Chapter 14-As Yunalesca and Zaon
Back in the large sphere chamber Seymour was playing a sphere for Yuna and her guardians. The chamber had been used much by his Father Jyscal when he had held meetings; this was Seymour's first opportunity to use it as the new Maester. He walked them through as the ancient city of Zanarkand played on the sphere. There was awe and wonderment among all in the party except two. Sir Auron kept his expressionless face a slight grimace as if he had seen it all before. Tidus looked around in hope but had a look of sorrow on his face as if he was missing this unseen place.
As the party strayed and looked about the room Seymour inched his way closer to Yuna, telling her about Zanarkand and the woman who once lived there, Lady Yunalesca. Her ghostly figure appeared next to them. A shapely young white haired woman seated in her room. Footsteps and the sound of clinking metal came as another figure entered into the room, clad in ornate golden armor, it was Lord Zaon, her husband. She ran to him eagerly and they embraced. It was a love Seymour hoped to also share with Yuna. He looked at her hopefully and edged towards her carefully. He knew that she was timid and nervous around him so he spoke to her gently. He felt incredibly nervous himself and held his hands behind him in shyness as he leaned forward and whispered to her.
"Lady Yuna, please do not think this too forward of me…but…I would like to ask you for your hand in marriage, as the bond of love between Lady Yunalesca and Lord Zaon helped to save Spira, I would hope that love could grow between us for the benefit of Spira."
As Seymour moved back from her he saw her with her hand to her face in shock. Her cheeks were glowing red as she averted her eyes from him in a speechless response. She turned from him and walked over quickly to the banquet table, grabbing a glass of water and drinking deeply. She sat the crystal glass down on the table, the empty glass clinking loudly. She ran quickly to her guardians. For a moment fear rose up in Seymour, thinking her response might be that of disgust or immediate rejection of the idea of marriage to him. He took a breath in quickly and could smell the faint scent of her fear. His heart sank as he did so.
He stood off from them waiting and watching intently as she broke the news to her guardians. They gathered around her and listened intently. Immediately, he could see the one blonde haired guardian reel back in surprise of the news and look at Seymour quickly.
"Uh…Hey!" he said as he looked across the room at Seymour.
"You know what she must do." Auron added speculatively as he eyed Seymour.
"I am well aware," Seymour said feeling quite unsteady as Yuna's guardians eyes all laid upon him in suspicion. "I proposed to Lady Yuna as a Maester of Yevon…" he said getting slightly irritated having to explain himself to the guardian. He took a few steps closer to them, his footsteps echoing on the bare floor. He looked down at Yuna who still looked back with rosy cheeks and a silent response.
"There is no need to answer right away," he assured her in a gentle tone. "Please, think it over." He said locking eyes with her for a moment. She turned her eyes downward and broke the stare shyly.
"We will do so, then." Auron said with his back to Seymour. "We leave."
Anger started to rise up in Seymour as he heard her guardian's response; he considered the proposal to be a private matter between him and Lady Yuna, not something her guardians should be involved in.
"Lady Yuna, I await your favorable reply." He said looking to her once more with a gentle smile. She looked at him quickly and once again buried her eyes to the floor quickly turning to leave with the others.
Seymour's anger was distracted as an unexpected smell wafted up from the guardian Auron, it was no emotion, fear, or anger but rather the smell of the dead. In surprise he turned to him.
"Why are you still here sir?" he called out in curiosity to the red robed legend. Auron immediately stopped in his tracks and turned his head slightly in Seymour's direction. The blonde haired Tidus stopped and looked back and forth between Seymour and Auron, unsure of just what Seymour was talking about. Auron said nothing but stood silent as if nervous of what he may say next.
"I beg your pardon." Seymour said bowing slightly. "We Guado are keen to the scent of the farplane." He said satisfied realizing he may have revealed something about this mysterious guardian. Tidus now seemed even more confused and walked up to Auron trying to smell what Seymour had smelled on him. Auron, now adequately irritated shoved Tidus away from him and left quickly out of the room.
Seymour laughed to himself quietly as he observed them. Soon his thoughts turned again to Lady Yuna, and he found himself feeling very anxious. He tortured himself by replaying her reactions in his head. Seymour tried to make sense of what she was feeling, but the only thing he could sense from her was fear. He felt embarrassed suddenly and realized he may have been much too forward in asking her to marry him. He gripped his fist in frustration. He felt he must leave immediately to save himself the shame of her rejection. Seymour quickly left the sphere room and walked towards the Manor's front door with plans to leave Guadosalam wringing in his head. As he placed his hand on the door handle he heard a voice call out from behind him.
"Seymour!" Meena called to him from the top of the staircase. "Wait! Are you leaving?" she asked him.
"…Yes, I am leaving for ….Macalania Temple." He answered back without so much as turning to face his Aunt.
"But Lady Yuna…?" she said asking curiously wanting to know how his proposal went.
Seymour ignored her and started to leave out the door.
