Zelda tried her best to pay attention to her Royal adviser drones on and on. She was sat in court overseeing a dispute between a farmer and a thief. She toyed with the gavel in her hand from underneath her desk while the adviser read the charges. What was distracting her was the look of the thief. She was a young woman, thinner then what seemed healthy and in rags with a shameful look on her face. The poor woman didn't seem to have a place to call home. She seemed like she would almost be thankful to have the roof of a jail cell over her head and a regular meal. There had to be a better way to settle this dispute. Zelda was familiar with the farmer and he was usually a kind man, but the rage on his face was clear. Gavin's farm had been a feature of Hyrule for decades. Thievery should not be celebrated.. but a little kindness could go a long way in this situation. 

"...Then she made off to my bread store and stole 5 loaves!!" Zelda zoned into attention just long enough to realize Gavin was in the middle of his speech. She already felt like she heard enough. "That's a days wage and a family fed, your highness! Surely the Royal Family would-" Zelda lifted her hand up in an open palm, hushing the farmer immediately. Zelda shifted her attention to the accused with a soft expression on her face.

"Excuse me madame, what is your name?" Zelda tried her best to let the kindness leak out of her voice. 
It took awhile for the accused to gain her voice. "Sam.. Samantha Burtrom." 
"Where do you live, Sam?" Zelda allowed a sympathetic smile.
"..I often move from place to place. I-" 

"What is the purpose of this!?" The farmer blurted, "She stole my property! That isn't-" 
Zelda interrupted him with a slam of her gavel. The Princess let the room sit in stunned silence for a few moments.
"That's enough from you. It is Samantha's turn to speak. Please finish dear."
"I don't really live anywhere." Sam finished, bowing her head in shame. 
"What we have here is a classic case of a desperate homeless woman doing what she feels is necessary in order to survive. Samantha Burtrom deserves our sympathy. The only justice that needs to be served is to take steps to make her an upstanding citizen once again." She paused, taking note of the red faced farmer's seething face.

"But Sam, you did steal from this man. It is only right that you do something to make it back to him. Your sentence will be employment to this man's farm. It is nearing harvesting season and he will inevitably need extra hands. 25% of your wages will be put to use compensating for the price he would have gotten for his stolen bread. Meanwhile, we will supply you with a one bedroom home as long as you remain busy working. Once you've payed off Farmer Gavin, he might even decide to hire you. You're always looking for hard workers, aren't you Gavin?" She gave him a look that wasn't unkind... but he knew that it wouldn't do to continue fussing.

"Erm.. yeah. I guess. Hiring season's just around the corner.." All of the anger seemed to drain from his face at once.
"Good. Court dismissed!" Zelda banged her gavel and that was the end of that. It wasn't until the room was mostly empty that she let out a deep and exasperated sigh.

==============================

Zelda flopped on her bed, completely exhausted. Ever since her father had been bedridden with illness she had needed to take more and more responsibilities around the castle. Her father wouldn't be around forever and eventually she'll need to become queen. But she didn't feel ready for it yet. She was loyal to Hyrule and would do anything to server her country.. but she was still young. She needed a bit more time before she was stuck in the slog of working for the people day in and day out. She remembered the young recruit she had saw training yesterday. He had fought well and appeared to have a lot of potential as a solider.... but he fled. He knocked down his opponent with a great show of skill, but suddenly he had decided the life of duty to Hyrule wasn't for him and he wanted to carve his own path. The display had kept her thinking at night, and made her question what it is that she even wants out of her youth.

Zelda was laying on her bed, staring into the blue sky and contemplating her situation. She didn't have the energy to do anything any more productive.