She arrived with her coat torn and her boots red with dust.80Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6FmHoUPLBR
Not fresh blood.80Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDn88EdymXd
Old earth.80Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7m2c2tt0xg
Walked too long and far to care what clung to her.
She did not collapse.80Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBhWt0DsKXu
She did not cry.
She ordered nothing.
She sat, looked at the fire, and said:80Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡix9O5YB3tu
80Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkzpFddhamm
“Even if I die here… I shall have no regrets.”
She said it simply.80Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8UgrjmOksI
Not to me.80Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtbFbazPYBS
To the room.80Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDbUhBLtSRi
To the fire.80Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPvM3kUxrJO
To herself.
There was no ceremony to it.
I brewed something light, fragileroot and sunpetal,80Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY9c8aZ0nZS
the kind that holds no bitterness, no memory, only warmth.
She smiled, touched the rim, but did not drink.80Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgWpTMmmIUM
80Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpRqFF6JXRs
“This place… I didn’t dream it, did I?”
I shook my head.
She nodded once.
And then, she closed her eyes.
Not in death.80Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf5HNRy7dV9
Just in rest.
She stayed the night. She left at dawn.80Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO1QfINQT3T
Left the drink untouched, glowing softly.
I do not know if she is still walking.80Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmEVXINLmez
But I know she was here.
And if that moment was her last.
She chose it.
And the tavern remembered her without needing to ask her name.
ns216.73.216.238da2
