Chen makes a distinct “ffeeep” sound through the scarf pressed into her mouth that is clearly “sheep” with more than a little delight, despite the chaos. 

She’s been quite calm during the walk. She had protested at first, of course, a series of attempts to speak through the scarf that should have been “remove this gag immediately, how dare you use Mommy’s scarf like this!” But it had come out more like “ffww brrr uu!” and the way Rose had grinned at how [i]cute[/i] she sounded had sent her into a furious blush that strained at the tied scarf and caused her to start swaying on her bindle in a way that felt equal parts precarious and oddly relaxing. Heart racing, Chen had tried to collect herself after that and had allowed Rose to go along her march while Chen got to watch the landscape.

Her delight encountering the sheep was therefore the first noise she had made in a while. Perhaps that’s unusual, but as a painter, a scene like this was the perfect sort of life snapshot that Chen would want to paint later. The knowing look in the older woman’s eyes as she tried to pitch camp and the useless flailing of the younger one as she shouted at the flock that had no fear of her were reflecting pure emotions, the experience of living in the world and Chen was [i]absolutely[/i] going to paint that later.

She tries, with limited success to make a gesture to Rose to turn her a little on the pole so she can take in the full view for later. A little straining at the scarf, a turn of the neck, a furtive elbow gesture and another grunt through the scarf all saying [i]hey, spin around a little![/i]

If she were free, Chen’s response here would depend on her errand. If she felt pressured, like her mothers were watching her or she were going to be late, she might fly right past this with an apologetic glance. She’d hate it, hate contributing to the impression people had of Princesses as above everyone else, but she was afraid of disappointing important people in her life, so she would have rushed by regretfully. If she had more time, perhaps on a longer errand where she was expected to spend multiple nights away from home or wandering away from a traveling party, she would have stopped to help. Perhaps she would have used her sword and her magic to help lift the carts past the sheep (her control and precision were very good, though to be safe she might have unloaded the carts and moved the contents separately, then helped the farmers repack them after). One might think that using magic to lift the carts would be the hard way, but it was much easier to work one’s will on objects than on stubborn animals like sheeps, which would refuse to part just as much for Chen’s blade as for the young woman shouting at them in futility. 

As it stands now, she is most concerned with taking in the scene, relaxed that Rose will handle the problem. Only in a moment will she realize that three travelers are going to be staring at her trussed up on a pole behind Rose from the River and begin a new round of furious blushes.