He watched her disappear down a dark alleyway. The same one she had visited last week. Ordinarily he wouldn’t have followed her, but something was off.

She was the nicest person he knew, always full of light and joy. She took rude clients without complaint, and handled the situation so well they were laughing with her a few minutes later.

Ariana was a star, shining though the dreary world.

After the Queen of Tivern was killed 5 years ago, her royal line obliterated, everyone had been so scared. But she never showed her fear either. Not even when the new king’s guards ransacked the shop looking for contraband. Once she’d even convinced the captain to leave with a purchased drink in tow.

But recently, she’d been acting off. Like there was something on her mind.

Roman had only known her for a few years, but he could tell.

They were coworkers, but recently he’d taken the jump to become something more. And she’d jumped with him. Everything had been even greater than usual, until now.

She still showed him the same care and compassion as usual, and he could tell she put efforts into their dates, but there was something wrong. Like the shadow of a cloud hanging over her shoulders.

So he’d followed her after work. And he’d seen the pattern.

Now he followed her closer, stepping into the alley after she’d dissapeared from sight. Her white sweater would have stood out against the night, but she was nowhere to be seen.

He scanned the alleyway, running his hands along the coarse bricks. He felt something give under his hand as he did, and a doorway appeared beside his hand.

“What?” Roman breathed. It was magic. But magic had been outlawed since the new kings rise to power. He glanced toward the mouth of the alley. Guards could make the rounds at any moment, and if he was caught with magic…Roman stepped through the portal.

He entered a lush green world.

Rolling hills and streams of crystal blue water dotted the landscape.

He turned around to see he was on the edge of a forest, with trees every color imaginable, and small animals and birds scuttling around.

“Whoah.” Roman couldn’t believe his eyes. He smacked his cheek to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. Nope. Definitely not.

Something flashed out of the corner of his eye, and he turned in time to see a boot connect with his face.

He fell, and the last thing he saw was an unfamiliar girls face frowning down at him.

When Roman came to, he was on the ground in the alley.

He groaned, rubbing the back of his head as he sat up. He became aware of whispers behind him, and twisted around to see two figures watching him.

Ariana was there, along with another girl. The one who had kicked him. Roman struggled to his feet under their gaze. He straightened his coat, brushed some dirt off his pants, and faced them.

“What happened?” He asked Ariana. “What was that?”

The green world floated above him, a beautiful memory in a sea of gloom.

“Why did you follow me?” Ariana asked softly. Her eyes, usually bright, were underlined by dark circles, like she hadn’t slept in weeks. Everything about her seemed dimmer.

“I was worried about you,” Roman told her. His eyes flicked between her and the other girl, who met his gaze evenly. “You’ve seemed off for a couple of weeks. I wanted to see if you were really okay.”

She had, of course, insisted there was nothing wrong when he had initially asked.

“I could hit him again,” the other girl offered. “He might forget if I do it hard enough.”

Roman hurriedly backed up a couple of steps.

“No way.” He said hurriedly.

“Don’t hurt him,” Ariana told the girl, putting a hand on her shoulder. “He’s done nothing wrong.”

She gave him a small smile.

“Ariana,” he dared after a moment. “What is going on?”

Ariana shared a glance with the other girl before taking a deep breath.

“I’ll tell you. But firstly, my name isn’t Ariana. It’s Hope.”