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Struan was having to physically make his brother cooperate. He hand his hand on the younger man's back and was pushing him forwards. Aidan had never been a stranger to a sulk and now seemed to be to exception. To Struan it was just childish and irritating. He was about to be introduced to a prince and yet he was still dragging his feet across the floor and looking like a sullen child. "Are you going to behave?"

Aidan resisted to stick his tongue out. As he had been told a thousand times they were in public and there were people and expectations and he would do well to remember that, especially if he wanted a roof over his head that night. So instead of doing as he had initially wanted he just nodded and rolled his eyes. Honestly, Struan was treating him like a child. Unfortunately the only way to prevent this was by following the stupid charade.

Before Aidan had answered he'd been pushed towards a man he'd never met before and so presumed it was the Lord Sebastian his brother had mentioned. He just stood there and waited to be introduced because apparantly you couldn't possibly talk to someone without someone else telling you who they were. It was the height of bad manners to ask them personally.

"Sire," Struan dropped into a bow, "I would like to introduce my brother, Lord Aidan."

When Aidan didn't immediately bow Struan stood on his foot. Unsurpringly the younger d'Amory then complied. "An honour to meet you, sire." He said as cordially as possible before shooting Struan a "happy now?" look. Struan wasn't but it was probably the best he was going to get, he just had to hope Sebastian hadn't noticed and if he was, he hadn't been offended.

Aidan d'Amory was not a fan of formal events or court in general but it was the prince's birthday and he wanted to celebrate the event with his friend. Of course Arthur was busy being the perfect host and Aidan certainly didn't envy him for it. His worst nightmare consisted of endlessly making acquaintances and always having to be charming and polite and welcoming. Aidan was not a people person and he sometimes found himself wondering just how Arthur managed to do it. His leg certainly didn't help matters, but it did provide him with a wonderful excuse, and if he wasn't such good friends with Arthur then he certainly would have used it. Court life was not a comforting one for the young noble and with each new acquaintance made he was finding himself becoming less and less inclined to appreciate it.

He'd been given a goblet of wine about half an hour ago and was still to finish it. He wasn't one for drinking either - he was one for study and self-improvement and not having to talk to people. In an ideal world he would be left alone in his study and only have to venture outside when there was fun to be had with Arthur, tormenting servants who had fully functioning limbs, that sort of fun. As he watched the prince he couldn't help but feel slightly envious. Arthur had social skills and financial security, and yes, he would one day have the responsibility of ruling a kingdom but he would have friends and advisors. Aidan had dusty books, a disfigured leg and the inability to hold a conversation with someone he hadn't known for at least ten years. Nothing was in his favour for finding himself a nice rich wife (who, thinking about it didn't actually have to be that nice) and finally not having to care what Struan or his father thought because he would no longer be dependant on them.

His eyes scanned the room, he liked to know what was going on that way he was never surprised or taken off guard. He caught sight of a young woman who appeared to be on her own. She was certainly beautiful, that much was obvious even to Aidan who, to be honest, didn't actually get out that much. It took him a few moments to realise he was staring, and then another few moments to decide that he should probably stop. Staring at random women was probably not something he should make a habit of. Should he approach her? He bit his lip. Part of him wanted to just go over there and introduce himself, while the other part of him was telling him not to be so stupid because it wasn't going to end well. He probably should have listened to the latter, but he didn't, he found himself walking (or rather limping) over to her and, on reaching her, dropped into a bow. "My lady, I do not believe we have met before, may I introduce myself. I am Lord Aidan d'Amory." That was the easy bit, the rehearsed bit, it was just what came after.

Tagged: Lady Elenora
Timeline: Series one, a feast for Arthur's birthday
Notes: I was going to put it during the actual episode for Arthur's birthday but seeing as it's annual thing I didn't think it mattered that much Also, putting it earlier will give us oppurtunities to see how certain events in the series will affect them ^_^

Normally Aidan d'Amory was not one for feasting and mixing with other nobles but his elder brother Struan had forced him to the castle that night. Camelot had a visitor, a rather important one, and apparantly that was something Aidan should be interested in. The kingdom always had visitors, ones that didn't require Aidan to be sociable but for some reason Struan thought this particular one was an exception to that rule. All that had been accomplished was Aidan now feeling rather uncomfortable and even more self-conscious about his leg. He didn't want to be here but he was having to pretend he did.

"Are you going to be miserable all evening?" Struan was looking at him with raised eyebrows. "You should be grateful I brought you here tonight.

"Oh yes, very grateful." Aidan muttered, finding himself another goblet of wine from a passing servant. "People keep staring."

