"Boo!"

Luke jumped and Annalisa giggled. He turned to her, his eyes as wide as tennis balls.

"Wh- Anna, how are you here?!"

"I snuck out again!" Annalisa chirped, sitting down on the seat next to him. She was a bit uncomfortable on the hard wood and not lavish cushions, but it worked.

Luke blinked. "It's dangerous. I've already told you, for a woman of your status-"

"What?"

"It's too dangerous for you to be out here. What if someone realizes who you are?"

"Well, you realized who I am," Annalisa said, shrugging.

"That's not the point. You're going to give Julia a heart attack, sneaking out like this…"

"I just wanted to see you again," Annalisa said, pouting. "Do you not like me?"

Luke opened his mouth, then closed it.

"That's… no, that's different…"

"Oooh, got you!" She elbowed him, HARD, and he yelped. "Anyway, whatcha doing?"

Luke scratched his neck and looked down at the scroll he was holding. Whoa. Annalisa could have sworn that book wasn't there before. "Oh… uh… Reading stuff."

"Commoners can read?" Annalisa's mouth hung open.

"... Wasn't I the one who suggested you read?"

"I just thought-"

"Some of us can read." He smiled, though Annalisa couldn't quite make out whether or not she was truly happy… there was just this bitter undertone to it. "Those who are lucky."

"And you're lucky?"

He thought for a moment, and a fond smile emerged on his face. "I suppose."

"Cool!" Annalisa scooted closer to him and he grimaced. "What are you reading?"

"... Oh. It's uh…" He thought for a moment. "A letter."

"From who?"

"Someone from Gysterf."

"WHOA! You know someone from Gysterf?!"

"You probably know a lot of people from Gysterf. Victims of war?"

"I know, but-"

"Yes, I know someone from Gysterf." Luke laughed. "She's a really cool person. Kind of a role model to me."

"Oh, like a mentor?"

"Well, I've never actually met her," Luke admitted. Annalisa gasped.

"Oh! So like pen pals!"

Luke grimaced, which Annalisa noticed he did a lot. "I wouldn't call her a pal, more of an… associate."

She gasped, leaning closer to him. "Uh-huh?"

Luke rolled his eyes and pushed her face away. "She's someone… of high social status. She doesn't have to work, she doesn't have to starve, but… she shares the pain of her people. She understands what it's like." Luke paused. "Well, no. She doesn't actually understand what it's like, but she tries to. And that's not something you see every day from rich aristocrats."

"That's cool," Annalisa said. She paused. "But I'm trying to understand. Does that mean I'm your pal too?"

Luke laughed. "That's not how it works."

"Pleaaaase?"

"No. Let's get you back to the palace-"

"… with a cherry on top?" Annalisa mustered the best puppy eyes she could possibly make.

Luke stared at her, and a small smile grew on his face. "Oh, alright. Let's be pals."

"Yay!"

"… Only if you go back to the palace right now."

"Aww."

They trekked back to the gates of the palace, where Annalisa waved a guard over to escort her back to her room.

"Thanks for talking to me again!" she said, waving a dainty hand back at him. "You're an awesome pal!"

"You too," Luke said softly, the little smile still on his face.

With that, Annalisa rushed back into the room before Julia came to make things awkward again.

"Look, mister guard. I'm Julia Ares, which means I'm your boss. Now tell me what happened and why the palace is in a lockdown!"

Silence. It was like she was talking to a wall, which was good, since the guards had been trained like this, but it was bad for her when she wanted to get information out of them.

"Oh, come on, you idiots! I won't hesitate to put in a bad word for you the next time I see my father!"

Silence.

"We know just as much as you."

Julia turned to the guard behind her, surprised that he had said anything. "What?"

"Sorry, Miss Ares," the guard said, giving her a stiff bow. "We don't know much more than you do."

"Oh, great. I wasted ten minutes of my life trying to weed information out of you incompetent fools-"

"I have heard some rumors, though," another guard piped up. Julia whipped around. It seemed like the words of the first guard had triggered some bravery that no one could have mustered before. "When I passed by the servant's quarters, I heard one of them say that something happened with Princess Alexandra. Something to do with treason."

