geralt and Ciri. They do so through intense study of the pictures portraying the characters and events from the story, which they then dream of. Eventually Condwiramurs starts to dream of the events at the behest of the Lady of the Lake. Her first dream is that of Stefan Skellen, who is revealed to be working with Vilgefortz and have imprisoned Yennefer in some unknown castle.
The dream ends and a new dream starts, this time dealing with the adventures of Geralt. Geralt has been completing monster contracts in the city of Toussaint while the rest of the group, Dandelion, Regis, Milva, Angoulême, and Cahir, have been exploring and relaxing. Geralt eventually starts a relationship with the castle sorceress, Fringilla Vigo. Fringilla is one of the few members of the Lodge, a group of sorceresses that wish to control the political world, and is assigned the task of delaying him to seek out Yennefer and Ciri. Geralt eventually receives a contract to investigate and potentially kill several monsters which live in an abandoned cellar near the city of Toussaint. While accomplishing the task, he overhears Skellen and several other associates talk about where Vilgefortz and Yennefer are located and how Ciri is missing. Geralt rushes back to Toussaint in order to gather his group and leave to save Yennefer. Dandelion, enjoying the company of his lover, the Duchess Anna Henrietta, decided to stay in Toussaint and not join the rest of the group in their rescue mission.
Ciri is shown to have arrived in a foreign world after entering the portal at the Tower of the Swallow. This world (also known as Aen Elle) appears to be ruled by elves, who live in peace except for occasional fights with the unicorns. She meets with several elves, notably Avallac'h and Eredin Breacc Glas, who is the leader of a cavalry unit called Dearg Ruadhri (The Red Riders, known as the Wild Hunt in Ciri's world) and reveals that the unicorns have become restless since she entered their world. She is told she must bear the child of their king, Auberon, who is over 6 centuries old, mostly cold and calculated. Despite her disgruntlement with the situation, she agrees. After several fruitless nights, she confronts Avallac'h, demanding he let her go as it appears their king is not interested in her, and that she wants to return to her friends. She is told that time happens differently in this world, and that once her task is accomplished she will be returned to her time. She is then confronted by Eredin who makes a point of telling her she'll never be free of their grasp and that she essentially means nothing. Yet has to bear the child of their king. He then proceeds in trying to give her a vial with unknown liquid in it, claiming it's a much stronger and effective aphrodisiac, guaranteed to work when she next tries to have sex with the king, who thus fair fails to perform, hence cannot impregnate her and fulfill the terms of the deal.
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