He arrived in dusk-colored robes,69Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNpehfKGjKi
hands bare, but humming with something ancient.69Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCeRbdpRZA2
He did not sit.69Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyfXAecG4OC
He did not speak right away.
Instead, he stood at the tavern door and held it open.
And for the first time in… I don’t know how long69Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIrNxwhyyDZ
I looked.
Not just at the threshold.69Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ9ElIXPOrg
Beyond it.
He said:69Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHbV8S2Emcr
69Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJeyCGzhFFM
“You’ve given them so much.69Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6MLrSPFap3
Let me give you something.”
He offered no reward.69Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcv5PfXBHh4
No secret.69Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbwQCURqqcq
Just a walk.69Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWHDks78NRD
69Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6MIX6Lx8GV
“Come with me.69Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPzCQveuPbi
Just for one moment.69Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF39i2yL5ZZ
The sky is turning a color it has never turned before.”
And for a heartbeat, I almost did.
The fire didn’t crackle.69Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnqEACnofbj
It tightened.
The bottles on the shelf leaned slightly, not in warning but in ache.
Even the chair behind the bar felt colder,69Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡACtEg6j2ZO
as if bracing to be empty.
I stepped forward.
Closer to the door than I had in ages.
I could feel wind on my fingertips.
But I remembered something then.69Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNcxUCpFn7k
Not a rule.69Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQgB9QP5aMC
Not a curse.
A vow.
Not to the world.69Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbaIujFcdcs
Not to the tavern.
To them.
To all who might still come,69Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyJ4oerixdU
needing silence,69Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtKSQ6Df0Pe
needing warmth,69Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl70b6EgmaA
needing to be known.
So I stepped back.
He said nothing.
He only nodded, like he had expected this.69Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRz4bi85gdo
Like he had needed me to choose,69Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSOoyGxPPK7
so the choice would mean something.
And then he left.
The door closed.
The fire relaxed.
And I brewed something just for myself that night.69Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIU3jlHsirP
Bitter.69Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTu0Agon0by
Gentle.69Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRoiiDhKIaT
Grateful.
