He arrived in dusk-colored robes,49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQF2qv2L7XI
hands bare, but humming with something ancient.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW90cjK7dlg
He did not sit.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0oJsRfIiTK
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 long49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs6H4Jss87C
I looked.
Not just at the threshold.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡStlpEIoiJr
Beyond it.
He said:49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtJNpLiTigy
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4mF87QlENp
“You’ve given them so much.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoakIAF7hFa
Let me give you something.”
He offered no reward.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlur6duFqi0
No secret.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRTUAb8TCGq
Just a walk.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4irT8UW3Tu
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8CVH50BFVa
“Come with me.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡilBjozXGks
Just for one moment.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiLfVHMhziC
The sky is turning a color it has never turned before.”
And for a heartbeat, I almost did.
The fire didn’t crackle.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKAnKEbxUnR
It tightened.
The bottles on the shelf leaned slightly, not in warning but in ache.
Even the chair behind the bar felt colder,49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDKvGw4uE9E
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTWCzMIXGia
Not a rule.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ87WATvzaRM
Not a curse.
A vow.
Not to the world.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxRWqTQzXGG
Not to the tavern.
To them.
To all who might still come,49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZgBU62Aq16
needing silence,49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkyrtf2G0LY
needing warmth,49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD3UUXd10Sn
needing to be known.
So I stepped back.
He said nothing.
He only nodded, like he had expected this.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDgjBbNWnAz
Like he had needed me to choose,49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaEhSm8pqXk
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9835yftDUA
Bitter.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtBvpOX4mMK
Gentle.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLaIGdIgVFz
Grateful.
