Hive Knight: A Dark Fantasy LitRPG (Trinity of the Hive Book 1) Grayson Sinclair (book recommendations website .TXT) 📖

dress with a revealing neckline, the hem stopping just above her knees and blowing about in the wind. Her walnut hair was pinned into a ponytail, her bright hazel eyes sparkling with excitement and nervousness.

We stopped just shy of the edge, and Soph pulled out a large blanket and an assortment of cooking supplies. She busied about setting things up and getting a fire built. A hard thing, considering the location. When I tried to help, she only fussed at me.

“Uh-uh, I don’t think so,” she said, handing me a tankard of mead. “You sit and relax. I’ll be done in a few minutes.”

I laid back on the blanket and sipped at the mead. It was homemade, blackberry and cherry mead, Sophia’s specialty, and it was delicious. The most delicious drink in the world.

I cast a sidelong glance at her. She was smiling as she worked. It's good to see her like this again—she's been so withdrawn and aloof lately. For a time, I stared out over the cliffs, enjoying my drink and the comfortable silence between us. The clinking of pots and pans and the howling wind melded into a song.

Sophia got the makeshift kitchen set up and started cooking for the two of us, boar steaks and scalloped potatoes with even more mead. My favorite meal. I savored the food while Sophia and I talked. To this day, I can’t remember what we talked about. Everything and nothing, perhaps. It all blended and faded into the abyss.

But I remember all too well what happened next.

The midday sun faded into warm twilight as we brought our outing to a close. I helped Soph pack everything up, and we were just about to head to the gate when Sophia stopped me, tugging on my arm.

I turned back to her. “What is it?”

“Um, there’s something I have to tell you,” she said, her face flushed with embarrassment as she picked at her fingernail, trying to work up the courage to speak.

“Go on,” I pushed, unsure what she was getting at.

She huffed but smiled at me. “Duran,” she began before shaking her head. “No, Sampson. I love you.”

Oh…this is what she wanted to tell me. It wasn’t like I didn’t know. I’d known how she felt about me for years, even before we joined the Ouroboros Project. I knew.

“Soph—” I started, but she cut me off.

“No, let me finish. I’m in love with you, Sam. I have been for a very long time now, and I couldn’t spend another day without telling you.” She stepped forward to take my hand. “I love you, Sam, and I want to be with you, forever.” She pulled a ring from her pocket and knelt. “Will you marry me?”

I pulled away, letting her hand fall from mine.

I’m sorry, Soph. I couldn’t marry her. Not because I didn’t love her—I loved her as much as I ever loved anyone, but even years later, the ghosts of my failures were too strong.

I was still suffering because of Micah, because I’d failed to protect my family. My excuse seemed reasonable at the time. I didn’t want to fall in love with someone else, only to lose them too.

Even though that’s exactly what happened anyway. I didn't know what my answer meant to her.

“I can’t, Soph. I’m sorry, but no. I can’t marry you.”

She wasn’t shocked, as I’d thought she’d be. She’d known what my answer was going to be. She stood from the ground and gave me a sorrowful smile.

“I knew you'd say that, but it doesn't hurt any less.”

“Soph, I’m so sorry.”

“I know you are, Sam.”

I held out my hand. “C’mon, Soph. Let's go home. We can talk more there.”

She shook her head. “I’m not going home.”

“Why not?” I asked, shocked. I tried to go to her, but she pulled away from me, going to look out to the sea.

“I’m tired, Sam. Tired of this world. It’s as brutal as anything we survived back on Earth, and I’m so tired. Tired of the killing and the bloodshed. I never wanted to be a warrior, yet I’ve killed thousands.”

“You don’t have to fight if you don’t want to. We can leave the guild, go settle in the Compass Kingdom. We don’t have to fight anymore.”

“No, Sam. There’s too much blood on our hands to ever come clean. This world feels as real as the one we left. That means what we’ve done, we’ve done to real people. For years and years, we've gone on slaughtering whoever stood in our way, and I can’t carry that weight anymore. I’d rather die than keep on living with this guilt.”

“The one thing that's kept me going was you. I thought that if you could come to love me that would be enough, but that was a pipe dream.”

“I love you, Soph!”

She smiled at me, but it was hollow. “I know you do, but not as I love you. And it doesn’t matter, anyway. It was just an excuse for me, something to cling to when my world fell apart. I loved you with everything I had, but it still wasn’t enough to hold back the nightmares.”

“There’s too much pain, Sam. I just can’t take it anymore.”

She stepped to the edge of the cliff, and I wasn’t fast enough to stop her. I pushed as fast as my legs would carry me, but it wasn’t enough.

"Sophia!"

“Goodbye, Sam.”

She let herself fall over the edge. Down to a place she couldn’t come back from; a place I couldn’t follow.

Sophia took her own life. There would be no coming back for her.

Lonny blamed me for her suicide, and I couldn’t even defend myself. Not then.

I paced the confines of my cell. Trying to think up a way out of here. Without Lonny’s help, no way I’m getting out