Ash moved to follow her, but Byron grabbed at his forearm.
"Relax and have a seat, Ash." He handed Ash a shot glass filled with something clear. "Give her a little time."
"She hates me now." Ash sighed with sorrow.
Byron laughed. "I know my sister. She'll stew and fume for a couple of hours and then it will all blow over. Then you can bring her a tiny gift and she'll accept it, and you're back in her good graces again."
"For real?" Ash turned to Byron with hopeful blue eyes.
"Yep. She happens to like cherry cordials."
"What are those?" Ash frowned.
Byron made a gesture with his fingers, "You know—those chocolate covered cherries with the gooey white sugar inside…".
Ash shook his head. "There is plenty of chocolate on Marakaran, but I've never seen a cherry."
Byron rubbed his chin. Obviously, there were no cherries here on Marakaran.
"It's okay. If you don't have cherry cordials, rubies work just as well."
Ash's eyes brightened. "Rubies I have plenty of. Does she like them set in gold or platinum?"
"She likes gold but if all you have is platinum, she'll take that as well. Just make sure the rubies are high quality and of a decent size."
Ash nodded with a grand smile and gestured for an attendant to handle the details of a spectacular ruby gift to present to Poppy.
=============
Meanwhile, Mattheus quickly followed Poppy as she ran into a secluded area on the south side of the gardens.
No one followed them at that moment, which was a good thing for all involved. At least Ash was smart enough to give Poppy a bit of space so she could calm down rather than try to follow her and piss her off even more.
"Poppy." He called out to her.
She ignored him, turning the corner into another section of the palace.
Mattheus quickened his pace and caught up with her as she rounded the corner.
"Oh my gosh!" Poppy breathed in amazement at the small enclave she had discovered.
It was a tiny courtyard situated next to one of the side buildings that had been taken over by clumps of palm trees.
Although it wasn't exactly abandoned, as there were signs of someone taking care of the area and sweeping up debris, it had mostly been left to grow as it wished.
The fountain at the center was no longer sprinkling merrily, as were all the ones that they had seen. Instead, its water was murky, with small round lily pads growing from out of the dark water.
From below the water's surface, small orange shapes darted furtively, once in a while rising up to gulp fresh air.
"Goldfish!" Poppy danced over to the fountain and peered into the cloudy water.
"Looks like it. Normally, muddy standing water like this breeds mosquitoes and other nasty bugs, but the goldfish have been eating them, so the biosphere is fairly balanced."
He looked around. The groves of palm trees protected the various ferns growing underneath, and small wildflowers were given shelter to bloom where they wished.
Even tiny baby tears were growing between the cracks of the pavers, sheltered from the harsh sun by the fronds above.
"This place looks untended, but it's actually very carefully managed. It's been allowed to return to a semi-natural state but in a carefully managed fashion."
"To be natural AND tended at the same time." She turned back to him. "Is that what you've done with me?"
Mattheus took the two steps that separated them.
Reaching out, he touched the top of her head, as he had always done, but then his hand slid down and he tipped her chin up so he could look into her startling violet eyes.
"When I first met you, you were barely sixteen. Still a child in my world. I protected you so that you could remain a beautiful child. And you eventually matured into a beautiful woman."
Poppy smiled. "You've taken very good care of me all through the years. I couldn't ask for a better guardian."
His eyes narrowed. "You didn't need guardianship once you reached the age of 21."
"And yet I kept hanging around, refusing to leave." Poppy twisted her lips into a funny smile. "Where else can I go and get spoiled and taken cared of?"
"I—I've always thought you would find someone who would sweep you off your feet," he sighed. "And you would leave me eventually."
He shook his head. "I didn't think you would leave me because your family finally recognized you as the Princess you had always been."
Poppy gave him a wistful look.
"I left you so I could get a chance to be with my family and experience what it's like to have real brothers and sister, mothers and a father. I find them to be such wonderful people."
"I'm happy that you were finally able to reunite with your real family." He closed his eyes. "But I'm also sad…"
"Because I left?"
He nodded. "I miss you, Poppy."
He began stroking her hair in the gentle way he normally did when she needed comforting. This time however, he was doing it because he was the one who needed comforting.
"We can always visit each other as often as we wish." Poppy suggested.
Mattheus shook his head. It was now or nothing. Go big or go home.
"I know you've always thought of me as your older brother, someone who looks after you like a guardian."
Poppy stilled. Her face turned serious.
"But Poppy," his voice turned hoarse. "I've never once thought of you as my little sister. Not once."
"Then what—what was I to you?"
"You were EVERYTHING to me." He admitted for the first time, even to himself.
Poppy blinked. Her lips quivered but she remained silent.
Mattheus turned away, unable to face her direct violet stare. He had kept this secret hidden away for so long precisely because he was afraid she would turn away from him.
That chance was very real.
If she thought that he had turned into someone she could no longer feel comfortable around, it was possible that she would distance herself from him and he would rarely, if ever, see her again.
"You never said anything or even dropped a hint." She breathed.
"I never said anything when we first met because you were still so young and I didn't want to take advantage—"
"You didn't want to take advantage of me but you did everything you could to get me to fall for you." Poppy pursed her lips.
"No—no, that's not—Poppy. You were a teenager who had gone through a traumatic experience. I—" He protested as he saw her eyes narrowed with intensity.
"You never told me anything but you provided everything I needed and took care of me without asking for anything in return."
That familiar stiff face and clenched jaw she made when she was boiling mad was back on her face.
"You were trying to get me to like you, weren't you?"
"What? No!" He protested as she turned away.
"Wait, Poppy." He reached out for her shoulder, but she moved away, brushing him aside.
To hell with giving her space. This was his last chance to make her understand.
Matt ran after her, pulling at her arm.
"Poppy. STOP!" He ground out. "I've always held back because I didn't want you to feel uncomfortable living with me. You only had the once safe home to be in. I didn't want you to feel that you had to run away from home to get away from me."
He reached out for her other arm, turning her to face him.
"But you're not stuck living with me any more. You're the captain of a warship. You can choose to walk away from me and you would still be okay."
"Look." He searched her eyes. "You told me to fight for real with you. From now on, everything is for real. I'm not going to hide my feelings for you any more."
He gave a sigh.
"I love you, Poppy."