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

to our discarded lunches and were delighting in the food. I wanted to burn them alive, but Eris happily watched them while I readied Lacuna.

Eris got dressed in the skirt Makenna had provided for her, but it seemed she was vehemently averse to wearing shoes, so I stowed them in my inventory along with the armor Gil had given her. She donned one of my shirts, an emerald one this time, and one of my last truly clean shirts, along with her traveling skirt and cloak. The brown and greens played nicely off each other.

When she was dressed, she walked over and hugged me. “Just know that I’ll accept whatever’s in your past. And I’ll be here to talk when you’re ready to open up.”

I smiled into her hair. It smelled like my soap: cherries and cream. Even if I can’t fix myself, I can at least be there for her. I could be the immovable rock to which she tethered herself. She needed me in her life just as much as I think I needed her. I wasn’t ready to accept her when we met, couldn’t have known what she would come to mean to me, but I couldn’t run from the truth any longer.

I cared for her, cared for her more than I dared to admit.

Smiling, I kissed her damp hair and held my lips there, enjoying her presence. I’d like to stay here a bit longer, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep.

“C’mon, love. We’re burning daylight.”

Chapter 17 - Outlier Farmstead

Over the next day, Eris and I rode our way to the edge of the Compass Kingdom. Long before we ever spied the towering white walls that encircled the five kingdoms, we came across the outlier farms.

Too many farmers grew tired of the taxes and regulations of the Merchants Guild and the lax nature of the five kings when it came to hearing their plights. So one by one, the disgruntled citizens left the safety of Alliance and set up shop in the untended fields far enough away from the hands of the guild.

Though the farmsteads were small in stature, their fields stretched for miles as we wound our way over the dirt road towards the East Kingdom. I thought the farmers both brave and stupid for their decisions. Living under the thumb of the guild was far from pleasant, but it offered protection too. Here, away from the walls and patrols of the Alliance, the farmers were subject to bandit raids and thefts.

The Merchants Guild is the lesser of two evils. Better the devils you know. Still, it was none of my business; far be it for me to meddle in the affairs of the guild.

I guided Lacuna over a thin dirt road next to a large field of barley. The ocean of amber twisted in the wind, bringing the wonderful aroma blowing our way. Eris giggled as a few loose stalks drifted past, tickling her exposed skin.

Her laugh invigorated me, and I drew her closer to my chest as we passed the numerous fields and the workers who raised their hands in greeting as we rode by. Eris couldn’t help but wave back, and as long as she kept her head covered, I didn’t care if she socialized to her heart’s content.

I slowed down as we rode next to a farmer coming from the field. The man wore stained trousers and a once-white linen shirt, but it had long since seen its prime, though a wide-brimmed straw hat covered his face in shadow.

“Howdy, there,” he said as he raised his hand in greeting.

He was an elderly man, worn down by the sun. His deeply tanned skin drooped like melted candle wax, but his eyes were bright, filled with warmth and humor.

“Hello,” Eris replied happily.

He smirked at the sight of me with my hands around Eris’s waist. “Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes? It’s good to see young love in these troubling times.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Ah, where are my manners? My name is Oscar,” he said with a smile and a shake of his head. “And don’t mind me, jus’ ignore the ramblings of an old man.”

“Duran.”

“I’m Eris!”

I looked around, really looked instead of just a cursory glance. Plumes of gray smoke rose from the chimneys of dozens of farmsteads, but one trail of smoke was black and low like it had been burning for a while.

“Trouble with bandits?”

“Always, but that’s nothing new. Mos’ of the time, they take our ‘tithes’ and leave, but they’ve grown bolder over the years. The bandit kings are running wild without that empress of theirs to keep ‘em in line.”

“Could always pack up and head back to the East Kingdom,” I said with a shrug.

“Bah,” Oscar said, and spat onto the ground. “Bunch of fuckin’ thieves and snakes, the lot of ‘em.”

Oscar looked up, realized Eris was there and what he’d said and reddened.

“Ah, my apologies, miss,” he said with a sheepish grin. “Pardon this farmer’s uncouth mouth.”

“No worries, Oscar. You should hear this one. Could curdle milk with his filthy mouth alone,” she said, smiling while ribbing me lightly with her elbow.

He laughed. “I was just about to head home for some lunch. It gets lonely out here, would you two care to join me?”

I shook my head. “Thank you for the offer, but we’ve really got places to—“

“I’ve got a fresh batch of beer that just finished brewing. Homemade,” he interrupted, prodding me with a long stalk of wheat he picked off the ground.

“We’d love to join you for lunch,” I said, relenting.

We followed Oscar up to his home, a single-story oak longhouse with a thick thatch roof, just dampened. It has been a hot summer. Wonder how common brush fires