Oh look at that. She's neither keeling over at having the Royal Prince come up to her, nor is she calling out my name — I don't know whether to be annoyed or relieved that she's so.. well, I don't quite know what to describe it as! I'd call her "normal", but it's not normal to me. It's odd. Servants would bow to me and mutter something nice, and then melt away into the shadows; the courtiers would fawn over me and.. really, the only ones I can think of who stood their ground in such a way, drifting a little closer like they had a right to come uninvited, to meet me as an equal, were the foreign dignitaries who came visiting.

Shit. What if she's a princess? And I'm fat now of all things. That wasn't so great.

I flounder in my search for words, trying to figure out what to do — she has a pretty smile, offering it to me, and I feel a slight one tug at my lips as I finally greet her properly. I don't know whether to be ashamed or amused that she laughs at me, though, and settle for a mildly quizzical look. I was not.. used to this. Back home, no one would've dared to laugh at me. In my presence. Even if I had been fat. But she's pretty and I let it slide, and in the next moment she mercilessly crushes all my hopes under her dainty feet. She doesn't know who I am. She's not sent out to find me, and bring me home. She's just a mare on a meadow and she laughed at me. I feel my mood plummet like a heavy rock in water, promptly forgetting her name as she became nothing but just a mare. A pretty, but ultimately useless, mare.

"Prince Mauja," I mutter under my breath, looking aside for a moment. Dead, dead, dying, drying up; the river tinkled nearby but even the vegetation seemed to know the nights were growing colder, for they were all withering. I'm not used to this, it's depressing, and I glare sullenly at the nearby corpse of a thistle. At least I had food.. but when it all died.. what then would I eat? My jaws work soundlessly for a moment before I heave a sigh. "I don't know where I am. I don't know the way back home." And that was almost whining, and even though I felt like whining her ears off, it just didn't do! Father would hand my ass to me if he heard... I scowl, and straighten up a bit; Mother would harass me for slouching. And Morgan.. well, good thing Morgan had stopped caring about my moods. "It's just frustrating," I say, cautiously, trying to amend what damage I might've done to her image of me.

[ believe me Roo, the real Mauja is much less of an ass! XD ]