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Ash\'s grin faltered. "I would never do anything to hurt Poppy."

"I\'ll be the judge of that."

Mattheus didn\'t even bother to pretend to smile back. He just wanted to jump up and punch this smug elf in the face.

Ash raised a regal eyebrow, sensing overwhelming hostility projected directly at him by Poppy\'s \'family member\'.

"What exactly are you worried about?" Ash leveled at him with a cool look. "Do you think that Poppy does not have enough sense to be able to pick out people that she can be friends with?"

"That\'s not what I mean—"

"Or do you think she makes such poor choices in relationships that you have to monitor her every move?"

"I didn\'t say that either." Mattheus scowled.

This elf was amazingly cool and collected. A worthy opponent had it been anything other than this.

He glanced over at Poppy who was sitting there chewing on her BLT sandwich, not looking at either of them. He couldn\'t tell if she was upset that he and the elf were at odds over her.

What was pissing Mattheus off the most was that normally, he was also very calm, cool and collected. It was just that when it came to Poppy, he could not hold onto his coolness.

"Of course she is very capable and resourceful." Mattheus reparteed. "I just want to be there for her—just in case she needs me."

"But she\'s fully-grown, Matt." Ash pointed out in a soft steady voice. "She\'s fully capable to do her own thing, be her own woman…find her own man." He leaned in and regarded Mattheus with intense blue eyes.

"Ash," Poppy smiled and looked up at him. "It\'s okay. I don\'t mind that Matt fusses over me and worries about me."

"But isn\'t he a little bit over-protective of you?" Ash leaned back.

Poppy grinned. "He\'s just doing the best he can, trying to take good care of me."

Poppy turned back to Mattheus.

He was so adorable when he acted like her doting overprotective brother. He had done that all through the years she\'d grown up with him and it always made her feel special and protected.

"Matt. I\'m perfectly safe here." She reached out for his arm. "This place is so beautiful and tranquil, and now that you\'re here, I couldn\'t be any safer."

Mattheus ground his teeth. She was right, of course.

This was a place that a beautiful Imperial Princess like Poppy belonged in. It was luxurious, bright, peaceful, and safe. Not even in Emporia could he provide a place like this for her.

Mattheus held his breath and tried not to choke on the despair that was welling up through his throat.

"Tell you what." Poppy said as she reached for her drink. "After the wedding, how about you and I go on a joyride across pirate space in a little transport pod, like we used to?"

For a moment, Mattheus wasn\'t sure if he heard her correctly.

"What—what do you mean?" He turned to her with shocked eyes.

"I really miss those days, Matt. We used to just fly around in space, sometimes on fumes hoping we\'d make it to the next refueling station before we ran out of fuel and had to drift in space until an emergency vehicle could reach us. Don\'t you remember?"

Mattheus looked down at his hands.

Those were the hard and hungry times when they could barely make ends meet. Why did she have to harp on them in front of this wealthy king when they\'d left that so far behind them and he had built a much better home for them?

"It was the best times of my life, Matt." Poppy smiled with nostalgia. "Those were the days when it was just you and me against the world. All we had were each other."

Mattheus choked on his own tears that threatened to rise above his Adam\'s apple and pour through his nose and eyes.

He choked them down HARD.

"We\'ve left those bad days far far behind, Poppy. We can now have the best of everything." He muttered.

"But those were the best times, Matt." Poppy took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"I wouldn\'t trade those days for the world. It made me stronger and more self-reliant. It made me who I am today."

Her eyes moistened. "You\'ve taught me so much that I don\'t know how I\'ll ever be able to repay you."

Ash took a sip of his lemonade. It was way too sour.

"It sounds as if you had a good experience growing up in pirate space." Ash turned his crystal blue eyes at her.

Poppy nodded. "Only because Matt took good care of me. If it hadn\'t been for him, I don\'t think I would be alive today."

"It\'s a good sign of parenting." Ash smiled. "It\'s also good parenting to know when to let go and give the young ones a chance to fly on their own."

Matt glared at Ash. Fuck his pompous know-it-all attitude. He was about to give a brash retort when Poppy wrinkled up her nose and gave Ash a bright grin.

"He\'s not my parent Ash. He\'s only a few years older than me. We sorta grew up together and he watched over me like a big brother."

Ash cleared his throat. "Big brothers need to let go as well, so little sisters get a chance to explore their surroundings and meet new people."

"That is true." Poppy agreed, but then she slapped at Mattheus\' arm. "You didn\'t do a good job teaching me how to fence properly! Ash keeps beating my butt in fencing!"

Mattheus looked up with surprise. What in the world did that have to do with anything?

Ash laughed. "I\'m much taller than you, Poppy. I have longer arms, and stronger core muscles because I am a man. It\'s not that he didn\'t teach you well enough. It\'s just that you\'re not as physically large as I am and you don\'t have as long a reach."

"But Matt is just as big as you are!" And then she paused as something sank in.

"You\'ve been letting me win all this time, haven\'t you?" She turned to Matt with a scowl.

He reddened and turned away. It gave her so much joy to win, and it also gave him so much joy to see her happy when she won. Why would he take that away from both of them?

"Poppy," he tried to reason with her. "The whole point of dueling was to teach you how to fight well enough to defend yourself. Beyond that, as long as you had learned the lessons I taught you, who cares who wins or loses? Dueling is just for fun."

"Grrrr." Poppy growled and pinched his forearm. "From now on, don\'t let me win. Fight for real!"

Mattheus smiled and reached out to touch her head.

"Okay Poppy. From now on, everything is for real."

"Everything?" She looked up with clear violet eyes.

Mattheus nodded.. "Everything."