“I don't want to talk to you,” Anik corrected.

Ren shook his head and sighed. Around them, it was getting darker, the fire casting long, dancing shadows along the ground. “So, what, we're going to hate each other all the way to Stag's Run?”

“Fine by me,” Anik said, slicing the fish into two even pieces before setting them down on the rocks close to the fire.

Ren stared at him, feeling his annoyance building again. “So it's completely impossible for you to be just a little nice to people who are nice to you?”

Anik copied his glare. “Listen here, skahli. I'm not your friend and I don't want to be friends with someone like you, so let's quit the small talk.”

“Someone like me?” Ren asked, lip curling.

“Yes, someone like you,” Anik repeated, wiping Ren's knife clean of fish blood with a ferocity that was disconcerting, only to sink the blade hilt-deep into the soil. “High-and-mighty assholes who think it's their right to order other people around just because they were lucky enough to be born with gold pouring out of their ears. I know exactly what your kind is like. You don't give a shit about the rest of us, and even if I explained it to you, you would never understand.” Anik rearranged the stones in the fire with his bare hands, yanking his hand back when the flames licked at his fingers. Then he slapped the two even slices of the fish down onto the stones to cook.

Ren felt a sharp reply burning on his tongue, but he swallowed it again. Anik was currently handling his dinner, after all. To be honest, he was handling a lot more than that. Without him, Ren would be lost. He only had to endure Anik's unfriendly attitude for a handful of days. “Lowlanders,” he murmured to himself.

They ate in a tense, uncomfortable silence. The fish provided a tasteless meal under a dark sky on the damp, cold ground, Ren picking strips of meat off his slice of fish with his fingers because they had brought no eating utensils. It was as far removed from the pleasant family dinners in Aleria as one could get. Ren closed his eyes and could so clearly imagine it: the light from the fireplace; roasted pork, vegetables, gravy, and potatoes on the table; Hellic telling them all about how impressed the castle sword-master was with his footwork. Fuck, Ren even missed Thais' obnoxious attempts at trying to kick his legs under the table. He opened his eyes when he felt his throat tighten.