Strangeness and Charm [Aidan]

[Romily de Braose]

Romily and her father were currently sat in the solar, him with his book and she with her embroidery. Neither were making small talk - these days they never had anything to talk about. Only little trivial things, such as a suitable dress and how she should wear her hair when they were in company. The needle wove in and out of fabric - she was currently working on a handkerchief so it was quite fiddly when the stitches had to be so small. She would rather much read, but only did so privately. Durwin always seemed to critisise her for reading too much in his presence.
Putting her embroidery down, Romily stood up. "I need some air father, I'll be out in the gardens should you need me."

"Mmm" was all she received rather than an actual 'ok'. She gave herself a subtle shake of the head at this before leaving the room and walking out and finally feeling the air on her face. It was a nice day, sunny but with a little breeze that reduced the actual temperature. Perfect. She roamed the gardens for quite sometime before heading out to the front of the house. The wooded area surrounding the manor allowed lots of shade.

"Ah My Lady, just the person I wanted to speak with - I did not want to interrupt your father see..." George the stablehand headed over to her, "Fira's run out of apples, and we've none in the store - might I trouble one of the servants to head into the city to fetch some from market?"

Romily smiled. "You do not need my permission George, should this happen again then by all means buy some more. As long as the horses are well cared for, my father and I do not mind if you do this" George nodded at this, "thankyou my lady" he said, bowing and heading back into the stables. It was nice to see how the estate was being cared for. She never really had a chance to experiance the work that the servants did outside rather than inside.

She looked out onto the hills that lay before her home. Such a scenery like this made Romily hope that she stayed here forever - married or not. Oh well, that was her father's decision for now.

Tagged: Aidan d'Amory
Setting: Wolfhall Manor - Carmelide
Timeline: Before S1

[Aidan d'Amory]

Aidan d'Amory was not in a good way. This was not surprising considering what had happened less than half an hour ago. He had been travelling through Carmelide to meet his father, who had some business with some noble or other, he hadn't really been paying attention when Lord Fion had been talking. It didn't matter much now though. Some bandits had come out of nowhere and stolen his horse and given him a rather lovely head wound as well. As he stumbled forward he put a hand against the side of his head and pulled it away to find his hand was now covered in blood. The young nobleman was by no means an expert, but during his youth he had taken an interest in medicine and some of it had stuck with him. Head wounds always bled a lot so even though his hand was now red his injury probably wasn't that serious. This didn't stop it from bloody hurting though.

His leg wasn't helping matters either. It was never terribly helpful under usual circumstances but this rather aimless wandering what just making matters worse. He just wanted to stop, sit down, or lie down and get some rest, but he knew that if he did that he'd probably end up falling asleep. One thing he'd always remembered was that you should never sleep if there was a chance you had concussion. He was just going to have to carry on and hope that he found someone who could help. It was getting harder though, each step just made his leg hurt even more and he could feel the blood trickling down his face. "It's fine," he told himself, "Head injuries always have a lot of blood." He could remember how exactly he'd ascertained the injury, obviously he'd been hit around the head with something but the details were fuzzy.

If he just sat down for a moment or two, just to give his leg a rest, he wouldn't go to sleep, it would be fine. He managed to limp over to a tree, leaning his body weight against it. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. What on earth was he going to do? After a moment or two he let himself drop to the ground, landing with a rather dull thud and shifted himself so his back was against the tree. Despite his trying, he was unconscious within a few minutes.

[Romily de Braose]

Romily had almost jumped out of her skin when Martha, one of the servants, came running into the courtyard yelling about something that Romily couldn't quite make out. With the help of George, they sat Martha down on a stool in the stables, Romily crouching down to her level. Eventually after managing to calm the woman down, she was able to make out what she was saying.

"Oh my lady! A man! There's a man lying injured just down the road! Oh my lady it's horrible!" Martha explained starting to become hysterical again. "Oh my lady I didn't know what to do! Really I didn't!"

Romily stood up. "It's alright Martha, inform my father of what has happened and tell him that I have gone to see what has happened. I think you will need to head into town to fetch the physician too - whatever the outcome may be." She looked at Martha. "Did you get his name?" she asked. Martha shook her head. "N..no my lady...he wasn't...his eyes they were closed, I think he could be dead."

