Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are the creative property of Emily Rodda.

The sun shone brightly on the streets of Del, basking every pedestrian with its warmth. The people scrambled to and fro like bees, enjoying the social aspect that was Market Day. Del's city center in particular was bustling with free-form activity, with vendors peddling their wares and curious customers examining the thousands of stalls that lined the streets.

Lief had always been fond of the city's busiest day of the week, and the young King of Deltora often liked to roam around the market center when given free time. The hectic, but friendly ambience that was always present in the air brought a smile to his face; Deltora was at last truly flourishing after having all but fully recovered from the stranglehold of the Four Sisters.

At times, when he asked charmingly enough, as he had done today, Jasmine would accompany him on his strolls through the marketplace. The people of Del were always delighted to see their king and queen mingle with them, and were by now quite used to seeing the two wandering around the city together. It especially brought great amusement and warmth to the hearts of the general public when they saw their gallant and valiant king laugh aloud as he chased his equally joyful young wife and her ever-faithful animal companions through the streets.

Today, however, the boy had decided he would take Jasmine to have luncheon with him in the market. The Palace Cooks had been working particularly hard lately, rushing to meet the demands of the various state meetings and feasts in which Lief had entertained dignitaries from foreign lands beyond Deltora's borders.

He had felt incredibly guilty afterwards and later allowed the exhausted cooks a much deserved break for today, proclaiming he would personally take care of all the meals for the day. Lief's mother, Sharn, upon hearing this potentially disastrous declaration, quickly stepped in and announced she would prepare the day's meals instead, and thanked the cooks for their inspiring work ethics. The image of Lief's pout afterwards had forever imprinted itself in the memory of his wife, who had snickered uncontrollably at the scene.

The young king smiled softly, as he held Jasmine's hand and walked through an especially busy aisle of market stalls; the Belt of Deltora glistened proudly around his waist in the afternoon sun. The reopening of Deltora's borders was truly beneficial to its growing economy; Lief noticed a number of unfamiliar stalls that had slowly begun appearing shortly after the Full Moon Meeting several months ago in which he had established Deltora's position in foreign trade. They must be peddlers from across the Silver Sea, he reasoned with a grin, here to sell their merchandise to Del.

Lief glanced down at his queen trekking beside him, admiring the expression of curiosity and fascination shining in her bright, green eyes. She gazed in wonder at the multitude of new stalls that littered the streets, her long black hair whipping around her face as she looked from one side of the market to the other. Even Filli, the small furry animal who resided on her shoulder, seemed overwhelmed by the loud voices and stunning colors of the city. Kree flew overhead, keeping a diligent watch over the three of them, while still enjoying the freshness of the afternoon air.

"If you see something you would like to eat, Jasmine, point to it," Lief said, keeping his gaze on her.

The wild girl nodded in reply before turning to the small animal on her shoulder, "Are you hungry, Filli?" The creature squeaked in response and began jumping up and down in excitement. Jasmine called to the black bird flying above them faithfully, who fluttered down and perched on her arm, and they continued on the path in search of food.

Several minutes later, Jasmine noticed another market stand set up in front of a low wooden building. It was a bakery, judging from the flour-dusted windows. "Lief," she called, looking up at him, "let us purchase some bread from the baker's stall!" The boy nodded wordlessly, feeling quite famished himself, and grinned in amusement as she let go of his hand and quickened her pace to stand in front of the stall.

Having caught up to his wife, Lief could see the slightly widened eyes of the baker at seeing the king and queen grace his market stand. "Your Majesties," the baker greeted, bowing his head in respect, "I am humbled by your presence. Please, what is mine is yours." He gestured to his stall, the rows of freshly baked bread and brightly colored miniature cakes sitting pristinely in intricately woven baskets. Lief smirked slightly at the sharp intake of breath of the girl beside him, as the enticing aroma hit their senses.

"We would like one loaf of your bread, please," Jasmine said with a smile, pointing to the item. The man inclined his head in reply and grabbed a loaf from the basket, handing it to her.

