He arrived in dusk-colored robes,72Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE9qwggXA4n
hands bare, but humming with something ancient.72Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdwpYjLOViT
He did not sit.72Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjPyJ3Vj7Gh
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 long72Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhZ7dkgHWJ1
I looked.
Not just at the threshold.72Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuZVPesCKqh
Beyond it.
He said:72Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQUHtrcTpCO
72Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6OzObNUKAy
“You’ve given them so much.72Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4egrmH1LaL
Let me give you something.”
He offered no reward.72Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF7neiXu55P
No secret.72Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEKeXElfIeF
Just a walk.72Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3RaNDAkBoD
72Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYtBF3Qqcvo
“Come with me.72Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTb2WL8yUxW
Just for one moment.72Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr18CnPG48J
The sky is turning a color it has never turned before.”
And for a heartbeat, I almost did.
The fire didn’t crackle.72Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZQN79W7jjA
It tightened.
The bottles on the shelf leaned slightly, not in warning but in ache.
Even the chair behind the bar felt colder,72Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEdaU9Bw3iE
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.72Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ73mvDYIaKK
Not a rule.72Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjvhGynmEfd
Not a curse.
A vow.
Not to the world.72Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbNv9rd5Mv1
Not to the tavern.
To them.
To all who might still come,72Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxS9ygbehbX
needing silence,72Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGMldlLkL4H
needing warmth,72Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn6VZdBJ56T
needing to be known.
So I stepped back.
He said nothing.
He only nodded, like he had expected this.72Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdcHi8GtWRN
Like he had needed me to choose,72Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCvu1oqOfxM
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.72Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfmVdtB8nbd
Bitter.72Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡslHFrUAVBv
Gentle.72Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8loJE5tlHJ
Grateful.
and then Add to home screen.