Hive Knight: A Dark Fantasy LitRPG (Trinity of the Hive Book 1) by Grayson Sinclair (black authors fiction txt) 📕

was almost our time to make it through the gate. I noticed one team of guards checking through saddlebags and forcing people to take down their hoods, comparing faces to a sketch of someone—a criminal, perhaps.

“Shit.”

This isn’t good; if they force Eris to take off her hood, it will cause no end of trouble. Even if they let us through, too many people would see her face and know that she’s a demi.

“What’s wrong?” Eris asked.

“They are stopping all travelers and making them take off their hoods. They seem to be looking for a criminal, and if they see your eyes and ears, it will cause an issue.”

“Do you think they will attack us?”

“No, nothing to that extreme, but they will ask all kinds of questions and probably detain us for a while. Demi-humans are a rarity, enough that the guards will probably call someone from the auction house to try and buy you, and I really don’t want the hassle or exposure.”

“What are we going to do?”

I reached into my inventory and pulled out a small bag of gold — fifty coins clinking in the canvas bag. “What I usually do. Bribe them.”

As more and more people were being searched and let through, it was finally our turn. I wrapped my hand around her waist and held her tight. She wouldn’t be going anywhere. The guards stepped forward as lacuna reached the checkpoint.

“Hold up there, sir. Mind if we search your bags?” The guard peered at Eris—the bottom half of her face, at least. “Can you remove your hood, please, miss?”

I put the most conceited voice I could. “Is there a problem here?” I asked in a raised tone.

The guard, a younger gentleman in his mid-twenties or so, seemed startled by the tone of my voice. “Um…no, it’s procedure. There is a dangerous criminal about who escaped custody last night, and we are still looking for them.”

I barked out a harsh laugh. “And you think she’s hiding them underneath her skirt perhaps? Quit wasting our time and yours. I have places to be,” I tossed the bag of gold at him, he fumbled with the bag and peered inside. His eyes lit up like it was Christmas, and he waved us through without further questions.

 “Of course, sire. I won’t keep you further.”

He shouted at the gate guards, and it opened slowly. As we went through the tunnel, I heaved a general sigh of relief. “That was close.”

She nodded. “It seems money buys a lot for humans, what a strange culture.”

“Money buys power, and power earns money. It’s a cycle.” I leaned down and kissed her head. “But gold and power can’t buy everything.”

As we made our way through the tunnel, it went much the way of the East Kingdom’s gate, though this tunnel was wider to accommodate large wagons and the like escorting cargo to the markets.

Within a few moments, we had reached the end of the tunnel, and the large metal gate rose slowly to open up the way into the Central Kingdom.

Chapter 22 - Central Kingdom

The gate opened to a crossroads. The front road led to one of the smaller markets, which in turn led to even more market squares. The right and left cobblestone roads led to the back alleys that housed hundreds of warehouses.

The Crescent Rose was several miles further ahead, past most of the markets. Though our meeting wasn’t set until noon, so we had some time to kill shopping before heading that way.

As we rode through the busy streets, we passed an overabundant guard presence throughout the streets. Several of them popped into back alleys, and all of them kept a close eye on the comings and goings of the customers perusing the stalls.

Must be a dangerous criminal for the guard to be so twitchy; usually, they can’t be bothered to get off their asses. Whatever. Long as they stay out of our way, it’s none of my business.

I ran through the list of things we had to do. Clothes shopping for myself and Eris, and I need my armor repaired before I meet with Phineas, though the craft markets will be further down.

We passed through the first of the weapons and armor vendors. There were hundreds more scattered throughout Central, along with numerous food courts, which piqued my interest. Usually, they had quite a variety of meats and ales, and I’d worked up a thirst.

Eris, for the most part, kept quiet, and people watched as we rode through the bustling crowds. The scents of cooking food wafted towards us long before we’d ever set our sights on the food court.

Our breakfast of meat and cheese could only stave off hunger for so long, and a rumbling from Eris told me she was feeling hungry as well, so we stopped at the first courtyard we rode by. It was large, with wooden stalls crammed tight next to each other, and the gray cobblestone worn smooth by thousands of boots. I stabled Lacuna with an elderly gentleman on the next street over. He ran a temporary stable for merchants and had a reputation for quality. I paid a couple gold extra to make sure he’d take care of her for the day. As soon as she was situated, Eris and I found an unoccupied table.

I paid the woman manning the stall and walked away with two plates piled high with roasted meats and vegetables. We dug in and devoured the food in minutes.

After eating, I stopped by one of the liquor vendors and purchased ten casks of yellowhammer ale to be delivered to Gloom-Harbor. I owed Gil for all that he’d done for me, and a few casks of his favorite ale would be a good start. I paid five gold, and the merchant promised to have them delivered in under five