Anséis

Anséis of Lyria and Rivia was one of the two sons of Queen Meve and while she loved them both, she was not certain they would be able to rule the realm after her, as she considered them to be fools. He fought in the Grand International Tournament near the capital city Beauclair of Toussaint three times in row, each time begging crowns from his mother to buy new horse, new sword and new armor.

During his adventures in the southern duchy he fell in love with Carthia van Canten. She introduced herself to him as Cantarella, an alias she frequently used whilst on missions. She later abandoned him on Fringilla's orders, even though he did not know why.

On seeing Geralt he scorned the witcher, decrying him as an deserter who ran away after the Battle for the Bridge on the Yaruga and questioning his honour.

Later on during the tourney as Geralt was sitting with Guillaume de Launfal, Anséis approached and threw down his iron gauntlet in front of Geralt demanding satisfaction via chivalric duel. Once Geralt beat the prince, he tried to explain he had good reason to desert. Anséis accepted that by agreeing to the duel, Geralt had shown he was a true knight, and so the prince accepted his word as a man of honour.

In the final melee challenge of the Tourney, Anséis claimed command of the team Geralt, Donimir, Tailles and Rainfarn were in. He told Geralt about having little faith in the witcher's knowledge of knightly combat and asked him to stay out of their way while fighting against Palmerin de Launfal and his men.

Associated quest

 * The Warble of a Smitten Knight