The baker noticed Lief digging into his pockets to pull out a silver coin, and quickly shook his head. "I cannot accept payment from you, Your Majesty," he said sheepishly. "You rescued my wife from the Shadowlands some years back; please, take this with my eternal gratitude." Lief and Jasmine both bowed to the baker and thanked him with a smile before leaving, their hearts very full. It was nice to feel the appreciation for their sacrifices sometimes.

They continued down the worn stretch of road, sharing the large loaf as they walked and conversed idly to one another. The bread was still warm and soft, melting slightly in their mouths as they ate. Jasmine occasionally broke off small pieces of the bread to feed Filli and Kree, who enjoyed the treats immensely.

A short while later, they finally arrived at the section Jasmine enjoyed the most: the fruits market. Lief knew she rarely ate meat, and only in times of absolute desperation, but he still adored how her emerald eyes lit up at seeing the various fruits and berries scattered haphazardly across the stalls. The vendors here were, for some reason, much louder than those in other sections of the market; they shouted their prices and praised the quality of their merchandise at the top of their lungs. Some even made ludicrous claims about the supposed medical miracles their fruits could produce.

Finding the fruits market to be not particularly exciting, Lief allowed Jasmine to explore ahead on her own with Filli and Kree. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed one of the stands was selling some small red berries, which Lief recognized as Jasmine's favorites. The boy strode over to the merchant and purchased a small pouch of the berries; unlike the baker, the fruit trader had been more than happy to accept the young king's money. Noticing his wife standing some distance away watching him, Lief quickened his pace to catch up and slipped her small hand back in his.

Upon his return, Jasmine cocked her head to one side and looked up at him. "What did you purchase, Lief?" she asked curiously.

"Just a little gift for Kree and Filli," he replied with a smirk, reaching into the small pouch and producing a handful of the small fruits. At the sight of the delicious berries, the two animals jumped from Jasmine's shoulders onto Lief's and began nibbling at his hand.

"What about me?" the girl demanded as Lief had expected she would.

Wordlessly, he picked up a berry and leaned down to hold it in front of Jasmine's lips. "Come on, Jasmine," he urged softly, "open wide!" At this, she huffed indignantly and quickly snatched the berry from his fingers, popping it into her mouth herself. Lief burst out in laughter, clutching his stomach as Jasmine muttered irritably about childish kings with small mental capacities.

Continuing their journey hand in hand, the young rulers were met with many enthusiastic waves by the locals, and they both waved back in polite reply as they passed. The populace adored their king, that much was certain. After all, in the public's eye, he embodied the Deltoran virtues of a true hero: courageous, selfless, and kind. And while they had initially been skeptical in his choice of bride, the people had also grown quite fond of their queen, a heroine in her own right. They knew the happiness and freedom they now enjoyed was owed much to the quick wit and steadfast determination of Jasmine as well.

A stall in the near distance soon caught the couple's attention. This stand contrasted wildly with the other fruit stalls, and stood in a secluded corner a small distance away from the crowd of market-goers. Unlike the brightly colored tents and coverings the other stands in the fruits market employed, this unfamiliar stall stood bare, its wooden planks showing considerable signs of aging. In the back of his mind, Lief found it odd that none of the other passerbys ever stopped to examine this particular vendor's wares.

Intrigued, Jasmine walked up to the stall and glanced at the variety of fruit that was laid out. To her surprise, she recognized none of them. Lief stopped beside her, Kree and Filli still perched on his shoulders, and also stared at the strange, exotic fruits.

"To what do I owe the honor of having the King and Queen of Deltora at my modest stall?" croaked an elderly voice. Lief and Jasmine jumped slightly and turned toward the sound. The voice belonged to a short, frail old man; his greying hair which trailed into a long beard was hidden along with most of his body under a thick, dark green cloak. His pale face was etched with wrinkles that further hinted at his old age, and his beady eyes were bloodshot and slightly yellowed.

