Get better. Zale wished he would get better, but he wouldn’t. He’d come farther than he’d expected, and he should be grateful for having gotten this much time, but he wanted to cling to Albus. Wanted to stay, to hold on, to see more of Dragon Row, to learn about dragons, to sit in Albus’ shop and ring up his creations.

Life was filled with struggles, but when you realized it was about to end, it was the most precious gift ever given to you. The greatest treasure.

He smiled at Albus as he lowered him onto a day bed of some sort, wrought iron with a dark olive-green mattress. “You have a bed next to your shop?”

“I hear the bell from here.”

Zale did his best to ignore the pain and focus on the conversation. “But you have another bed, right? You don’t spend your nights here.” There was a pillow, but no cover or blanket.” A shiver went through Zale. He was always cold these days, apart from when he was bathing in sweat. Fever he didn’t want to acknowledge. Pain, fever, and bone-deep exhaustion. His eyes stung. Each breath brought him closer to the end.

“In the tower.”

Zale stupidly looked at the ceiling. There was a tower? He’d seen towers when he’d approached Dragon Row, but then the sound of metal hitting metal in the smithy had stolen his attention. “You have a bedroom in a tower?”

Albus' face was a blank mask. Zale didn’t know if it was how all dragons were or if it was an Albus thing.

“Like a princess.” Zale teased and tried to pinch his side, only there wasn’t much to pinch. Albus was solid muscle. Damn. Were all dragons fit or was it a blacksmith thing?

Albus huffed. “There are only dragons in towers, no princesses.”

“It’s not how the fairy tales go.”

There was a curious glint in Albus' eyes, and Zale held his breath, waiting for a question. Did dragons know they were featured in many human fairy tales?

Albus looked away and took a step back from the bed. “I should ... there is still a customer in the shop. Though maybe she escaped now that you’re not there to protect her anymore.”

Zale chuckled. Protect. He’d never been weaker. “I couldn’t have if I’d wanted to.”

Albus reached out as if to pat him but quickly removed his hand. “Call out if you need anything. Dragons have excellent hearing.”

“They do?” Another thing he didn’t know about dragons. He wanted to ask about it, but his eyelids were drooping. “Thank you, Albus the Auspicious.” Zale allowed his eyes to close and listened to the silence.

“What does it mean?”

The whisper was so low he wasn’t sure he’d heard it at first. He smiled and winced as pain stabbed his gut. “I’m not entirely sure, but it’s something positive.”

If it hadn’t been for the sound of the customer’s voice asking about the price of something, Zale wouldn’t have known Albus had gone. He took a deep breath and let go of all pretense of being fine. A tear trickled down his cheek and his body shook from the pain and the cold. He turned over to his right side since it was the least painful and allowed the looming darkness to suck him under. One day soon, he wouldn’t find his way out of the darkness again.