Oh no. Immediatly Romily hitched up her skirts and ran off down the entrance to the manor and out onto the road, ignoring George and Martha's calls for her to come back. She'd seen Martha come from the direction that led away from town and ran that way down the road. Her eyes scanning left and right for any sign of this man. They eventually caught something up ahead. A man...slumped against a tree. She hurried to him. His head was bleeding - an injury from something blunt quite possibly. Martha was right, he wasn't concious but thankfully he was breathing. Romily gently moved his head slightly, just incase there was an injury she had missed - there didn't seem to any anywhere else, but she was not a physician.

Lightly tapping his cheek, she tried to bring him round from his unconcious state. "Sir...Sir? Are you alright?" Tearing off some of the skirt underneath her dress, she dabbed gently at the wound to his head. She could at least try to stop the bleeding. "Come on" she muttered to herself, "You need to wake up..."

[Aidan d'Amory]

Aidan was vaguely aware of a female voice but his eyes didn't want to open. That would mean having to move and use energy. He let out a small groan though as he felt some pressure against his head. Eventually he opened his eyes to see a rather blurred woman in front of him, it took a few moments until his vision cleared and he could see the woman properly. "Who are you?" He managed, his voice low and hoarse. And why was she pushing something on his head?

He moved his arm up slowly and rubbed his eyes with the bottom of his palm. He was far too tired for this sort of thing. There was still a pain in his head and his leg probably wasn't going to cooperate either. Over all the day wasn't going entirely well. He looked back up at the woman - she seemed concerned so he must have looked in a sorry state. "I'm fine, really." He said trying to sound a lot better off than he did. It was rather hard trying to sound in good health when half of your head was caked in your own dry blood. "It's looks worse than it is."

[Romily de Braose]

He was coming round! Romily breathed a sigh of relief as he was able to speak to her. She kept the cloth to his head and smiled at him. "My name is Romily" she told him and took the cloth away. "Are you in pain anywhere else?" she had to be sure before she could even suggest thinking about asking him to move. He looked like he was, but she wasn't sure whether it was just his head injury causing him grief.

"It's looks worse than it is." she watched him rub his eyes. There was dried blood on his his hands, perhaps where he'd felt the wound earlier. Either way Romily wasn't going to take a chance, whether he said he was fine or not.

"Do you think you'll be alright to stand?" she asked, "I've already sent for a physician to look at your injuries - I just need to get you back to my home first". There was no way she was leaving him here or allowing him to just walk away. He needed to be checked over by an expert.

Romily looked around for any sign of help, none. That meant she would at least have to try and help him stand herself. "What's your name?" she asked.

[Aidan d'Amory]

From the way she spoke he assumed she was from Carmelide, that was something at least, he hadn't wandered too far. Romily...it wasn't a peasants' name so she must be rather wealthy, in that case she could probably find him a decent physician. Things appeared to be looking up, well, as up as they could be looking while he was still slumped across a tree and covered in his own blood. He shook his head in answer to her question, he wasn't in pain anywhere else apart from his head and his leg, but there was nothing she could do about that so there was no benefit from her knowing about it.

In truth, he didn't know if he could stand - he probably had concussion or at least dizziness so he wasn't in a fit state to go off gallavanting, luckily, gallavanting wasn't something he was particularly interested in doing. What a spot of luck. "I think so," he replied and put his hands on the floor either side of him to push himself up. It was a struggle but after using the tree as further support he managed to stand firmly with his feet on the ground. He brushed the dirt from his shirt, managing to smear the not-quite-dry blood in the process. Well...it wasn't that nice a shirt anyway. "I might need some help getting to your home," it was rather embarrassing having to ask for help, especially from a woman but there was no other way of going about it. If there had been it would certainly have been tried. "I am Lord Aidan d'Amory," he introcuded himself, he would have bowed but that wasn't really an option at present. "I'm from Camelot. You said your name was Romily, that's a noble name is it not?"

[Romily de Braose]

She helped him to stand, as he looked as though he was having trouble trying to. She was relieved to see that he was finally up on his feet and not actually falling over, so that was a good sign. "I might need some help getting to your home," she smiled at this, "Well im not going to exactly leave you to help yourself" She held out her arm, "Here, take it - then should you feel the need to fall then you have me to break it."