"We were admiring your produce," Lief answered, having recovered from his initial surprise. "They do not appear to be akin to any fruit I have seen before here in Del."

"Ahh, that is because these are not of Deltoran soil at all," the old man explained in a foreign accent, gesturing to the fruit in front of him.

"Where are they from?" Jasmine asked in curiosity.

"They are native to the island of Dorne, as am I," the merchant replied. "My name is Attor." He extended out a sickly pruned hand, which Lief shook with slight hesitation.

Jasmine, meanwhile, was quite interested by the man called Attor. She had heard of Dorne as Lief had played host to a representative from that land sometime before. As of now, little was known about the island, other than that it was situated a small ways east of Deltora in the Sea of Serpents. Relations between the two lands were relatively new and fragile; the merchant must have been one of the first few from his nation to travel to Deltora.

Suddenly, the old man reached below the stand and held up a small green fruit that was oval in shape. An unpleasant aroma emanated from its pale skin, and both Filli and Kree reared back in disgust. The merchant then turned towards Jasmine and held it out to her, "My Lady, I had been hoping I would have the pleasure of meeting you soon, but as it is, you have saved me the trouble of requesting your audience. Please accept this gift as a gesture of friendship from the people of Dorne." At this, Jasmine stared at the aging man in bewilderment, but took the fruit nonetheless.

Seeing her confusion, the elderly merchant continued, his eyes gleaming, "It is the fruit of a tree known as the Chial. In Dorne, the fruit is sacred and often reserved for female ritual occasions only." Jasmine cocked her head in curiosity as she examined the fleshy round object in her small hand.

"Does it taste as strong as it smells, Attor?" asked Lief, grimacing as he glanced at the green fruit. For a moment, the young king felt a dull warmth around his waist, but dismissed it as his stomach's rather rude reaction to the strange odor.

Attor shook his head in reply to Lief's question. "As I said, the Chial fruit is reserved for female rituals and it is forbidden for men to consume any, and so I cannot answer with certainty. It is said to cure hunger pains with just one bite, but I have heard it carries a slightly bitter taste."

Jasmine gave her husband a perplexed look, to which he shrugged in reply, before she turned back to the merchant. "What sort of female rituals do you speak of?"

Attor's wrinkled face twisted into a nonchalant expression. "Dorne women who have trouble conceiving often consume this fruit," he replied indifferently. "It gives them much peace when they do so." At this, Jasmine's emerald eyes widened slightly. Attor had said the fruit was a gift; did this foreigner know about her own troubles in producing an heir to the Belt of Deltora? From the corner of her eye, the young girl saw Lief shift around uncomfortably.

Fearful his beloved wife would become unhappy at the mention of infertility issues, the boy straightened and faced the merchant, wanting desperately at this point to leave. "We are thankful for your gift, Attor. Please pass on our gratitude to the people of Dorne," Lief said politely.

"Certainly," the old man smiled, revealing a grisly set of yellow, slightly pointed teeth, the sight of which made Lief shudder. Attor then turned towards Jasmine and grabbed her arm which held the Chial fruit and pushed it closer to her mouth. "Go on, Your Majesty," he urged in his guttural accent, "I value your opinion on its exquisite taste..."

Kree squawked loudly in protest at the man's actions. The girl herself was tempted to take a bite just so Attor would release her arm, but still felt quite full from the bread and berries from earlier, and in any case did not appreciate being pushed to do anything by anyone. "I believe I shall save it for another time as I am not very hungry at the moment," Jasmine said haughtily while slyly slipping her arm out of the merchant's hold.

A flash of disappointment flickered across the old man's still smiling face, but it disappeared just as quickly. "Of course," he replied, bowing his head, "my apologies. Is there anything else you would like to purchase by the by?"

Lief shook his head, thankful for this chance to escape. "We are quite alright, Attor, thank you," he said courteously. "It was a pleasure to meet you." He and Jasmine bowed slightly in farewell, before turning to leave.

"The pleasure was all mine," Attor croaked softly as he watched the couple walk away.