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

handled the tent. Once the tent was set up, I went looking for firewood and grabbed an armload of twigs and small logs.

The fire pit was cleaned out and ready to go when I came back. I set the logs on the ground next to Eris. “There’s a small stream past the woods a ways. I’m going to go and see if I can’t catch a fish or two,” I said.

She stood up, brushing the loose dirt from her knees. “I’ll come with you.”

“No, get the fire ready,” I said, holding up a hand. “I won’t be long.”

Before she could argue, I set off, walking through the thicket of trees and brush toward the stream. Last I remember, a good spot is just before the stream bends and widens. I reached the spot after ten minutes of walking and looked around for what I needed. C’mon, they always leave them by the tree line—ah, there we go. I found the spears left behind by the last fisherman. It was a tradition to leave a spear for the next person to use since most travelers didn’t carry one with them.

I took off my armor and boots, stowing them in my inventory, and waded into the water. It was chilling, and the running water was enough that it splashed up to my calves on occasion and riddled me with goosebumps. I endured and waited for a fish to swim by. Minute by minute, I acclimated to the water and waited for the perfect fish.

Fishing was the excuse I used, but I really just wanted to get away from Eris for a minute. She seemed to be fine with how the conversation ended, but I wanted some time to myself to work out my thoughts. We’d been glued together practically since we met, and only once she shoved my past in my face did I get apprehensive about being around her. Godsdamn it, what am I supposed to do?

She knew about my past or at least part of it, knew who I was before she chose me, so why now is she getting hung up on what I did a decade ago?

Or is she?

She didn’t berate me on my past at all, she just told me she knew, and she didn’t approve. Maybe I’m the one that’s hung up about it.

Heat and shame crept up towards my face and settled in my cheeks. She’s the first person who’s ever called me on it, and that’s why it’s getting under my skin.

I wasn’t sorry about my past. I knew it was wrong, and what I did was awful; I felt guilty at getting called out by her, but I wasn’t sorry for the things I’d done.

Maybe that’s why she brought it up, to force me to confront that side of me?

Lost in thought, I almost let a large catfish swim by. On reflex, I thrust with my spear, and two of the three points caught the fish. I pulled it up as it flopped around, spraying me in the face with even more cold water before dying.

I climbed out of the water and pulled the fish free. Setting the spear back where I found it, I headed back to camp, where Eris was sitting, staring at the fire. Her ears twitched as I approached, but she didn’t turn around. Instead she drew her knees to her chest and pulled her arms around her.

Taking the fish to the fire, I ignored Eris for a moment, taking a roll of cloth from my inventory and proceeding to clean and fillet the catfish. Eris stole a few glances my way while I worked that I caught out of the corner of my eye. And she shuffled over on the ground to watch what I was doing.

She placed her hand on my bicep as she leaned over to watch my hands. “Do you mind if I watch?” she asked, her voice hesitant.

It was the first thing she’d said to me in a while, so I nodded. “Of course.”

Eris kept her hand on my arm throughout the process, and I wasn’t going to say anything that could cause her to remove it.

 When I’d cleaned the fish, I salted it and sprinkled a bit of lemon pepper seasoning on it and cooked it until it was perfect. After dicing a few potatoes, I sautéed them using the leftover fat and oil from cooking the fish.

We ate, and when it was finished, we just sat there, letting the tension hang over us. When it reached the point where I’d have relished letting her insects crawl over me again rather than sit in the abhorrent silence for another single second, she finally spoke up.

“Are you angry with me?” she asked, her voice faltering.

“No, of course not. I’m just not sure what to say, what I can say, that’ll fix the silence between us.”

Eris smiled, a tilt of her lips threatening a grin before she crawled over to me. “Then we don’t have to say anything if we don’t want to.”

She kissed me softly, a single kiss that held our lips together as she rested her forehead against mine. It washed the tension from my shoulders instantly, and I reveled in her touch. She took away my apprehension and replaced it with understanding. She leaned back, her hand on my cheek as she gazed at me with her graphite eyes.

“I knew the kind of man you were from the moment we met. I’ve seen for myself some of the lives you’ve taken without remorse, and I accepted you anyway. I accepted that part of you, because I think I can see you better that you can see yourself. And I want to know the man you’ve hidden away beneath your rage and self-loathing. Even if that man can be rude at times, I know you don’t mean it.”