"You think she's committed treason?" Julia frowned.

The guard gave her a curt nod. "I think I've heard of the word 'poison' being thrown around here and there, if that helps."

Poison…

Eva.

"Thank you," Julia said, backing up, the realization of what might have happened hitting her like a truck. "You've been very helpful… I'll tell my father about this…"

Her heart hammered against her chest. No… Eva couldn't have… could she?

"At your service, Miss."

And Julia bolted for Eva's room.

"Eva!" She clenched her teeth, pushing the door open, revealing Eva practicing one of the dances Lady Domanshee had taught.

"Huh?" Eva tilted her head, turning to her. "What's going on?"

"We need to talk. Now."

"I lost my ring!"

Annalisa opened her drawers frantically, looking through her hundreds upon thousands of pieces of jewelry.

"Maybe it fell on the floor somewhere?" her maid suggested. "I'll look immediately!"

"No, it's okay. I think I know where it went." She sighed, groaning. "It's somewhere in the streets where I ran away. I'm so stupid."

"You have so many more rings, your highness!" her maid cried, scurrying around the room in search of this missing ring. "See, you have sapphires and rubies-"

"I know," Annalisa said, slumping down on her velvet armchair. "But that was a gift from 'xandra! How can I face her now?"

"She won't notice," her maid said gently, stopping the search and walking towards her, putting a hand on her slumped shoulders. "Hey, how about I get you something to drink? Maybe that will soothe your nerves."

"Thank you, Isla." Annalisa smiled at her as her maid nodded and rushed out of the room.

She sat in silence for a moment, waiting, before someone tapped her shoulder.

"Put it on my desk, Isla."

"Actually, it's me."

Annalisa jumped when she heard his voice. "Luke! How did you get in here?"

He stopped for a moment, his usual confidence thrown away, before shrugging. "Ah. I know a few secret passages around here."

"Oh. Would they really be secret if a regular commoner knows them?" Annalisa asked.

Luke bit his lip. "I'm not a regular commoner, Anna."

"What?"

"Nevermind." He shook his head. "I just wanted to give this to you."

He took out a golden ring from his pocket. Annalisa gasped.

"How-"

"I found it where you sat when you spoke to me earlier today. I just assumed it was yours, since I don't know a lot of people who could afford something like this."

Annalisa's cheeks turned the same shade as her pink summer dress. "Oh. Why did you go through the trouble of sneaking in here? You know I have a lot of other rings… I don't need it. You could've sold it. You need it more than I do."

Luke grinned. "Well, I could just go back to the city and sell it right now. But I'll probably get arrested. No one will believe I got this without stealing."

"Just say a noblewoman gave it to you," Annalisa said. "That's technically the truth."

"Oh, alright. But if I get locked up in a cell, you better pardon me with your princess powers."

"You want to bet? Alright, go for it. I'll give you whatever you want if you aren't arrested. If you are, I win, and I get to tell you what to do for a whole day!"

"You can already tell me what to do," Luke said.

Annalisa scratched her head. "Well- fine. Then… if I win, I get to meet this pen pal of yours!"

Luke blinked, then smiled. "Well, I'll just make sure I get arrested, then."

"Deal!"

They laughed, and suddenly the door swung open. Luke ducked under her bed within seconds and in came Isla, carrying a tray of goods.

"I got you some tea and your favorite cookies, Your Highness," she said, curtsying.

"Ooh! Gimme gimme gimme!" Annalisa grabbed the tray and popped a cookie in her mouth.

Isla smiled. Then she said, "I need to go now, my shift is over."

Annalisa nodded, and Isla walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

Luke emerged from under her bed. "Whoa. That's the cleanest bed I've ever seen. Not a bit of dust underneath!"

Annalisa giggled. "Really?"

"Your servants do a fine job."

