She arrived with her coat torn and her boots red with dust.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl6377rMbXu
Not fresh blood.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRVPupLzIfi
Old earth.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3d8hx2j0YE
Walked too long and far to care what clung to her.
She did not collapse.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHomTqsI6ll
She did not cry.
She ordered nothing.
She sat, looked at the fire, and said:28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSlihNy9dXg
28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9RXF3HMmLu
“Even if I die here… I shall have no regrets.”
She said it simply.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ908rUiSbEb
Not to me.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6AdOEzEElS
To the room.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcplteEe8BE
To the fire.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbenhpmZbIP
To herself.
There was no ceremony to it.
I brewed something light, fragileroot and sunpetal,28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs0UewTR4NH
the kind that holds no bitterness, no memory, only warmth.
She smiled, touched the rim, but did not drink.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjL5v4hfVkN
28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgXj4AboTp3
“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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKXTTjHPXVa
Just in rest.
She stayed the night. She left at dawn.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzIKWUK9h47
Left the drink untouched, glowing softly.
I do not know if she is still walking.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHPWwYgbSFY
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.
ns216.73.216.96da2
