She arrived with her coat torn and her boots red with dust.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSpe8kZLVOt
Not fresh blood.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbblUaoAqb7
Old earth.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡANQ4YmkDAO
Walked too long and far to care what clung to her.
She did not collapse.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs6SA18NCLP
She did not cry.
She ordered nothing.
She sat, looked at the fire, and said:27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCCHnsfRRDr
27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiE6l7AOITd
“Even if I die here… I shall have no regrets.”
She said it simply.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN0XPCqOlh7
Not to me.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLDNq0MyZ8S
To the room.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFNGEgcmgsN
To the fire.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ke6NNXpuC
To herself.
There was no ceremony to it.
I brewed something light, fragileroot and sunpetal,27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC8Cwt2cqyo
the kind that holds no bitterness, no memory, only warmth.
She smiled, touched the rim, but did not drink.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1NrjiDT7zf
27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxlocQmgtwK
“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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxkvJH1TnCn
Just in rest.
She stayed the night. She left at dawn.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwdABkaYFly
Left the drink untouched, glowing softly.
I do not know if she is still walking.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdbPo3hxZsA
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.
ns216.73.216.81da2
