The Dragon’s Winter Guest

She visited the dragon every year on the first night the forest forgot its green. They never spoke of why. She brought a comb of alderwood; he lowered his great, thorned neck, and she patiently untangled the frost from between his scales. In return, he curled around the ruined tower until dawn, keeping the cold from her bones. By morning, her hair glittered with ice, and his was full of small white flowers.