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.
