He arrived in dusk-colored robes,67Please respect copyright.PENANAcvdWy9eJCl
hands bare, but humming with something ancient.67Please respect copyright.PENANACwF1vWq9DK
He did not sit.67Please respect copyright.PENANAia0Zv2j2rb
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 long67Please respect copyright.PENANALFIkvB8qrc
I looked.
Not just at the threshold.67Please respect copyright.PENANAl0cMqHv83q
Beyond it.
He said:67Please respect copyright.PENANAUa1Yo4wOz0
67Please respect copyright.PENANAmzPzUFpo0r
“You’ve given them so much.67Please respect copyright.PENANA86v3uivdZ4
Let me give you something.”
He offered no reward.67Please respect copyright.PENANAywtnZLAHPS
No secret.67Please respect copyright.PENANAQfzmmubrH4
Just a walk.67Please respect copyright.PENANANkwkpLWSFd
67Please respect copyright.PENANApmRJHU6ist
“Come with me.67Please respect copyright.PENANAp7QqobZjK7
Just for one moment.67Please respect copyright.PENANASXFnBZ9JH7
The sky is turning a color it has never turned before.”
And for a heartbeat, I almost did.
The fire didn’t crackle.67Please respect copyright.PENANALz0zfcNgoN
It tightened.
The bottles on the shelf leaned slightly, not in warning but in ache.
Even the chair behind the bar felt colder,67Please respect copyright.PENANA8KdIPtCdKi
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.67Please respect copyright.PENANAREQn8J6YkL
Not a rule.67Please respect copyright.PENANAKev3o3z4lM
Not a curse.
A vow.
Not to the world.67Please respect copyright.PENANAnXwZabQBmZ
Not to the tavern.
To them.
To all who might still come,67Please respect copyright.PENANA6mJEWi1ayU
needing silence,67Please respect copyright.PENANAUOz9i7980Z
needing warmth,67Please respect copyright.PENANA9ODO5V5gJa
needing to be known.
So I stepped back.
He said nothing.
He only nodded, like he had expected this.67Please respect copyright.PENANA2foD6GXQ06
Like he had needed me to choose,67Please respect copyright.PENANAiIJ306P8kY
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.67Please respect copyright.PENANAo8YxAyh2T5
Bitter.67Please respect copyright.PENANAvDNdWEGbCj
Gentle.67Please respect copyright.PENANAoBR2lmMe6X
Grateful.