Theme#5-Memories
"Zelgadis Greywords, we are delighted that you have chosen to speak with us regarding your relationship with Princess Amelia."
Zelgadis snorted and crossed his arms. He glanced around at the council members, all seated around the enormous brown table, fixating him with surprised gazes. Apparently, they were under the assumption that he was going to ignore them.
"Of course, who could resist a summons from the council?" he answered with a slight roll of his eyes.
One of the members cleared his throat and stood attempting to dispel some of the tension that was hanging in the air.
"Let's get down to it shall we? As you know, the Princess is Seyruun's greatest treasure. The people love her dearly and we must consider her well-being. Naturally, we have concerns. We just wish to voice some of those concerns to you."
Zelgadis uncrossed his arms and approached the table. The clacking of his shoes against the white marble echoed in the large room. Why was this room so big to begin with? Probably to seem more intimidating Zelgadis reasoned.
"You mean you want to determine whether I am worthy of her affections. Can she not be trusted to make her own decisions?" He answered placing his hands on the table and looking at each member of the council indifferently.
"The Princess is young and naive; we simply want to make sure she is making the right ones. She has more to think about then just what she wants, one day she shall be Queen and the people will rely on her more than ever. Sometimes what we want is not always what is best."
Zelgadis fought the urge to snap back, knowing that doing so may jeopardize his budding relationship with Amelia. Instead, he nodded calmly.
"Then voice away. I assume you have many questions." Zelgadis responded taking the seat motioned to him.
The council member continued to stand, holding onto his parchment and quill. Zelgadis crossed his arms once again and patiently waited for the test he was not sure he knew the answers to.
"How old were you Mr. Greywords when you first met Princess Amelia?"
Zelgadis paused a moment a bit taken aback by the first question. How old had he been? He had stopped keeping track of his birthdays many years ago, it did not help that the curse upon him slowed his aging down considerably. Still he knew he could not be too much older than Amelia.
"No older then eighteen." Or he hoped anyhow. He honestly could not remember.
A few members raised their eyebrows.
"You do realize that Princess Amelia would have been fourteen at the time." The council member standing responded, taking a few seconds to jot down notes.
Zelgadis sighed and closed his eyes shortly thinking very carefully about what he chose to say next.
"I am aware of the age gap between us." He responded.
"Then you are surely aware how this looks? What would an older man want with someone younger?"
Zelgadis bit his tongue in an attempt to keep the harsh words only in his thoughts.
"We both know that Amelia-"
"Princess Amelia." The member corrected.
"...Princess Amelia is more mature for her age then many women that are older than her."
The council member gave a slight smirk in response.
"That is true. So I assume you always thought this?"
"No." Zelgadis responded.
The council member paused and looked at him quizzically. The smirk disappeared from his face replaced with a frown.
"No?" The council member questioned.
Zelgadis nodded.
"When I first met her I thought she was a brash child that should not be wandering around unsupervised. She had no clue how the outside world operated. How cruel it could be, how dangerous it was. Honestly I did not want to be the one stuck babysitting her."
Zelgadis closed his eyes as the council members whispered amongst them. It was true, he had had very little respect for Amelia in the beginning, but she had slowly opened his eyes. She had proven herself to him.
"Mr. Greywords if this is how you felt about her then what exactly changed your opinion of our princess?"
Zelgadis opened his eyes glancing at the council member once more.
"I'm not sure. It could be any number of things. Her knowledge of magic. Her inability to back down no matter the consequences. Her willingness to help those more unfortunate. I could go on."
"That won't be necessary, that answer will suffice. Is it true Mr. Greywords that the curse placed upon you by your Grandfather, Rezo the Red Priest may have no cure?"
Zelgadis stiffened, his fists clenched and his eyes narrowed.
"It is true." He voiced forcefully not liking where this line of questioning was heading.
The council member noted this on the parchment as well and then began to walk around the table.
"You have been searching for a cure regardless of little hope of finding one however. Sometimes you are gone for months at a time. What if something happened to the princess while you were on one of these fruitless searches? What then?"
Zelgadis grumbled and stood forcefully placing his hands on the table once again. He glanced to the council. They seemed wary by his reaction but stayed seated.
"Do you think I don't have those concerns myself? That one day I will leave and might not return, or that I will return and...and...Ame..."He couldn't even bring himself to say it; the thought was far too horrible. She had died in his arms once already, a pain he would never forget.
The council member sighed looking to Zelgadis with a disapproving look.
"Yet you would leave her anyhow, despite the thought of something terrible happening, your cure is more important to you than the princess."
Zelgadis slammed his fist onto the table. The members all jumped.
"My cure is important to me because Amelia is important to me. Yes, I will admit that when I first met her I had no concern for her, my focus was finding a way to cure myself of this wretched body! I did not care who got hurt in my quest for it and Amelia was just another person who could get in the way. When I met her, I was angry and cold, I had very few friends, and I could not walk down the street without branded a monster. Amelia-she saw past all that. She saw who I truly was, she reminded me who I once was, and that I was still that person despite my looks. I want to find my cure so that I can give her every thing...but I would be willing to give it up for her as well."
