Merek Seymour

Merek Godwin Seymour is a prince of Tara-Ingerilor and the leader of an uprising against King Godfrey. He's also the husband of Juno Santers and father of Pierrot Seymour. A talented young man with strong opinions on government, he's dedicated his life to creating a utopia at any cost.

Early Childhood
Lady Seymour, Merek's mother and one of the king's concubines, was a noblewoman from a family that fell into disgrace. She began servicing the king as a way to restore her family's favor with him. The first child she bore for him was Merek, whom she protected fiercely from Lady Rowntree's assassination attempts. Merek was the first of the king's sons (aside from Mikael) to survive infancy.

Although she knew King Godfrey was looking to weed out his weaker children until only the strongest heir was left, Lady Seymour was only interested in keeping her son safe. As such, she never urged Merek to compete with his older brother for the throne.

While Merek was still a baby, his younger sister Claire was born. The two of them were extremely sheltered for the first few years of their lives, until Lady Seymour has Lady Rowntree killed to protect her own children. Afterwards, they were allowed more freedom.

Lady Seymour taught Merek and Claire to work hard and strive for excellence, and she encouraged them to befriend the king's other surviving children.

At age nine, Merek first encountered his future retainer, Juno Santers, at the archery range where the pair were being instructed by Lady Mathildis Koehl. Six years later, Juno saves Merek's life from an assassination attempt with a well-placed shot that just as easily could've killed Merek instead of his assailant. Two years after that, Merek asks Juno to be his retainer, and she accepts.

Merek's Revolution
Always one to hold strong opinions, Merek frequently offered suggestions to King Godfrey about what he should do in a given situation. Always one to hate being told what to do, especially by his own son, King Godfrey reacted badly. Eventually, the tension between the two rose to a point where King Godfrey suspected Merek of trying to overthrow him. In truth, Merek had been planning his father's downfall for some months, along with his retainer, his sister Claire, and her retainer Lucien. When Merek is told by Leto that King Godfrey is searching for him to arrest him, he puts his plan into action and escapes with Juno. The next day, he rendezvouses with Claire and Lucien, who had escaped from the palace, and they begin their plan.

The Angel's Awakening
After the Great Angel awakens, it collects Merek's life, along with his family. It offers him death as a punishment.

Adulthood
After the conflict dies down, Merek and his retainer Juno are married quite abruptly. Within the next few months, Juno gives birth to a daughter, Pierrot Seymour.

The Event
Merek disappears alongside his wife and family during the Event. His daughter, Pierrot, was the only one to resurface - at an inn within the boundaries of Merek's territory.

Appearance
Merek has short, wavy dishwater blonde hair and green eyes. He's rather broad-shouldered and stands at 5'11. His birthmark is located on his lower back.

Personality
Although he's extremely high-strung and possessed of an unusually sharp temper, Merek is idealistic and a bit of a dreamer. He throws himself wholeheartedly into any task or skill he decides to master. He puts a fair amount of effort into appearing mature and formal, but certain individuals, most notably his half-brother Cas, easily fluster him and break his facade.

Claire Seymour
Merek and Claire share a close, although professional, relationship. Both are equally strong-willed and mostly use each other to bounce ideas off of rather than as emotional support. They trust each other with their lives, to the point where Merek had no qualms telling Claire about his revolution plans because he knew she'd never betray him. Claire thinks of them as equals, and Merek does too, but a small part of him sees her as his spitfire little sister.

Merek tends to be high-strung, while Claire is more level-headed. They balance each other out.

Mikael Godfrey
The first several years of Mikael and Merek's relationship were spent in suspicious detachment. Mikael distrusted his younger brother because he knew that, should Merek want the throne, Mikael was the only person he'd have to go through. Even at a young age, Merek picked up on that, and avoided Mikael to prevent a confrontation. As the rest of the royal siblings grew closer, Claire took it upon herself to befriend her eldest half-brother. Merek trusted Mikael a little more when his sister did, and Mikael learned about Merek through her. Eventually, they stopped seeing each other as a threat, and adopted an unacknowledged, almost friendly rivalry.

Cas Ridley
Most of the royal siblings get along. Merek and Cas a notable exception. No one's quite sure when they started feuding, since they got along perfectly when they were younger. At some point, something petty that neither of them remember occurred, and they've hated each other ever since. Unlike a silly sibling rivalry, like those that commonly occur between Cas and Leto, Merek and Cas treat each other with everything from disdain to pure malice, which manifests itself in words rather than actions. Cas especially has no qualms making awful, extremely personal jabs at Merek in front of other people, if only to get a rise out of him. Merek tries to be the bigger man and acts condescending, which leads to Cas insulting him worse until Merek can't help but react.

Pierrot Seymour
Although they love their daughter, Merek and Juno were far from doting parents. Merek was extremely strict with Pierrot and reprimanded her about everything from her posture to penmanship done with a shaky hand. As a young child, Pierrot commonly burst into tears from his criticism, but Merek brushed it off and she learned to not cry in front of him. He drilled every skill he knew into her and tried to not get frustrated when she struggled to learn. It wasn't until Pierrot was around nine years old that he found her curled up in a corner sobbing from the stress of trying to please him. It suddenly clicked that she wasn't tough as he was, or as his sister was, or as Juno was, and that he couldn't treat her as roughly as he treated them. After that, he was considerably gentler with her, and worked on repairing their relationship until she felt safe coming to him for help. At times, she resents him for how strict he was with her, but on a day-to-day basis they get along well.

King Godfrey
King Godfrey and his second eldest son have had a tumultuous relationship from the start. As a child, he tactlessly expressed his dislike for his father. Merek reveals later that King Godfrey "knocked him around" as a result, making him and Mikael the only children to be abused by the king. Unlike Mikael, Merek continued to defy King Godfrey, questioning his judgment and offering suggestions until the king presumes him treasonous.

Isolde Rowntree
Merek doesn't dislike Isolde in the slightest, but there's been an underlying tension between the Rowntree and Seymour siblings for as long as any of them can remember. While Isolde made it her personal responsibility to atone for her mother's sins, Merek himself feels guilt that his mother killed Isolde and Eli's, even if it was to protect them. He imagines that Isolde secretly despises him and Claire, and blames them for her mother's death.

Trivia

 * Merek is represented by a hawk and the color sage green.
 * The hawk is associated with clear sight, observation, illumination, courage, truth, making use of opportunities, and overcoming problems.
 * Merek's star sign is Pisces.
 * His tarot card is the Chariot, and his moral alignment is neutral evil.
 * He has a huge amount of trouble sleeping, as he suffers from severe nightmares. According to Leto, Merek commonly stays up for days on end before his body gives out and he collapses to sleep for almost a full day.

Related

 * Merek Seymour/Poem
 * Merek Seymour/Supports