He arrived in dusk-colored robes,77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqPjXaTlLSh
hands bare, but humming with something ancient.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxk3HaDCpLp
He did not sit.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvYj2mfpQbk
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 long77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrEKw46sJ8y
I looked.
Not just at the threshold.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHU71ouD8hr
Beyond it.
He said:77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4jQP9o11gD
77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡetOo42Uk66
“You’ve given them so much.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOA9t5A2jab
Let me give you something.”
He offered no reward.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUQQZcro4Gv
No secret.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFpQU3KSPRO
Just a walk.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZYUkJVcYM8
77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyMFzjiXGbs
“Come with me.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTFSHTRqlc9
Just for one moment.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQVPfAm2qh4
The sky is turning a color it has never turned before.”
And for a heartbeat, I almost did.
The fire didn’t crackle.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsAmTYnS7fa
It tightened.
The bottles on the shelf leaned slightly, not in warning but in ache.
Even the chair behind the bar felt colder,77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3VXCRzEJUA
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.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXODT3FyQm5
Not a rule.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3rJZrJ08q8
Not a curse.
A vow.
Not to the world.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPiKgEE1gZk
Not to the tavern.
To them.
To all who might still come,77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKE6IaYnWab
needing silence,77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ54KASvO82o
needing warmth,77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡceiFWxxVUV
needing to be known.
So I stepped back.
He said nothing.
He only nodded, like he had expected this.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwmPmi2xxpu
Like he had needed me to choose,77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEA6ZOBzUIg
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.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCPsimmbT5B
Bitter.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjxwnb9e2bR
Gentle.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZhK7UmJNmz
Grateful.
and then Add to home screen.