He arrived in dusk-colored robes,57Please respect copyright.PENANAkmEg9A5ojF
hands bare, but humming with something ancient.57Please respect copyright.PENANAzp7fJpvnbS
He did not sit.57Please respect copyright.PENANASlQE9Vmcq2
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 long57Please respect copyright.PENANAkqVtY7sD9W
I looked.
Not just at the threshold.57Please respect copyright.PENANA7RgWEKTSqZ
Beyond it.
He said:57Please respect copyright.PENANAe078MrR8ep
57Please respect copyright.PENANAMIbC7o0mzt
“You’ve given them so much.57Please respect copyright.PENANA4TC7j2zyO6
Let me give you something.”
He offered no reward.57Please respect copyright.PENANAqEzU4gnB3N
No secret.57Please respect copyright.PENANAW6Pr86TVGO
Just a walk.57Please respect copyright.PENANAEaC1bFDQeG
57Please respect copyright.PENANAsLouILH7a2
“Come with me.57Please respect copyright.PENANAPAdeQNcz7i
Just for one moment.57Please respect copyright.PENANABUGsGJPgzb
The sky is turning a color it has never turned before.”
And for a heartbeat, I almost did.
The fire didn’t crackle.57Please respect copyright.PENANArnJdcJkcCT
It tightened.
The bottles on the shelf leaned slightly, not in warning but in ache.
Even the chair behind the bar felt colder,57Please respect copyright.PENANAMaVCQMOZPD
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.57Please respect copyright.PENANAdALRCRgNpZ
Not a rule.57Please respect copyright.PENANAGnOfARJX2A
Not a curse.
A vow.
Not to the world.57Please respect copyright.PENANAMpWQFt7ekp
Not to the tavern.
To them.
To all who might still come,57Please respect copyright.PENANAd7UEhdn6fg
needing silence,57Please respect copyright.PENANAisusIA4q4J
needing warmth,57Please respect copyright.PENANAHmXcWa8LE5
needing to be known.
So I stepped back.
He said nothing.
He only nodded, like he had expected this.57Please respect copyright.PENANAnd8EqSCXtF
Like he had needed me to choose,57Please respect copyright.PENANAlbjFQLqgiq
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.57Please respect copyright.PENANA8mA8wdf2ZH
Bitter.57Please respect copyright.PENANAZhWvkesPcX
Gentle.57Please respect copyright.PENANAr06CAfFmlA
Grateful.