They started walking, Romily leading him in the right direction of her home. "I am Lord Aidan d'Amory, I'm from Camelot. You said your name was Romily, that's a noble name is it not?" She gave him a sideways glance. "Im pleased to meet you my lord, had this been an entirely different situation then I would be curtsying to you - but we can leave the formalities until later". She she happen to let go then he might just pass out again.

"and with reguards to my name - Yes it is" a small smirk formed on her lips, "I am the daughter of Lord Durwin de Braose, although you may not have heard of him given that you are from another Kingdom." Camelot. She'd heard many stories and hoped one day to actually see for herself whether it lived up to expectations. "Is it nice there?" she asked, "Camelot that is - i've heard people speak of it, although i've never travelled outside of Carmelide so I very much doubt that I would ever see it for myself."

They reached the road up to the manor, Romily stopping for a moment so as Aidan could actually rest - the walk back was proving to be more exhausting than she thought. "That is my home" she told him, "Hopefully Martha has found the physician and brought him here."

[Aidan d'Amory]

Aidan was glad for her aid, it was rather embarrassing having to need help from someone else, especially when that someone else was a woman, but she seemed completely unphased by the situation and was making Aidan feel a lot better about it. If Struan were here he'd be making some comment or other about how his younger brother could never stand on his own two feet, and while at the moment that was true, it still wasn't something he needed a constant reminder of. "You'll regret saying that when I'm lying on top of you," Aidan said with a smile, and then realised quite what he'd said. "If I fall, that is." He added quickly. He hadn't meant it in any other way, and for all he knew she could have taken it exactly as he meant, but he didn't want to risk offending her and then being denied her help.

He smiled at her words, he had always enjoyed the formalities of court life - everyone knew where they were with court formalities and it was nice to find someone who seemed to share the sentiment. There were two many people in the world who had no care for them. "Under any other circumstances I would bow, but I don't think I would get back up again." Although his words were not meant seriously there was probably some truth in them, he was completely reliant on Romily's help at the moment and it was making him feel rather vulnerable, but he seemed to have struck lucky with his saviour. "I must confess I have not heard the name, I rarely travel outside Camelot," he explained, not wanting her to think him ignorant, or rather more ignorant than he already was. "It is..." he struggled to find appropriate ways, it was such a vast kingdom, and so diverse, it seemed almost impossible to describe it as a whole. "It is very lively, there is always something going on, good or bad. It's home."

They stopped after a few minutes, Aidan wasn't surprised, he wouldn't like to be in Romily's position and having to shift an almost dead weight. "This is very generous of you, I really don't want to be too much of a burden." With any luck, the physician could just stich him up and allow him to be on his way, he really didn't want to impose any further on Romily's hospitality.

[Romily de Braose]

You'll regret saying that when I'm lying on top of you,"

She immediatly averted her eyes and cast them down to the ground, feeling a flush in her cheeks as Aidan was now trying to correct his error of a sentance. She looked back a little shyly - never really having heard such a statement before. "Should you fall or not, I'll do my best to catch you - but I can't promise too much."

At his gentlemanly manner, she couldn't help but mirror his smile, then frowning slightly. "How so my lord?" she asked a little curiously. Of course he seemed like a man all for court life and no doubt the formalities that came with it, but that statement had made her all the more curious as to why he had said it.
"I must confess I have not heard the name, I rarely travel outside Camelot," Ah so he rarely travelled either? "That makes two of us then, well - me not travelling outside of Carmelide, or my home for that matter." she sighed, "My father does enjoy keeping a tight leash on me." By how he was now describing Camelot, it made Romily all the more eager to see it for herself. "Then perhaps one day I shall have the advantage to experiance that for myself too." she replied, "but for now I am to be kept hidden away until...well...until my father wishes for me not to be."

"This is very generous of you, I really don't want to be too much of a burden."

"Don't be ridiculous! Of course you wouldn't be! I would rather have you stay until you are well enough to travel again, than to just let you wander off without the knowledge of knowing that you will be alright - besides, I don't really have anyone to talk to..." she trailed off as she did realise that she was infact, quite alone. Not having any friends really - just Bonnie, her maid to talk to. Oh and her father when he was in a 'talking' mood. Either way those conversation weren't exactly interesting.

