(A/n.) I would like to thank my reviewers. Your support has really helped me stay motivated. I would also like to thank those who helped me with my research for this chapter. You know who you are. This chapter is a bit shorter than the others, but it was necessary to put it in.

Chapter Three:

The Herbs in the Garden

Jasmine thought a little more on what her father had just said. She decided that thinking about Lief's possible reaction to her wedding dress would not change anything just now. She could deal with that matter when she returned to Del. It came into her mind that what her father had just told her about her mother may have been kept secret until now, but why? What did it matter if her mother had not been a maiden? It mattered for Jasmine because she was marrying the king of Deltora. But surely for her mother it had not been so serious. Anna had only married the blacksmiths apprentice at the time. Jasmine decided that she would have to break the silence that was again lengthening between them and ask him to tell her the whole story. She only hoped he knew it.

"Doom," she began. "How is it that my mother was not a maiden when you married her? And why did you say it just now as though it should be a secret that only yourself, Sharn and I would know?"

Doom took a short while to answer her.

"Because it was kept a secret when I did marry her," he said. "Old Crian, rest his soul, did not want the people of Del, many of whom had been customers of his for years to know that his granddaughter had been with a man before being married. He was not even going to let her wear something special for her own wedding. He was worried and angry. He knew he was old, and would die within the next year or so after we were married. He wanted to make sure that the good reputation he had built did not die when he did. But Anna said that if he refused to buy her a new dress for her wedding, then she would run away and move somewhere else in the city. She knew that that would be even worse for her grandfather's reputation. So, he gave her five gold coins and told her to go to the market. He sent me with her, saying that he felt safe doing so, as I was the one she had disgraced herself with in the first place. I chose that dress because it matched her eyes."

All the while, Jasmine had been listening carefully. But now, upon hearing what she had heard, she could not stop herself from speaking. "So it was you she had been with! Not some other man from who knows where. For a moment there I was thinking that she had found a man to lay with in a tavern or something."

Doom smiled, for once being able to see the humour in his daughter's lack of knowledge about how humans behaved. "No, no, it was nothing like that." He said, still smiling. "Anna and I had been living together for three years. I was fourteen when I left the palace. She was thirteen when I met her. Over the years we grew close. She trusted and loved me, I trusted and loved her. When I was seventeen years old I already knew what my life would be. Crian had trained me to be the blacksmith of Del. Anna's father had taught her about healing herbs and how to use them before he died, so there were prospects for Anna if she chose not to remain at the forge when her grandfather also died. But I would not have that. As I said, I loved her and knew she loved me. Perhaps it was foolish of me to ask her to marry me right then, but I did not want to think of her leaving the forge, and so I did. Anna agreed, but thought that at sixteen and seventeen we were far too young to marry. Even so, we lay together once or twice. Anna said that if animals could have such relationships without being married, then so could we. Your mother had a way with animals. That is part of the reason we did so well here." Doom paused briefly, gazing around at the birds, trees and other forest life that surrounded him. "Has Sharn told you about the tea you can make to prevent a child coming into the world before its time?"

"Yes," Jasmine answered, almost obediently. She was surprised to see that as he asked her this question, her father's face kept its usual expressionless mask.

"When we tended the forge garden, she showed me the herb that both she and Mama used. Before then I always thought that Sharn had planted the herb garden herself. She showed me how to dry the leaves and make the tea, but she told me that I would have to drink six cups of it each day for it to work properly! I am not sure I could do that. For me, that is far too many cups of tea. Sharn also said that the herb could be used in a salad along with others in the garden that had similar properties, but they would not work as well as drinking it as an infusion."

Yes," Doom said. "I know the ones; your mother planted some here when we moved. She also used them in her cooking, but not for that purpose. She would still boil water and make the tea." But if you do decide that the tea is not for you, one thing is for sure. Deltora will never be without an heir."

Jasmine realised that in all the time that she had been betrothed to Lief, they had never talked about how many children they would have. They both wanted more than one, but just how many would be enough?

(A/n.) The main herb I am referring to here is parsley. It does have contraceptive properties, but I don't advise using it.