Pavetta was the princess of Cintra, who was a love interest to a man named Duny (who was actually Emhyr var Emreis, the heir to the throne of Nilfgaard), with whom she falls deeply in love and eventually married; their daughter is Ciri, a central character in the story from The Witcher franchise.
In the series adaptation of The Witcher, Gaia Mondadori plays Pavetta.
History[]
Pavetta and Duny met while he was watching her from some bushes while she was reading poetry. She saw that he had a hedgehog's head due to a curse during the day. For several weeks, the two met and continued reading and reciting together and the hedgehog convinced Pavetta to join him one night after dark. After bribing her servants, they met, and to her amazement, at the stroke of midnight, he transformed from a hedgehog into a handsome young man, who then informed her that he was cursed.
Pavetta did not know that fate had tied her to him since birth by the Law of Surprise, since Duny had saved the life of her father. Approximately a year after they met, unbeknownst to Pavetta, her mother Queen Calanthe, received this news and decided to get rid of the hedgehog, bringing the witcher Geralt of Rivia to kill him. To celebrate Pavetta's 15th birthday, the Queen organized a party for the princess's potential suitors. The party was going well when a knight arrived with a helmet on his head and claimed to be "Urcheon of Erlenwald" and explained that he was there to collect his reward for saving King Roegner's life: Pavetta, through the Law of Surprise. Although Calanthe recognized him, she refused to give her daughter to a stranger and, through trickery, had her people ring the bell to say it was midnight before it actually was so Urcheon would remove his helmet, revealed his hedgehog face.
Thinking that her daughter would not go with the "monster" now, Calanthe declared that the law was void and that her daughter must accept that she would not go with him. However, Pavetta declared that she would go with Duny, which caused an uproar and the other suitors attempted to attack him. Geralt and Eist tried to defend him but suddenly the force inside Pavetta was unleashed and sent furniture and suitors flying. Eventually, Pavetta became distracted enough for Geralt and Mousesack to stop her.
When things calmed down, Pavetta and Duny explained that they had been seeing each other for over a year and had fallen in love, and Calanthe agreed to let them marry, thus breaking the curse. As thanks, Duny asked him what he could offer Geralt for saving his life and the witcher unknowingly claims Pavetta's unborn child, Ciri, through the "Law of Surprise".
Shortly after having Ciri, Pavetta was unaware that Duny's true intentions were to seize Ciri due to her elven lineage, and also intended to claim his birthright as Emperor of Nilfgaard, Emhyr var Emreis. When she finally learned of his motives, this sparked a fight between the two, which ended with Duny intentionally killing her.