@legendarylullaby: The princess looked akin to a statue as her father spoke with Impa. She was the one who convinced him she should have a horse, but purely for ladylike purposes of course. He had more important things to worry about, so he greeted the ranch owners with a nod, before heading off with his guards. As soon as he was gone, the little princess breathed. Still, Impa wanted her on her best behavior too.
She smiled at Malon, but it wasn’t real- a cheery mask to hide tired eyes. “It is a pleasure to meet you.” She curtsied back, far more graceful and practiced. The adults moved away to talk business.
“Oh… um, well, it is a lovely ranch, not that I’ve seen many- you are surely the expert, so I will follow you!” Her smile was a little more real this time. “I suppose I’m here because father agreed to my having a mount of my own, but I’ve only met the war horses in the barracks.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “They’re… rather mean, you see. Trained to kill alongside their knight masters. Also huge and scary.”
Zelda looked down and fidgeted with her dress. This was the longest she had spoken with anyone her age. What did normal kids do?
“Oh! I’m so sorry, I haven’t even asked your name! I’m Zelda- but… you knew that, heh.” Maybe she was better off being seen and not heard. Zelda wished the mud would swallow her.
Malon forced a smile as the princess talked. She talked too fancy and honestly, it kind of made her head hurt. She started walking towards the barn while she continued with her story.
”There ain’t-“ She paused and bit her tongue. “I mean.. there aren’t any.. mean horses. Just mean people.” She had to talk rather slowly and with purpose and thought with a few pauses in between. This day would never end if she had to keep this up much longer!! Before she could lament much longer, Zelda’s question dragged her back to her senses. “Oh, my name is Malon. If you would like we… could go see the horses? Or, uhm…” The small redhead sighed before crossing her arms with a frown tugging at her features.
”I’m sorry but.. I can’t do this anymore! I’m not proper or nothin’ and I can’t keep actin’ like I am so…” She wasn’t quite sure where she was going with that but she had said what she was thinking. “It’s too much work so you can either go back and talk with all them or you can come with me to the barn and I’ll show you a real horse!”
