(A/N.) I started writing this story a few years ago while I had Glandular Fever, and just found it recently. So I decided to put it up here. I came up with the idea for it while listening to "She Only Wanted Flowers" by David Adam Byrnes.

Disclaimer: I don't own Deltora Quest. Nor do I own the song, from which I have borrowed the lyrics used in the title. "She Only Wanted Flowers" was written by Adam Fears.

Chapter One:

Waiting

When Lief became king, he had promised to be a man of the people. For of course, that was how he had been raised. But then, not long after, he had shut himself away in the library, away from his people, like the kings and queens before him who had allowed Deltora to fall into the hands of the shadow lord. But now that those days were over, Lief appeared to be keeping his word. If the people were patient enough, they would see their king in time. When asked why he did this, Lief would reply that he was not just the king of Del, and that all other people of the kingdom had just as much right to meet him personally as those in the city where he lived.

But Jasmine honestly believed that being a "man of the people" did not have to mean travelling around the kingdom what felt like most of the time, leaving her to care for three year old Anna with the help of Sharn and Lindal, who had become Anna's nursemaid.

At first, Jasmine had not minded this at all. Anna had been born early and small, and at times, she seemed more in need of constant care than other children her age. So it made sense that Jasmine should dedicate most of her time to caring for her while Lief ran the kingdom.

But now, Anna was older, healthier, and more energetic. At three years old, she was the spitting image of her mother. Small, slight build, elfin face, black hair, green eyes, and apparently, she had also inherited her mother's ability to climb and balance on surfaces that seemed impossibly high. Lief was away, as was usual these days, and so it was up to Jasmine to try and get her down. This morning, the breakfast table was Anna's surface of choice.

"You must come down now, Anna," Jasmine said for the third time. The bowl of sliced fruit that Jasmine had prepared for Anna was not far from the child's bare feet, and Jasmine was worried that at any moment Anna would send it flying, or at least to the kitchen floor.

"You must eat your breakfast," She continued. "Mama has things to do at the palace, and you must come with me."

For a moment, Anna's feet stopped dancing on the tabletop, and Jasmine thought that she had won this round. That was, until Anna looked at her with rage in her eyes. "No!" Anna shouted. "I am waiting here!" Now, Jasmine was puzzled. Anna had given her many reasons why she would not do something before, but this was something different. As it happened, this moment of brief puzzlement was Jasmine's undoing. In her anger, Anna's foot stamped on the table, and as Jasmine had feared it might, the bowl of fruit went flying. For a split second, it seemed airborne. Then it fell shattering to the floor. Shards of glass and slices of apple, orange, pair and strawberry went everywhere. At that moment, Jasmine could only be grateful that she had already dressed and put on shoes.

But Anna was still wearing her pink nightdress, her hair was as wild as ever, and she was wearing nothing on her feet. Breakfast for Anna, Jasmine decided, would have to wait until she got to the palace. Just now, there was a child still to dress, and a floor to clean. As usual, they were not going to get to the palace on time for the full moon meeting, which Jasmine was expected to attend while Lief was away.

Anna was staring at the broken bowl on the floor, and seemed to be surprised by what she had done. Jasmine took this opportunity to make her move.

"Look, Anna, you have broken your bowl." She said, trying not to show the child that she was annoyed. "All your fruit is on the floor now; it is no good to eat. Now, I will have to carry you out of here, so the glass doesn't cut your feet."

"No, Mama, I stay here," Anna replied, as Jasmine made a grab for her.

"I am waiting for Papa to come home, like he said. I stay here till he gets back, then we go to the palace."

Now Jasmine understood what her daughter had meant when she said she was waiting. When Lief had left for Dread mountain a week ago, he had told Anna that he would be back soon. At three years old, Anna did not understand time at all, and now that Jasmine thought about it, she realised that Anna had probably expected Lief to return not five minutes after he had left. It angered her that Lief made such promises to his daughter, giving no thought for the way a small child's mind worked, and having no regard for her feelings at all. This was one of many things that angered her about Lief's absence. What Anna did not know was that Lief would be attending the full moon meeting on Dread Mountain today, and then traveling to Tora tomorrow. He was not expected to return for another week.

"You cannot stay here and wait for Papa, Anna, he will not be happy if he sees you standing on the table, in your nightdress, with your food all over the floor. You don't want to make him sad now, do you?" Jasmine hoped that her words would have some impact on her daughter's behaviour, and it did.

Anna's little face fell. "No, I don't want to make him sad." She said, her bottom lip trembling.

