"I'm Renly, uh Renly Arryn, but you can just call me Ren. I'm not really of any import so you don't have to be formal or anything."
Renly Arryn... The name wasn't immediately familiar to Nicholas. Normally he would ask Christoph if he recognised the name. "Everyone is of some importance Renly, whether they realise it or not," Nicholas replied, taking another glass of wine. But he had spent the larger part of the evening avoiding his future father-in-law, and he was now nowhere to be found. If he had gone, then the likelihood was that Priscilla had also gone as well. Nicholas relaxed slightly at the thought, he wouldn't have to keep his guard up for the rest of the night.
"So what brings you this way? Do you not know anyone either? I guess the dessert table is the natural place for us stag gentlemen to congregate."
"No one but my sister," he answered. It wasn't an entire lie, more an omitted truth. For some reason, Nicholas didn't want Renly to know he was a king just yet. It was nice to speak to speak to someone as an equal, someone who had no ulterior motive. Somehow, Nicholas didn't think 'oh and my personal guard, adviser and fiancee are here too' would go down too well with, well anyone, not just Renly. He wasn't quite sure how well known the news of his engagement was beyond Falor, but he was quite content to keep the arrangement as quiet as possible. "But we don't really run in the same circles," he continued after a pause.
Nicholas took a moment to study Renly's face. From what he could see behind the mask, Renly was a handsome man. His eyes would already have been a striking blue, but the darkness of his mask made them stand out even more. Nicholas fancied that he would be able to recognise Renly without the mask. Few people had eyes like Renly's. If a girl had been in possession of such eyes, she would have been 'captivating'. Not that Renly wasn't captivating, as far as Nicholas was concerned, he very much was, "Though I find it hard to believe that you're a stag."