[Aidan d'Amory]

Clearly Romily had noticed the inappropriateness of his words, but he couldn't tell whether she was offended or not. She looked more embarrassed than anything; that made two of them. He hadn't meant his words like that at all, so he was grateful when she continued without commenting on his choice of words. He allowed himself a small laugh, more to try and ease what he thought was an awkward situation. "I'm sure you would do so gallantly." He said with an almost teasing smile.

There was obviously some underlying issues with her father, even Aidan could see that and he didn't want to press her further about it so he just nodded. While he didn't know the exact situation, he knew what it was like to be constantly looking for parental approval and never feeling accepted. Even before his accident he could never compare to Struan, and his father made no attempt to prove these feelings wrong. "Well let us talk no more of fathers," he said, aware that the conversation could very quickly take a more solemn turn and eager to prevent this, "It seems neither of us have fathers worth our time." He shrugged, or at least shrugged as best he could.

She seemed to genuinely want to help him, which was a little odd. Aidan was used to people only being willing to help if there was some reward in it for them. "Well then I must thank you again," he said, eager to show her just how grateful he was. Not many people would bother to make such an effort, but Romily was going above and beyond what would be expected of the most generous bystander. "You must allow me to repay your kindness when I am fit, I never forget a favour." This was mainly because such things were a rarity, but enough of that, he wasn't in the mood for self-pity, he was in the mood for his head to stop hurting and to stop being covered in quite so much blood.

[Romily de Braose]

At least he was the type of man who could lighten the awkward moments with humour so it seemed. The subject of fathers also seemed to be one that they did not share joy about. From the sounds of it - Aidan wasn't appreciated enough, a bit like herself. Now he was dismissing the whole subject and she could only go along and agree that it was indeed a conversation that could only go in one direction.

"Indeed...although it appears that you will most likely meet mine once we get back to the house. Then again he's always locked away in the solar so hopefully you will not." she smiled as they carried on up the path. "You must allow me to repay your kindness when I am fit, I never forget a favour." Romily looked at him and shook her head. "I do not need repayment. Just seeing you recover will compensate for that."

They finally reached the house, Martha hurrying up and meeting them with a shocked expression on her face, which subsequently turned to relief when she saw Aidan standing next to her. "Oh my lady! I am so glad that everything is ok!" she stammered, her face then turning a little blank, "however the physican is not able to come to..." he looked at Aidan for moment, pondering on how to address him, "his lordship until he finishes his buisiness at Lord Ferria's, it appears his youngest son fell from his horse whilst out hunting, in a bad way apparently"

"Yes, yes enough Martha...wasn't there anyone? Not even his assistant?" Romily asked hopefully. Without a physician to tend to the wound, it could become infected - she knew that much. On seeing Martha shake her head. "Very well...help us inside, is the guest room prepared? Lord Aidan will need to lie down."

"Yes my lady..." Martha said, helping the pair up the stairs and to the guest room. "Is there anything else you need my lady?" she asked, hovering by the doorway.

"Some water and cloths. The wound needs to be tended to, but that's the best that I can do." she smiled gratefully as the servant hurried off in search of what had been asked. Romily's attention then turned to Aidan, who must've thought all this was going rather quickly. Better to be quick and healed than to be slow and perhaps nearing death. "Lie down my lord..." she instructed, "I will do my best to clean the wound until the physican comes."

[Aidan d'Amory]

Romily had declined his offer to repay the favour but that didn't mean Aidan wasn't going to. Not many people bothered with him, or at least not until they found out who his father was, but Romily had come to his aid before knowing who he was and had acted with such kindness he couldn't possibly not repay her. It was only a question of how, but he was sure he could think of something - thinking was what he was good at.

They reached the house, greeted by a woman who he assumed to be a servant telling them that the physician could not come as quickly as desired. Unsurprisingly, he was not too pleased with the news. His head still hurt and it was horribly embarrassing having to rely on the help of a woman in such a way. He didn't care about Lord Ferria's youngest son, he cared about his own suffering. The irritating thing (or one of the irritating things) was that he could probably at least clean and dress his wounds in a satisfactory manner before the physician arrived if he wasn't struggling quite so much to remain conscious. He'd learnt a little about medicine and the treatment of wounds over the years and new the dangers they could bring, but in this instance he was going to have to wait and hope the physician came quickly.