"Right then," said Jasmine, feeling better about the situation. "Let me carry you out of the kitchen. You've already shown me how well you can climb today, how about you show me how well you can run? I will race you to your room, and then we'll find something pretty for you to wear." Jasmine had learned that such games often worked with Anna, especially in situations like this one, and today was no different. Anna's face lit up as she walked to the edge of the table and allowed Jasmine to lift her, carry her out of the kitchen, and set her down in the living room.

"Ready?" Jasmine asked, trying to put as much enthusiasm in her voice as she could. "One, two, three, go!"

Both of them ran the short distance to Anna's small room. Anna won the race, and Jasmine applauded her. Now, all she had to do was dress her, comb her hair, clean up the mess on the kitchen floor, and then they could go.

"What would you like to wear today, Anna?" Jasmine knew that letting Anna choose her own outfit would only take up more time, but she did not want the little girl to be upset again. As she watched Anna survey the items of clothing in her cupboard, she thought that a child such as Anna should not have such fine things to wear for days like this. Certainly, Anna was the princess of Deltora, and so should dress accordingly, but surely that did not mean wearing clothes that looked as if they should only be worn on special occasions while being cared for by Sharn, or playing in the palace gardens with Marilen's son and Lindal's children. Often during these times they got torn or dirty, and Jasmine had already had to get rid of many of these for that very reason.

Eventually, Anna chose a white dress made of fine Toran fabric, and as Jasmine helped her put it on, she thought with dismay that it would need to be soaked overnight to get rid of the stains that would surely appear throughout the day. For once, Anna did not protest as Jasmine combed her hair and tied it with ribbon, then helped her put on a pair of plain shoes that did not at all match her dress. As Jasmine looked at both their reflections in the mirror that hung on the wall beside the cupboard, she thought that Anna looked like the one who would speak at the meeting today, rather than herself.

Jasmine gave Anna a pencil and a piece of paper to occupy her while she cleaned the kitchen floor, and then lead her by the hand out of the forge and up the hill toward the palace. People waved as they passed, and both Jasmine and Anna waved back.

They met Sharn at the palace gates. Sharn took one look at Jasmine's tired face and her heart ached. While Lief was away, Jasmine had to take care of Anna, as well as manage things in Del, and despite the fact that Jasmine did very well; Sharn could see how hard it was for her. The smiles she gave the people waiting on the lawn seemed forced, and her eyes were deeply shadowed, as though she had not slept for days. Even Filli, who was in his usual place on her shoulder, looked as though he could do with a good night's rest.

Anna, on the other hand, looked as bright and happy as ever. She ran over to Sharn, brandishing a paper. "Gran, Look!" She cried. Sharn looked at the paper, which was covered with scribbles. "I drawed this for Papa. It's him on the mountain! See?"

Sharn thought that the drawing looked nothing like Lief on Dread Mountain, but she did not tell Anna this. Instead, she smiled and took Anna by the hand.

"Anna has not had breakfast," Jasmine said as they walked toward the front doors. "She knocked her bowl of fruit to the floor. That is why I am so late; I had to clean up the mess. She was climbing on the table again. I am sorry."

"You are sorry?" Sharn asked, surprised. "What are you sorry for?"

Jasmine stepped a little closer to Sharn, the better to speak to her more softly.

"I do not feel that I am fit for any of this," She said quietly. "I feel that Lief was wrong. I cannot be the queen of this land, and right now I feel that I cannot even care for my own daughter properly. I could not get her down this morning, whatever I said, the bowl fell to the floor, and look at what she is wearing! I felt that if I did not let her choose her own outfit, she would throw another tantrum, which would make things worse than they were already, and all these people are waiting for me."

"Her dress is certainly something," Sharn commented with a slight smile in Anna's direction. "does she not have anything more practical?"

"No," Jasmine replied. "She is always being given these clothes, honestly, they come from everywhere! When I asked Lief if I should go to the market to buy her something that was better suited for playing, he told me that there was no need and that there was enough in her cupboard as it is. But it is disappointing when I have to get rid of such fine clothes because she has ruined them."

Sharn marvelled at the changes in Jasmine since she had known her. A few years ago, it would not have mattered to Jasmine how fine the clothes were, if they were not fit to wear, they were not fit to wear and that was the end of it. But now, Jasmine seemed to be really upset by the idea that such finery would need to be thrown away.

