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.