"Seymour she didn't refuse did she?" She asked suddenly concerned.
"No." He said stopping.
"Oh, she must need some time. The poor girls head is probably spinning and she doesn't know what to think getting proposed to by a Maester of Yevon. Especially such a handsome Maester." She said with a slight jeer in her voice.
"Please," Seymour said with an embarrassed sigh.
"Leave if you must, Seymour, but I must encourage you to stay if even for a little while to wait for Lady Yuna's answer, as it might come sooner than you expect. Honestly you've just proposed, await her reply for the time being…its only proper tradition, no matter what 'pressing needs' might be at Macalania waiting for you." She said disappearing from the top of the stairs.
Seymour grabbed for the handle of the door again, but just as he turned it he changed his mind. He grunted in frustration and turned the other direction and continued off towards resuming his duties in Guadosalam. His instinct had been to leave to avoid the shame of her possible rejection, but his Aunt's words had gotten the better of him.
Later, Lady Yuna stood at the farplane with her guardians. The ghostly forms of her parents floated before her as she thought about the decision at hand. A heavily robed Braska and her Al-Bhed Mother's forms drifted quietly together. Quietly, Yuna pondered Seymour's proposal to her.
In the manor Meena continued with her normal tasks, she had no official job that had been given to her but she helped Trommel with the many jobs that he attended to. She quietly sorted envelopes that had arrived in order of priority and whom they would be going to. As always the pile of mail for Seymour was always the largest. She wondered just how he could go through all of it in time and still have replies sitting on his desk ready to go out for the next day. She could hear Trommel humming to himself contentedly in the kitchen next door, putting away large boxes of food and supplies. She felt a smile come across her face as she heard him and sighed. It was amazing how he never complained no matter what tasks were given to him. Meena picked up another envelope as she was sorting and examined it. It was quite heavy and was written in Yevon Script, it was of course for Seymour, but it was distinctly ornate and bore a heavy red wax seal on it, she wondered to herself about what it might contain. She turned it over in her hands carefully examining it more. Her curiosity wanted to open it, but she knew better than to open an envelope addressed to a Maester. She carefully stacked the envelope on the top of Seymour's pile staring at it for a second more.
"Meena?" she heard Trommel call from the kitchen.
"Yes Trommel?" she called back to him snapping out of her curious stare.
"Can you please give me hand?" he asked her.
Meena got up from her chair and walked into the kitchen. She saw Trommel struggling with a large crate, trying to get it open.
"I'm afraid my big hands aren't quite getting it." He said laughing to himself.
Meena looked at the large crate that was full to the brim with fruit, the clasp holding the lid on had somehow gotten twisted to the inside of the crate and Trommel's large Guado hands weren't able to fit inside to get it unstuck. Meena laughed to herself and slipped her tiny hand inside the crate and released the clasp.
"I am sorry to bother you for something so small, but I feared I was going to have to break it open sending fruit everywhere. Thank you Meena."
"Oh it was nothing Trommel, no trouble at all." She said smiling and gently grasping his red sleeve playfully. She turned to leave and continue her tasks when Trommel stopped her.
"eh, wait." He said hesitantly.
Meena turned back to him and he brought her close to him and gave her a gentle kiss.
Meena melted in reaction to his unexpected sweetness.
"Oh Trommel, you are so sweet." She said touching the side of his face gently. As they looked at each other for a moment Meena heard the sound of a gentle rapping at the Manor's door. Her eyes got big as she heard it.
"I will get it!" she said rushing off in a whirl of excitement.
"No Meena wait! It is my job!" Trommel yelled back to her in protest. But it was too late and Meena was gone in a blur. Trommel sighed with his hands at his sides. "oh…" he said shaking his head.
Eagerly Meena opened the door to the manor. A surge of excited joy and relief went through her as she spied the figure of Lady Yuna at the threshold. She knew she was going to get it from Trommel later for answering the door of the Manor as it was exclusively his job.
"Oh, my Lady please come in." Meena urged her with a warm smile and an outstretched arm.
"Uhm, thank you." She said nervously holding her hands together. "I would like to meet with Maester Seymour please, if that is alright."
"Of course Lady Yuna, please come this way." She said giving a warm touch to her hand and leading her in. Meena almost cooed with awe at just how shy and adorable the meek lady summoner was. Meena knew at about this time of day Seymour was in his quarters, but rather than have Yuna wait for Seymour at the bottom of the stairs as Trommel would have she took her right up to his room.
Meena knocked quickly on Seymour's ornate door.
"Seymour, it's me Meena." she called to him before waiting for a response to her knocking. After a short moment Seymour called back in an almost annoyed tone of voice.
"Come in." he said dryly.
Meena opened the door and urged Yuna inside.
"Just go right on in dear." She said guiding her in gently with her hand and giving her an encouraging smile.
"Uh, I uh." Yuna squeaked in protest as she was urged inside and the door was closed behind her quickly.
