She arrived with her coat torn and her boots red with dust.64Please respect copyright.PENANA7BuV39JimT
Not fresh blood.64Please respect copyright.PENANA5MjHacivt7
Old earth.64Please respect copyright.PENANAmwL3Vx246w
Walked too long and far to care what clung to her.
She did not collapse.64Please respect copyright.PENANA4SBQwxz9vw
She did not cry.
She ordered nothing.
She sat, looked at the fire, and said:64Please respect copyright.PENANAfGRZWbrSHU
64Please respect copyright.PENANAmt1jJhsKoH
“Even if I die here… I shall have no regrets.”
She said it simply.64Please respect copyright.PENANA3dbMR1ofdV
Not to me.64Please respect copyright.PENANAXK5MgI3vAF
To the room.64Please respect copyright.PENANAKfPvFGF5qq
To the fire.64Please respect copyright.PENANA6oCEAalwVO
To herself.
There was no ceremony to it.
I brewed something light, fragileroot and sunpetal,64Please respect copyright.PENANAgjr6kujHqT
the kind that holds no bitterness, no memory, only warmth.
She smiled, touched the rim, but did not drink.64Please respect copyright.PENANA809pyWoP86
64Please respect copyright.PENANADWazfktcaW
“This place… I didn’t dream it, did I?”
I shook my head.
She nodded once.
And then, she closed her eyes.
Not in death.64Please respect copyright.PENANAj1obqwRRoM
Just in rest.
She stayed the night. She left at dawn.64Please respect copyright.PENANAZzUVX5hOWL
Left the drink untouched, glowing softly.
I do not know if she is still walking.64Please respect copyright.PENANArKxTSpWgGL
But I know she was here.
And if that moment was her last.
She chose it.
And the tavern remembered her without needing to ask her name.
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