He arrived in dusk-colored robes,79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuAGSSRprCZ
hands bare, but humming with something ancient.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTbP1YC51ua
He did not sit.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTNVDX4bFAW
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 long79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtbgdmASRIf
I looked.
Not just at the threshold.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp3YwRntUnE
Beyond it.
He said:79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfs8932IOjB
79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoG1N9MRAKL
“You’ve given them so much.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRlqfbxBhQT
Let me give you something.”
He offered no reward.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡujKbU7DyTo
No secret.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1DxjzYYYKl
Just a walk.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgdED1EkuRS
79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCBaK0klRem
“Come with me.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0MQ10IgRye
Just for one moment.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPNCJDueitT
The sky is turning a color it has never turned before.”
And for a heartbeat, I almost did.
The fire didn’t crackle.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDmgrORjIVm
It tightened.
The bottles on the shelf leaned slightly, not in warning but in ache.
Even the chair behind the bar felt colder,79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc9P2Lf4CD7
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.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0J6U8hDzk5
Not a rule.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3a3FbIChn7
Not a curse.
A vow.
Not to the world.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSsI7GY054d
Not to the tavern.
To them.
To all who might still come,79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsv3OB97Cfe
needing silence,79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl6y0Xb4tTn
needing warmth,79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfgKO7eumfJ
needing to be known.
So I stepped back.
He said nothing.
He only nodded, like he had expected this.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd0yAqLxeJV
Like he had needed me to choose,79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr49BucfgjU
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.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0NXSK5iWZg
Bitter.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG1cRSghXPk
Gentle.79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ75NpI2wrsn
Grateful.