"Lief was not wrong to choose you as his bride," Sharn said gently. "Whatever you may think, you manage very well here. Far better than I could ever do. Do you not see it Jasmine? The people do not just come to you when they want something; they actually look forward to meeting with you. But Lief was wrong about Anna's clothes, and if he was here more often he would know that." Sharn chose her next words carefully, knowing that she was stepping on dangerous ground. "I know Lief is my son, and that I should support him in whatever he does. But I cannot help but feel that he is not doing right by you and Anna, leaving you alone so often for weeks at a time. I understand how capable you are, but it is madness that you should be expected to care for such a small child all the time. Honestly, if I was given a gold coin every time Lief broke something or was disobedient, I would've been the richest woman in Del by the time he turned five. But I had Endon with me all the time, and it made all the difference. If I may say so, Lief should not be worrying about everyone else in the kingdom just now, he should be here, and helping you, at least until Anna is a little older."

Now, Sharn knew that she had said too much. Seeing the sadness in Jasmine's eyes, she quickly changed the subject. "Never mind about Anna's clothes. I have some spare time in the evenings; I will make some for her. I will also keep her here for the night if you like, you look exhausted."

Sharn was relieved to see Jasmine's face relax.

"Thank you, Sharn," she said. "She really is a handful." Both women smiled as they walked through the entrance hall, and Jasmine mounted the stairs to allow the people to see her better.

As Sharn lead a chattering Anna toward the kitchens to get her something to eat, she thought that perhaps she should send a message to Lief, telling him of this morning's events and begging him to come home. Then she thought better of it, deciding that it was probably better to let Lief and Jasmine manage their own affairs.

As usual, there were many people who wanted to speak to Jasmine. With Marilen as her scribe, she answered questions, took requests and complaints, and gave the people an update on Anna's welfare. They were always interested to hear about their princess, and when they saw her, they were never disappointed. Jasmine was almost tempted to tell them how Anna behaved at home. But all the while, her mind was elsewhere. She was thinking about Lief, and how he was hardly ever in Del. She was also thinking of what Sharn had said, and wondering if anyone else thought as she did. She hoped that they did not. The last thing Jasmine needed was for gossips to begin speculating about why the king was away so often.

When the meeting ended, Jasmine's fears were confirmed when Marilen took her aside so they could talk in private.

"Sharn told me that Anna would be staying here for the night." She said quietly. "It is just as well, you look like death Jasmine. But do not worry. I am having the same trouble with Joseph. I do not know why Ranesh went with Lief this time, and to be honest, I do not care. Ranesh is one of Lief's closest advisers it is true, but he did not need to go to Dread Mountain and then to Tora, leaving me to look after Joseph and the library. He is just as bad as Anna, you know. I will be very surprised if the palace is still standing tomorrow; those two will have it down around our heads the way they are going."

Jasmine did not see how Joseph could be as bad as Anna; he always seemed very well behaved whenever she saw him. But Marilen did have a point. Jasmine could hear the two children having some sort of fight on the lawn just outside.

"I should go and sort that out," Marilen said, as one of them started to cry. "I will see you tomorrow Jasmine." With that, she walked out the front door, leaving Jasmine standing alone in the hall.

Back at the forge, Jasmine made a meal of the fruit that had not been spoiled, and then went straight to bed. But although she was tired, she found that she could not sleep. The bed felt cold without Lief there, and now that Marilen and Sharn had spoken with her about it, she felt Lief's absence more strongly. Looking out of the open window, Jasmine saw a shape flying toward the cottage. As it came closer, she saw that it was one of the messenger birds who had gone with Lief when he left. The bird flew through the window, dropped a small package on the bed, and then flew away just as quickly as it had come. Clearly, it was not expecting a reply.

Jasmine opened the package, and found an emerald ring and a small bracelet wrapped in a piece of paper. Jasmine smoothed it out, recognised Lief's handwriting and frowned as she read the message.

"Jasmine,

The ring is for you, to remind you that I have not forgotten you, and the bracelet is a gift for Anna from the Dread Gnomes.

With love,

Lief."

Jasmine looked at the bracelet more closely, and noticed that each link on the fine gold chain had a small stone fixed to it. These stones were miniatures of the ones on the belt of Deltora. No doubt Lief had found it cute. Then she wondered why Lief would send her a ring. Had he forgotten that his wife did not wear jewellery in any form? Had he been away that long? Or had he just wanted to send her something?

Jasmine found that she could not answer any of these questions. Putting the note, the bracelet and the ring on the bedside cabinet, she lay back down and tried once again to get to sleep.

(A/N.) I got the information about the behaviour of toddlers and how to deal with it from the parenting and child health section on the child and youth health website.

Also, thanks to EJ101 for the charm bracelet idea.