บท 286: The Valley of the Shadow of Death
Mattheus landed on Marakaran under a deep dark cloud of his own creation.
Taking only two attendants with him, He made his way through the bright clean streets of Marakaran, heading towards the area where his intelligence crew had told him Poppy was located.
This close to the king's palace, no transport pods were allowed except for peace keeping pods and the few high level official pods. Since Mattheus had come under the guise of a normal tourist, he had not been afforded the pomp and circumstance of a visiting dignitary.
That meant he walked like all the other ordinary folks who were here at the capital city of Marakaran.
As Mattheus walked, he tried to put aside the images of the tall striking blond man making goopy eyes at Poppy every time she turned away. That told him one thing. She didn't yet know this man was going ga-ga over her.
Mattheus had to put a stop to all this nonsense before she realized she had a suitor.
With his brain blazing on and on about the tall elf and Poppy, Mattheus paid scant attention to his surroundings.
The sky was blue, the clouds a soft puffy white. The birds sang sweet songs of joy, in harmony with the heavenly harps that were being played by invisible cherubs hiding in bushes and covert locations that were sufficiently sized to place well-hidden speakers.
The people of Marakaran and the tourists walked around with gentle smiles on their faces and even saying hello to him as they walked past.
It couldn't get more sickly sweet and paradisiacal than this, but if there was anything that drove home to him that paradise was nothing more than a state-of-mind, it was this.
He was walking down the streets of a Marakaran paradise and he felt as if he was walking through the Valley of the Shadow of Death.
This beautiful place was where his Poppy was currently staying at. How the hell was he going to compete against paradise?
Sure, Emporia was a pretty nice world. At the very least it wasn't a pirate area where things could get a little edgy around the corners, even when you threw money at it.
Still, Marakaran was known throughout the galaxy as a place where people brought their loved ones on long-awaited vacations and honeymoons.
Nobody would ever think of Emporia as a honeymoon spot unless they loved to scuba dive and spend time in underwater hotels or take cruises and spend their time on a huge ocean voyage to the various archipelago chains around Emporia.
Most of the islands that were above water were not that well-developed because the vast majority of the occupants on Emporia were merfolk.
Mattheus' face was grim as he reached the steps that would take him to the palace gates.
As he stood, looking up, his stomach suddenly quailed. What the hell was he doing here? Why did he think this was such a great idea? And look at this place.
It was huge!
His Emporian palace was sprawling and massive but this place had fucking colored onions on the tops of its towers!
How the hell was he going to compete with colored onion domes???
There was another huge issue. He didn't have a royal invitation to the King's home. How was he supposed to gain access into this place?
As he stood there with his several attendants trying to figure out the best possible way to gain entry, a familiar face walked by.
"Slate!" He called out.
The Primary Warrior of Erenveil paused and turned towards the sound of his name being called out with such a casual tone.
"Oh it's you!" Slate grinned and headed towards Mattheus and reached out a hand. Mattheus took his hand with much relief. He actually knew someone here.
"If you're here to attend the wedding, you're a little bit early, Mattheus. It won't happen for another two weeks."
"No. I'm here to see Poppy."
"Oh that's right." Slate smiled. "She's your little protegée from pirate space. Hang on."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a heavy gold pass coin.
"You are going to need this to get in and out of the palace. Take mine. All the gate guards know who I am so I don't really need it."
"Hey, thanks Bro." Mattheus gave a grim smile.
"Don't mention it. Just—when you see Poppy, don't be surprised if she puts you to work doing menial labor to help out with the wedding details." He gave a deep sigh. "She's been running me ragged all day."
"Oh yeah?" Mattheus laughed. That sounded so much like Poppy. "What has she got you doing?"
Slate rubbed his eyes. "I've been put on beer duty. It's my job to go taste all the beers and get the best stuff to be delivered to the wedding site."
Mattheus raised an eyebrow. "And you consider that to be a terrible deal?"
"It is if I have to start tasting from six in the morning until six at night! I think I'm going to just pick something out and say I've tasted it and it's just fine."
Mattheus laughed. "Well, congratulations on your upcoming wedding Slate. I'm really happy for you."
Slate smiled and clapped him on the back. "I'll return the congrats at your wedding."
As Slate walked away, Mattheus' smile faded. His own wedding was moving farther and farther out of reach the longer he stood out here.
With a sigh, he headed for the entrance of the king's palace.
As Slate predicted, the guards didn't even bother to look at him. All they cared about was whether the gold coin was the real deal.
Once he and his men had gained access to the palace, he went looking for Poppy.
The place looked sprawling and palatial on the outside, but the true magnitude of its scope and size could only be experienced once he was inside the place.
Courtyard after courtyard, pond after pond, tree after tree. There were so many structures within the palace walls that it was amazing no one ever got lost in here.
It was a good thing Poppy was so uniquely identifiable. Everyone he met had recalled seen a tall beautiful princess with vibrant purple eyes and shiny deep red hair that barely reached her shoulders.
He only had to ask three random servants passing by to find out her location.
As he got closer to the courtyard where the servants had told him she would be, he could see the green expanse of grass surrounded by large gnarled oaks. At the center of the grassy area was a gazebo.
Within the gazebo was the red haired woman who had taken his heart so very long ago.
Next to her was the damn blasted silver haired elf who was at this very moment, making goopy eyes at Poppy!
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