Prince Ario is the spoiled, petulant eldest son and heir of Grand Duke Orso of Talins.
Appearance and Personality
Ario is blandly handsome, with a sneering sulking manner. He’s arrogant and ambitious, but his father sees him as a foolish vain disappointment. He has a well-known fondness for prostitutes and drugs and dressing like a dandy, with lots of jewels. He especially loves shoes, and apparently needs ten rooms just for his shoes.
History
When Carlot dan Eider is exiled by The Union to Styria, she becomes the mistress of Prince Ario, to secretly spy on Duke Orso for Arch Lector Glokta.
Best Served Cold
When Duke Orso orders Monza and Benna Murcatto killed, it is Ario who stabs Benna in the neck. Much to his father's dismay, Ario seems more concerned with moaning about the blood on his expensive clothes, than getting rid of Benna's corpse.
Nonetheless, Murcatto manages to survive, thanks to landing on Benna's corpse and the help of a mysterious healer. Bent on revenge, Monza tracks down Ario to Sipani, where he is attending a peace conference organised by King Jezal of The Union. Ario has his mistress Eider arrange a masked ball in the whorehouse Cardotti’s House of Leisure, for his brother Foscar's birthday. Unbeknownst to Ario, Monza has blackmailed Eider, with a slow acting poison, to help them get close to Ario.
However, on the night of the party, Ario's serious and restrained brother refuses to go to the whorehouse. So instead he brings his brother-in-law King Jezal. Ario and Jezal arrive at the party in masks, so everyone assumes Jezal is Foscar. King Jezal also brings dozens of Knight's of the Body for his protection. They eventually make their way up to the Royal Suites. Ario allows Jezal to have the most luxurious suite, unaware that Monza and Shylo Vitari are inside disguised as prostitutes. Meanwhile, Ario himself goes into another suite with two whores. Monza offers the King of the Union husk, until he finally passes out, and then makes her way to Ario's suite. Inside, Ario's face drops as she removes her mask. Monza grabs the knives hidden in her bodice, and stabs him in the side and then the neck. Ario totters, gripping at his wounds, and drops through the window to the courtyard far below.
Ario's corpse lands in the courtyard, chaos ensues among the guards, and Monza's killers disguised as entertainers wreak havoc. In the end, Cardotti’s House of Leisure burns to the ground.