Yuna looked around the strange room. It had a tint of bluish green from the odd lighting on the wall and no windows. She saw Seymour standing towards the back of the room tending to some type of terrarium that was built into the wall. He was holding a strange object in his hand. As Yuna looked closer she realized it was a brightly colored blue snake with green specks down its body, its eyes were bright green and were wild looking. Its body was coiled and draped around Seymour's delicate long fingers. Suddenly the snake turned its menacing looking head towards her and flicked out its forked shiny black tongue in her direction.
Yuna let out a small whimper in fear as the snake looked at her. Seymour turned quickly to her as he heard her cry and his eyes went wide as he realized the guest in his room was not his Aunt.
"Lady Yuna!" he said in pleasant surprise with a smile almost dropping the snake he was holding.
"Oh I uh, Maester Seymour!" she said nervously with a quick bow to him, burying her eyes to the floor.
"Pardon me, I thought you were my Aunt. I hope the serpent did not scare you." He said quickly putting the snake back into an alcove on the wall that had a nice branch sticking out. The snake coiled itself upon the branch into a neat bundle.
"I assure you it is quite harmless, and it will not come near you." He said hoping that the snake had not disturbed her too much.
Yuna seemed a bit speechless and let out a slight nervous laugh as she still avoided his gaze.
"I can see that my Aunt Meena must've let you in, I am sorry that she rushed you in here. She means very well." He said with a slight irritation and embarrassment at his Aunt's hasty dealings.
"Oh no, your Aunt is very nice." She said fiddling with her hands in front of her.
Seymour smiled to himself as he looked at her, she was so nervous and timid around him.
"Well then…" he said approaching her slowly. "have you considered my proposal? You know you may take as much time as you wish to reply." He asked her with slight eagerness in the most gentle tone he could muster from his voice.
"Yes, I have. I have given it my thought and I think…" Yuna paused for a moment as if working up the courage to speak. "I would like to marry." She said looking up to him while tightly holding her hands together.
A feeling of relief came over Seymour as he heard her favorable reply.
"My Lady, you have made me a most happy man today." He said reaching out to her and gingerly touching her shoulder.
Yuna looked up slightly and a small nervous smile appeared on her face before she looked back down again. Seymour stood over her smiling there was a quiet between them. Seymour gently bent down and kissed her forehead lovingly. He could sense her heart beating quite fast and her cheeks were a nice shade of red. He reached up with his hand and gently touched the side of her face and tilted her head to look up at him. Her shyness had overtaken her so badly she felt she couldn't even look Seymour in the eye.
Her brilliant blue and green eyes locked with his light sapphire eyes and they looked at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Seymour smiled at her and after a short moment she shared a smile back with him.
"As Lady Yunalesca and Lord Zaon…so may our love be too." He said while lovingly touching the side of her face with his delicate fingers.
"Mmm." Yuna said weakly in response back to him. She felt as though her knees would give out at any moment as she stood there within the grasp of the powerful Maester. She felt incredibly weak next to him.
Seymour gently took her hand in his. Yuna looked at him curiously as he did so. Seymour then pulled a jeweled ring from his robes and placed it on her finger.
"So that Spira may know that you are my beloved."
Yuna looked at the engagement ring that Seymour had put on her finger, it was beautiful and the jewels sparkled brightly in the low light. It looked to be definitely something you might expect from a Maester.
"Oh my!" Yuna said surprised as she peered down at her finger.
"Do you like it?" Seymour asked her cautiously.
"O-of course—it's beautiful…" she said touching it with her other hand. "It's so…grand. I don't deserve such a ring." She said still looking down at it.
Seymour took her hand. "You are right," he said looking down at her hand. "You deserve a better ring."
"Oh no I! That's not what I meant!" Yuna said in a fluster.
"I know, Yuna." He said gently to her.
Yuna calmed, and felt slightly embarrassed. She looked down at her ring and then around the room shyly.
"If you are not comfortable with it I can have one made for you, however you like." He said trying to assure her.
"Oh no I…I um…its perfect, thank you Maester Seymour." She said bowing to him.
"Well then, my Lady. Do you have anything else you would like to discuss? Or can I now make our engagement known?" he asked her.
Yuna gave a silent bow of her head to him in agreement to announce the engagement.
"Ah, you are such a woman of virtue. Beautiful." He said giving her a deep stare.
Yuna looked him in the eyes and almost lost herself in them. Maester Seymour was indeed overwhelmingly attractive in his looks to her. She found herself using all of her strength to just not fall over as she looked at him.
"Go ahead on to your guardians and share the news, I will meet you in a short while inside the Manor." He said taking her hand and gently kissing it.
Unable to speak Yuna nodded her head and quickly made her way out. As she shut the door behind her she felt a flood of relief wash over her being out of Seymour's presence. It was as if both fear and pleasure had enveloped her while she had been with him. Strangely enough she found herself looking forward to the next time she would be seeing him and even missing his powerful presence the further she got away from him.