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

I’d wanted to get an early start in the morning and get on the road quickly, but circumstances had other plans.

Said circumstance was currently drifting lackadaisically on her back in the bath.

“The heat is wonderful; it’s working out tension I didn’t even know I had.”

“Glad you’re enjoying,” I said. You better be—I had to turn the heat up to nearly boiling to get it to a comfortable temperature for you.

I’d been hesitant to step into the water, but it wasn’t unpleasant when I found the courage. It was a comfortable heat. Guess my new race came with a few perks. Though Eris still feels hot to the touch, odd.

Eris took her time enjoying the bath with me while I cleaned myself in a mechanical fashion, trying desperately not to let my eyes linger over her body. She didn’t care one bit about being naked in front of me, but it was incredibly distracting.

After we were clean, I ran my fingers over the rough, copper stubble that framed my jawline, finally caving and deciding to shave my beard. When I got back into the water after grabbing my razor, Eris asked what I was doing.

“Shaving, finally getting rid of my beard.”

She ran her fingers through the stiff hairs. Her hand was admittedly nice as she brushed over my cheek. “I like it on you. It’s a good look.”

I didn’t really enjoy having a beard, but Eris liked it. So, we compromised, and I left it alone.

“What did Gil say to you this morning? He sounded upset.”

I chuckled. “That’s just because I woke him up early and he’s not a morning person. But I needed his help. Because of all the recent changes, none of my regular gear will work.”

“So, is he letting you borrow some from him?”

“Something like that.”

When we finished in the bath, I got dressed and handed Eris a shirt to wear in the interim, but to my surprise, she’d already dressed.

She was wearing a chocolate skirt, which on anyone with longer legs would’ve been considered indecent. On Eris, it was perfect, barely hinting at her pale thighs.

The skirt was complemented by a juniper tunic and was only a hair or so big on her, with a slight V shape in the collar that was meant to flaunt substantial cleavage. Eris’s chest was petite, so this feature was wasted. Such is the fate of the small-breasted.

She’d acquired a pair of well-worn leather traveling boots that came to mid-calf on her, but her face looked unhappy as she stared down at them. To finish off the ensemble, she wore a small brown cloak with a hood that would hide her unique features well enough. She looks adorable.

“You look stunning,” I told her honestly. She smiled happily at that, glad that I approved of her outfit. “Where’d you get those clothes, though?”

“They were lying on the ground by the door. There was a small note with my name on it,” she said as she handed me the note.

I didn’t recognize the handwriting, but that wasn’t exactly shocking. When was the last time I hand wrote anything?

It was either Yumiko, Makenna, or Evelyn, but I immediately discounted Evelyn. She was never kind to anyone without cause. And I’d never seen Yumiko in anything other than pants, which left Makenna. Need to thank her, next I see her. That was incredibly thoughtful. Especially since I should’ve realized all Eris had to wear was my oversized tunics and cotton shirts.

“Well, it doesn’t matter, though you do look lovely. Now let’s head down to the forge. I don’t want to keep Gil waiting. He gets impatient quickly.”

She held out her hand and said. “Well, then let’s not keep him waiting, Sam.”

Cold ice gripped my heart, a chill that had nothing to do with the magic inside me. “Don’t call me that…please.”

“Why?”

“Because that man died a very long time ago.”

She walked over to me, hugging me. “You’re lying to yourself, my bonded. Sampson Acre is alive and well, just buried under a lot of pain. You can’t hide him from me, not when I can see right through you.”

 I pulled away and headed out into the hall. “Let’s go,” I said tersely.

The walk to the forge was quiet. Eris was downcast, and it didn’t take some strange magic to know that I’d hurt her feelings. But I wasn’t going to apologize; I’d worked too damn hard to bury who I’d been to let it all unravel now.

Opening the metal door to the forge, we stepped inside. The blistering heat assaulted me along with the stench of burning wood and metal.

Racks of weapons lined the stone wall as I turned the corner and went into the workshop. Gil sat bent over his anvil, working on what looked like a chestplate. He was completely absorbed in his work, and I wasn’t about to disturb him.

Haven’t been here in a while, wonder what’s new? In the far corner of the room was a gigantic black battle-axe. It was crude, roughly shaped from a solid piece of metal, but for some reason, it called to me. I wanted to wield it, and I walked over to it, bending to pick it up.

Something whistled through the air just before pain smacked me in the side of the head. A lump of metal dropped to the dirt floor next to me.

“Ow! What the fuck, Gil?”

“Don’t touch,” he said and turned back to his work.

“Fine,” I grumbled, rubbing the side of my head.

Eris had been smart and took a seat on the metal benches that lined the back wall. I followed suit and settled in while Gil plied his craft.

“Hey!” Gil shouted in my ear while shaking me. “Get up and try on the armor so I can go back to