"Well that's because they haven't seen you in months. They probably all thought you had died or something." Struan shrugged, he wasn't the most sympathetic of people.

"At least then I wouldn't have to come to these stupid events."

Struan just sighed. His brother had never been enthusiastic about court life and always used his leg as an excuse for this. How was he going to make anything of himself if he just buried himself in his studies and refused to go anywhere? "Well you're not and you do so stop pulling a face. I'm going to introduce you to Lord Sebastian and you're going to be on your best behaviour."

Aidan sighed. This was not going to be fun.

Tagged: Sebastian
Timeline: During the series four-five gap
Notes: I thought it would be easier for an introduction if Struan had already been introduced, let me know if you want this edited.

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.

Aidan was quite convinced there was a hint of suggestiveness in her tone, and he was rather surprised. All the noblewomen he knew were far too full of themselves and proper to even realise that what they were saying could be taken in another way. Aidan, being male, did not have this problem. "Perhaps one day I shall join you." He replied, not wanting to be too overt, after all, she could have meant her words entirely innocently, but if she didn't then he didn't want to come across as someone easily affected by that sort of talk. There wasn't anything wrong with a little bit of harmless flirtation, it was just a shame he wasn't very good at it.

Although Caitrin appeared to be joking, Aidan still felt the need to answer, she might think him rude otherwise. "Staying here will be quite alright." He replied, grateful that she seemed to be taking everything well rather than chastising him for being awkward and really not very good at making acquaintances. He was never really at court - unless he was dragged there - so he hadn't mastered the art of making conversation. His father preferred he stayed at home rather than embarrass the family by limping about in court.

After she introduced herself for the second time that evening, he inclined his head and replied, "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Cait. I am Lord Aidan d'Amory, my friends call me You." Hopefully he wasn't going to be quite so awkward this time.

This was already going very not according to plan. He was supposed to be being charming and alluring and he'd already made a fool out of himself. Well done there, Aidan, he thought and tried to think of a way to salvage the impression he was making. "Yes, yes sorry you said, didn't you?" He replied, standing there with his hands behind his back because anything else would be less awkward and therefore would never do.

He was already wishing to be somewhere else. He wasn't good at making impressions on people. His time was spent moping which was obviously something that made people look at him and go "Oh gosh he looks like a fun person" but he could be fun person, just not right now because his mind was rambling when he should be making small talk and honestly, who even cares about small talk but he had to carry on with it anyway because if he didn't that would be rude and everything would be more awkward and he could really do with not being in this situation right now.

"No, I took the carriage," he replied, thankful that her question had given him something he could actually talk about. "Riding isn't the greatest of idea what with...my leg..." Was that something he wasn't supposed to talk about? He wasn't exactly sure. Well he'd said it now so he was just going to have to go along with it.

He was equally grateful when she gestured towards the chairs and offered him a seat. While his leg was usually fine he didn't want to risk it at a time like this, somehow he didn't think needing to have a physician sent out and not being able to walk was going to go terribly well in his favour. "Thank you, milady." He sat down and stretched his leg out, it was always easier than trying to bend it although he did look a little too casual. That was just something he was going to have to live with. "I haven't made an awfully good impression have I? Would you mind starting again?"

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.

Aidan was not kept waiting long, no sooner had he been shown into the parlour, Caitrin arrived. She was certainly a beauty so at least that was something. After she had introduced herself he followed suit, dropping into a bow. Of course she already knew who he was so he did not introduce himself, instead he went with those well rehearsed pleasantries that she was probably far too used to hearing. "Lady Caitrin, I assure you the pleasure is all mine."

In truth he hadn't actually noticed Rouland was not with her until she said his name. He'd all but forgotten about the man, after all, he wasn't that important to Aidan at the moment, but now that Caitrin had said he wasn't going to be here, he couldn't help but feel rather awkward. He had never met either Caitrin or Rouland before, but least with Rouland there was some common ground. If all else fails he could just lie and pass on his father's compliments. Now he was going to have to dine alone with Caitrin. This could go either way.

"It is not a problem at all, milady." He lied somewhat convincingly. "Although I must admit I am a little disappointed at his absence," rather an understatement, truth be told, "I hope he is not unwell." He'd better be on his death bed to subject Aidan to this. He hadn't agreed to have dinner alone with her. What was he supposed to do? Exchange pleasantries about the weather?

He didn't really know what to say now so already the evening was going well. "I hope you are not unwell also," he began, his voice a little higher than usual. It was not often that he became nervous so he put it down to the fact that this was not an ordinary meeting and he really could do with making a good impression. "You do not look unwell. Indeed you look very well- very nice. Very...well." Hmm. It was probably all down hill from here then.