"Why, thank you!" Annalisa said, her mouth full of cookies. She grabbed one from the tray and handed it to him. "Try!"

Luke took it and bit into it. "This is really good!"

"Exactly!"

"Not my favorite, though," Luke teased. "Next time you sneak out, you should try the pistachio cookies my aunt makes. Made out of good-old wheat and still tastes sweet without the sugar."

Annalisa's mouth fell open. "No. Way."

"Yes! It's amazing what someone can produce if they just try to make it cheap."

They both laughed, and Annalisa scooted next to him. His eyes widened a bit and darted to the side.

"Are you alright?" Annalisa asked.

"I've just been a bit stressed these days."

"Oh," she said, frowning.

"I'm part of a… club, and I'm sort of the club president. I got in a fight with one of my club members the other day."

"Why? What happened?"

"We'll, Paliz—that's his name—his views just don't match up with mine. I like smooth, preferably peaceful conflicts but he… Well, he just wants a lot of people to get hurt. I get it, I know how much is at stake but…" He sighed. "Can't we solve the same problem with less violence?"

"We'll, you're the president," Annalisa said quietly.

Luke shook his head. "It's not that simple. I was elected, not born into it. I got the power I have because I was smart. I can't just ignore one of my comrades' opinions… I have to respect them if I need to keep my position."

"Alexander always says a bit of threatening could always solve anything," Annalisa joked, but Luke didn't seem like he was in the mood for joking.

"Really?" Luke made no effort to hide the sarcasm in his voice.

"Yeah. When you're in a position of power, you should use it, right?"

He looked away from her. "That's what you and everyone else says."

A short, tense silence followed, and Annalisa shrugged.

"You should probably go now!" she cried, grabbing his hand. It was strangely warm. "Come on, lead me to the secret passage you used to get here. I'll escort you out!"

"Wouldn't that just be me escorting you if I'm the one leading?"

"Oh, stop with the technicalities. Let's go!"

He led her to the little passageway in the side of the hallway in the area between the Royal Quarters and the Ares Quarters.

"Yeah, that's the secret passageway that everyone knows about."

"Shh…" Luke led her into the passage and turned around, clawing at the wall. Another passageway opened.

Annalisa gasped.

"Whoaa…" she said as they walked down the corridor. It seemed newly built, no signs of moss or wear at all. "How did you find out about this?"

"Some of my club members told me," was all Luke said.

The lights began to dim as they ventured further and further into the tunnel. Luke took out a torch and lit it with a quick, hard scrape against two coal pieces.

They arrived at a wall, and Luke frowned.

"A boot print…" He leaned forward, examining the faint print of a boot. "The royal guards have been here."

"What about it?" Annalisa asked. Luke merely shook his head.

"No… of course they'd find it. I'll have to report this to…" He suddenly remembered that Annalisa was standing next to him. "Nevermind. You should leave now… I'll be fine."

"Really?" Annalisa looked at the wall of rock. "It's a dead end."

"No, it's not." Luke gently pushed her back towards the exit. "Please. It's dangerous for you to be here in the first place."

"Oh… um, okay!"

"Promise me," Luke said. "Promise me you won't run away to see me again."

"But-"

"That doesn't mean we won't see each other again," Luke added. "Remember our bet? If I get arrested, you'll have to see me."

Annalisa laughed. "Yeah."

"And if I don't," he said, giving her a respectful bow. "I'll come visit you one last time to tell you of your victory, Your Highness."

He smiled, and she followed.

Then she curtsied, sweeping her pink dress elegantly, just as she did for her parents and her siblings, but, of course, to no one else.

Luke's eyes widened. "Anna-"

"I've been reading like you told me to," Annalisa said. "Curtsying or bowing is a sign of respect, right?"

"Yes, but I'm only a commoner-"

"You're not just a commoner to me, Luke." Annalisa turned away, giving him a small nod. "You're my pal."

Then she ran down the passageway and back to the palace, leaving that portal, leaving him to travel back to his world, where she could not be, and leaving her to stay in her world, where she belonged.