The two women helped him up the stairs, presumable to where the gust room Romily had mentioned was. He managed to find a relatively comfortable position to lie down on the bed to make it easier for Romily to clean his wounds. His embarrassment was lessening any. "You must think me awfully pathetic," he said. His words were not just to keep a conversation going, but also to keep himself awake as he knew what could happen if he fell asleep with a concussion, "I can assure you I do have my moments of...manliness." He finished with a small laugh, "Although they are rather few and far between."

[Romily de Braose]

It didn't take long for Martha to return with some water and cloths, by now Aidan had listened to Romily and had taken the rightful place on the bed. "Thankyou Martha, you may go - but when the physican does turn up, please come and get me." Romily asked as Martha nodded, bobbed her head and left her mistress.

Romily pulled up a stool by the side of the bed and put the basin on the table beside her. She smiled warmly as Aidan was practically saying he was a pathetic excuse for a man. "Oh, I don't believe that" she shook her head and dipped the cloth in the water. Leaving one by the side so she could wrap it around his head after.
She laughed a little at his later words."Well then perhaps later you can show me those, but right now I have your injury to deal with...no hold still, it'll sting a little." she told him and dabbed the cloth over the wound as gently as she could.

Should her father come in right now then he would surely assume the worst, but right now she didn't care. She had a patient to look after. "I know I am no physician, but hopefully this will help you feel a little more comfortable" Romily carried on, "No doubt that your wife will have something to say about it when you see her." Was he married? He looked the type to be married. Immediatly she looked away and focused on soaking the cloth again. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't assume so quickly."

In the end the only other option was to change the subject. "You said that you were meeting your father in Carmelide? Have you visited here before? I know it's not as brilliant as Camelot, but I suppose it does have it's own aspects of beauty." Not that she had seen any of that, apart from the countryside surrounding her home. Her father had never even allowed her near the town.

[Aidan d'Amory]

Aidan watched Romily as she started attending to him, there was nothing else for him to look at and he could hardly completely ignore her. It did feel slightly awkward though, just staring at her as she attended to his wounds. He wasn’t one to stare at women under normal circumstances, well, hopefully not quite so obviously. He flinched as the cloth touched his skin, of course he’d been expecting it to sting, these things always did but it didn’t stop him reacting in such a way. This wasn’t him showing Romily just how masculine he could be, in fact it was proving the opposite was true. At the moment it wasn’t making him feel a little more comfortable at all, it was just giving him more pain, despite the fact that it was doing him good. It didn’t feel good right now. It just hurt more.

He was taken completely off guard at her mention of his, as it happened, non-existent wife. When did the conversation take this particular turn? “Oh, I, I’m not married.” He replied rather quickly. No matter how much he, or his brother and father tried, he still hadn’t managed to find someone who would actually have him. He wasn’t looking for some wonderful woman who he would fall head over heels in love with and devote every second of his life to her happiness. He just wanted someone rich. “Don’t apologise, I’d rather talk about my non-existent wife than my not being terribly able to deal with pain.”

He shook his head at her question, he never really went out of Camelot, he never really went out of his home really. Aidan wasn’t one for, well, being in the world really. He liked his studies not going off gallivanting around Albion, finding bandits and random women. “No I’ve never been here before, you’re right: it is beautiful.” It was just shame he was enjoying it all with a head injury.

[Romily de Braose]

Romily took away the cloth slightly from Aidan's forehead as he flinched when the connection to the wound was made. "Sorry, i'll try to be more gentle" she smiled and continued to dab at the wound a little lighter than before.

“Don’t apologise, I’d rather talk about my non-existent wife than my not being terribly able to deal with pain.” Ah, so he wasn't married, he looked old enough to be though - then again she wasn't getting any younger herself so once again she couldn't make assumptions. at this Romily laughed lightly, "Well I am sure that wherever she is, she is very lucky that you didn't end up in a far worse position."
She wiped some of the dried blood from his cheek and then proceeded to reach for the cloth to put over the wound until the physician could take a look at it properly. "Could you raise your head slightly for me? I just need to wrap this around your head to stop the bleeding" and that was as much as she could do for now.

