A pleasant memory unfolded in his mind, of himself and Hellic camping together in the woods outside Aleria. Thais had been too young to join them, but they hadn't been completely alone. King Callun had sent two guards to watch over them, but Ren could still remember how old and responsible he had felt sleeping outside in the woods and hunting a rabbit with his brother for breakfast. They hadn't skinned it themselves; one of the guards had done that for them. Back then, he'd had no idea how tough it was to travel and sleep under the stars. If Hellic had been here, things would have been different. Ren wouldn't have felt so alone. The space in his heart that Hellic used to occupy still felt glaringly, painfully empty.

Next to him, the spot where Anik had slept was bare. Ren was alone. For a split second, the thought crossed his mind that Anik had abandoned him, but that seemed unlikely. Anik wouldn't have left his bag and his horse, and both were still there.

Getting up, Ren stretched and dragged on his boots and his coat, then went off to find Anik.

He didn't have to search long. From the top of the hill, Ren spotted him, standing a distance from their camp, the tall grass reaching up to his thighs. As Ren watched, he swung his sword at an invisible opponent, shifted his balance and changed his grip and thrust the tip of his blade through the air. It wasn't the kind of swordsmanship Ren had been taught. The attacks and blocks were interrupted by those soft, flowing movements that Ren had seen Anik perform a few nights ago.

Ren strode down the hill, stopping a couple yards behind Anik. Anik didn't pause or turn around, although Ren was sure he'd heard him. “What are you doing?”

Anik completed a circular swing of his sword, extending it out from his body before changing his grip and using it to stab in the opposite direction. He was barefoot again, Ren noticed.

“What does it look like?”

Ridiculous slow-dancing with dangerous objects? Ren didn't say that. “What happened to ‘we need to get back on the road as fast as possible?'” he asked instead, crossing his arms over his chest.

“We were on the road non-stop for almost twenty hours,” Anik said. He thrust the tip of his sword through the air, impaling an invisible enemy. “You haven't unsheathed that fancy, gilded sword of yours yet.” Finally, he turned and faced Ren, resting the flat of his sword's blade against his shoulder. “You should train. Get into shape. We'll get back on the road when the sun clears the trees.”

“I don't need to train,” Ren said with a shrug. “I trained under the royal sword-master for three years.”