He arrived in dusk-colored robes,83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNMoL7mxZJW
hands bare, but humming with something ancient.83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ42cYcWiPsU
He did not sit.83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSRrRdP31vd
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 long83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8gi8e5Chwe
I looked.
Not just at the threshold.83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7c2T4pKavc
Beyond it.
He said:83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ZaCkbgmYy
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZa7AGqXBSh
“You’ve given them so much.83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6iXQQnJMYj
Let me give you something.”
He offered no reward.83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcASujOOJF6
No secret.83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvgCegPdE2D
Just a walk.83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqjLws4MoeB
83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNaPaTDH0uR
“Come with me.83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGelWCUgqpP
Just for one moment.83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPc7C2G1Qq3
The sky is turning a color it has never turned before.”
And for a heartbeat, I almost did.
The fire didn’t crackle.83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8O8H8sRp9o
It tightened.
The bottles on the shelf leaned slightly, not in warning but in ache.
Even the chair behind the bar felt colder,83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Kjqz5IU1a
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.83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAtrmbn1346
Not a rule.83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOzlJ6Dhdxl
Not a curse.
A vow.
Not to the world.83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKR9M2x5OuV
Not to the tavern.
To them.
To all who might still come,83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCnmYBbGY0E
needing silence,83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcI2UYo1wKB
needing warmth,83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSa65Sl1hQf
needing to be known.
So I stepped back.
He said nothing.
He only nodded, like he had expected this.83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ1vnr5VIzn
Like he had needed me to choose,83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFcHH5XQpLA
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.83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVv5JL2sTQe
Bitter.83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk3ItYIpGfl
Gentle.83Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOyQd8hDlU8
Grateful.