The council members all glanced around at each other once more after his outburst.
"Mr. Greywords we are not questioning your loyalty to the princess, I believe I speak for the rest of the council when I say that we have reservations about your condition...Mr. Greywords would you be able to provide heirs?"
Zelgadis pushed away from the table. He glared around the room. "This conversation is over."
"Mr. Greywords this meeting is still in session, we still have not determined whether this relationship is healthy for the princess or the kingdom of Seyruun. Sit down."
Zelgadis turned his back to them ignoring the shouting as he left through the giant double doors. He walked briskly down the hallway towards the entrance to the palace, nodded to the two guards stationed there and stepped into the sunlight.
It was a nice welcome compared to his previous company. At least the sun was not picking at him with razor sharp words.
He continued to walk down the beaten path towards the edge of Seyruun all the while his thoughts racing. He sighed deeply turning left and headed for the tree on top of a hill. The tree swayed slightly in the wind, the leaves riding the breeze gracefully towards the ground. He slumped down against the tree staring up at the castle.
Maybe the council was right he thought as his heart pained. Perhaps this relationship was a bad idea. He did not know if he could provide heirs, he did not know if he could even be with Amelia in that way without causing her great pain. Even if he were able to give Amelia a family, what would they look like? He couldn't bear the thought of having children that would be ostracized from humanity simply because of his condition. True the people of Seyruun had grown accustomed to seeing him and very rarely had any of them given him a second glance, but the rest of the world still saw him as a demon, a monster, something to be feared. He could not put his own flesh and blood through that torture.
"I thought I would find you here."
Zelgadis turned hearing the sweet familiar voice and smiled at Amelia sadly.
"That bad huh?" Amelia questioned folding the yellow sundress underneath her as she sat beside Zelgadis under their tree.
"...You have no idea..." He responded quietly turning away from her.
Amelia didn't say anything in response; she had known Zelgadis long enough to know he would speak to her when he felt ready to. Instead, she grasped his hand in her own and held it silently between them. She gazed wordlessly into the sky watching the clouds above them change and take shape. She was about to point out a cloud that looked like Pakota when Zelgadis spoke.
"...I think you should find someone else." He pulled his hand away from her and stood keeping his back to her as he gazed painfully at the castle.
Amelia's breath caught in her throat and she stared at her hand. She stood quickly reaching for him, but he only shrugged her off.
"I don't want anyone else! I want you!" Amelia approached him once more, when he didn't turn from her she grasped him firmly from behind and hugged him.
"...I want that too. I'm just...worried. The council doesn't approve of our relationship. They're concerned about my ability to produce an heir, and I'd be lying if I said I did not share in that concern. "
Amelia huffed from behind him and Zelgadis smiled despite himself.
"Who cares what they think, they're a bunch of old grumpy men set in their ways. Either you can or can't but that has no bearing on how I feel about you. Would I like a family with you? Of course I would, but Zelgadis-sa...Zelgadis..." Amelia corrected herself before continuing. "I will still love you..." She blushed and buried her head into his back, grateful he couldn't see her red face.
Zelgadis tensed slightly hearing the word 'love' and blushed himself. He turned around then grabbing Amelia by her shoulders and staring into her big blue eyes.
"Amelia...I..." Zelgadis trailed off.
This time it was Amelia who kissed him, standing upon her tippy toes she grasped his shirt firmly between her hands and pulled him towards her. She kissed him fiercely taking Zelgadis completely off guard after a few seconds she released him. She blushed openly staring at him.
"I remember not long after we met having to face down a clone of Rezo. I was so scared, but I still wanted to help everyone out anyway I could. I know you thought me annoying-" Amelia, laughed when Zelgadis went to cut her off. "It's okay; I don't blame you I had a lot of growing up to do. Even still being near you then gave me strength and then we cast that Ra Tilt...do you remember...the very first Ra Tilt we cast together?"
Zelgadis watched her silently as she spoke his lips still burning from the passionate kiss. He nodded.
"I do. It formed a heart when it merged." He answered her.
Amelia smiled. "And we've been in tandem ever since. Maybe someone was pushing us together, even then. Two lonely people searching for something, for someone. I know that sounds silly...I guess I'm just a hopeless romantic. But I really believe that we were meant to find one another. We've been through a lot, a lot worse than some grumpy old men telling us we can't be together."
Zelgadis smiled his mind finally relaxing at her words. She always knew what he needed to hear. It was true that when their Ra Tilt had formed that heart he brushed it off as some weird fluke from when their magic collided. Maybe it was, but he also couldn't deny her belief. He preferred to be partnered with her, to be near her. She was right, they were in harmony now and it had proven to be a great asset in battle.
Zelgadis reached out cupping her face in his hand savoring the quizzical look she gave him. Eyes full of wonder, optimism, happiness.
"You're right. This is nothing compared to what we've been up against in the past." He chuckled. "They're not even as bad as Lina on a good day."
Amelia laughed as well taking his hand once more in hers. "Let's prove them wrong."
Zelgadis nodded in agreement leading her back to the palace, no longer troubled about what may happen.