She listened as he explained that he'd never been to Carmelide before. "Well, we've made an impression on you already" she sighed. He'd had the misfortune of experiancing a group of bandits before he'd even reached the town for business. "I promise that it's not always like this, people being robbed - in fact it's a very rare thing to come across...there..." she said as she finished and looked at her work. "That should do for now, but you'll need to rest."

[Aidan d'Amory]

It was rather embarrassing for Aidan, having a woman - a woman of noble birth, he might add - having to tend to his wounds. It was made all the more embarrassing by the fact he was so obviously in pain. It wasn't particularly brave or gallant behaviour, but at present it was the best he could do. Really, it was no wonder he never made it as a knight - accident or no. If this was how he coped from a little injury, he'd be no use to anyone in a war.

He smiled at Romily's words although he found himself unable to agree. His non-existent wife, whoever she might be, would not find herself so lucky to be married to a cripped younger son. No woman who came courting at the d'Amory estate would be looking for Aidan. His brother was the much finer choice, probably less fun, but fun wasn't really taken into consideration when marriage was discussed. "You flatter me. I am not nearly as fine a man as you think." His words were said with a light-hearted tone, but there was an all too familiar truth about them. He wasn't a fine man by anyone's standards, no matter how much Romily flattered him.

At her words about her kingdom he waved a hand dismissively. She had no need to sound quite so apologetic. Thieves would find him no matter what kingdom he went to and anyway, there was no point dwelling on that now. What had happened had happened, but if it hadn't then he would be closer to his father instead of here, and right now here seemed like the much better prospect. If anything, the thieves had done him quite the favour. "Think nothing of it, the whole of Albion is filled with those who wish others harm. I promise I will not let it tarnish my view of your kingdom," he grinned, he was teasing her but there was a truth in his words as well. "I cannot thank you enough for your kindness." He said seriously, looking down to see her work. It was rather well done, he had to admit. "You have a natural talent, or do you make it a habit of rescuing people?"

[Romily de Braose]

"You flatter me. I am not nearly as fine a man as you think." She returned this statement with a weak smile, not pitiful nor mocking - but Aidan genrally sounded set upon this. Who was she to judge, then again she never thought the worst of people when she first met them, well the ones that her father had allowed her to meet anyway, she could tell the decent ones for the undecent - but everyone had a redeeming quality didn't they? Now I don't believe that" she replied gently, "what makes you say such a thing?" It would have to be very bad for Aidan to think like that of his character.

"Think nothing of it" she brushed off his thanks. She didn't need it - she'd only done what she thought was right. Snorting at the comment of it being a habit as well as a natural talent - Romily shook her head. "When you're cooped up in a big house all day, every day with only your father and maid for company, then you tend to read up and learn about many things that may help in later life." she smiled sadly, "but a habit it is unfortunatly not, and as for a talent? Well my father certainly would not approve of such a thing."
Durwin was all for rules and decorum, and always made sure that his daughter knew that. Millie had grown used to it, and couldn't wait until she could finally be around people freely without the watchful eye of her father and his 'excuses' for her. That would never happen though - it would take a miracle to actually live a life she wanted to.

[Aidan d'Amory]

Aidan didn't particularly want to get into a conversation about his shortcomings. It would only serve to depress him and bore her. Surely she could already see his problem? No one was ever going to think of him as anything but a cripple. It was all his father and brother saw - well, that and his being a burden. It wasn't the best way to increase his self-confidence. "Past experience tells me fine men usually have fully working limbs." He replied and shrugged, trying to remain nonchalant. "But, were I a finer man I probably wouldn't be here in need of your care. So I cannot complain too much." That probably wasn't strictly true - even without his limp he wouldn't be much good in a fight, but that didn't matter. But he found himself rather unsure how to speak or act alone with a woman so decided that flattery was probably the best option.

Her words struck a chord with him. He, too, had spent the majority of his life indoors with nothing but his books. He'd learnt to live without much rea human contact until his teens when he'd been forced to at least try to be sociable. But before that his life revolved around learning new things and occupying his mind with himself and the castle's library. "You're a fan of reading too?" This was something he actually knew he could talk about it, and was quite keen to exploit such a rarity. "I suppose you could describe me as cooped up too, and, like you I found myself turning to reading." He didn't reply to her comment about her father, if he was anything like his, he assumed it would be a rather sore subject for the woman. Upsetting or offending her was the last thing he wanted too, especially as he was injured already.