It was a relatively good evening as far as Zelda was concerned. Listening to her people was as important as it was easy and, for the most part, it tended to be a pretty relaxing experience for her. Most of their problems were simple and direct, with a few even solved on the spot. Politics were for the courts. This was a simple matter of better educating herself and making a good impression upon the representatives here to see her. Lending an empathetic ear was the least she could do, after all! The hard part came later, when she actually hard to try and solve the problems she was being told about. Eventually, her subjects would be dismissed and she would be left in the company of her guard again. One by one they exited, only for one particular man to return with a guard flanking him. Hmm..? And just who was that? Zelda didn't much appreciate the lone audience being demanded of her, but as the man drew a bit closer she abruptly realized she had the wrong idea entirely.

She now recognized that this was not one of the men she'd been speaking to earlier but another entirely! The princess felt a bit silly, but quickly dismissed that thought and stood up to address Jace, waiting for him to finish approaching her. If he met her eyes, he would find that she greeted him with a pleasant little smile before she spoke any words. She was quite welcoming, if not very formal. It was to be expected, of course. The knight that had escorted Jace in would suddenly come to a stop, making a point to be a bit noisy about it so as to signal Jace to do the same. It wasn't that the knight thought he didn't know not to run up and hug the princess, or any such silliness, but this was a place of protocol and it was often better to be safe when handling those you did not know personally.

"Her Majesty, The Queen, will hear you now." the knight stated, earning himself a thoughtful look from Zelda. The knight was jumping the gun on that queen bit, but she'd come to accept this as a compliment. Albeit, it probably had no place in such a formal setting. She decided not to correct him, however, as the situation wasn't quite formal enough for her to bother. Finally, he princess promptly returned her gaze back to Jace. The concern in her expression revealed that she already had suspicions about the nature of this interruption. The timing was quite off, which probably meant it was urgent. Urgent generally didn't indicate good things. Regardless, she waited patiently to hear Jace out.

Zelda's chest tightened with anxiety as Jace made the mistake of approaching her without invitation. It was understandably dangerous to let people, even your own subjects, invade your personal space like that. It wasn't that Zelda was concerned about assassins, but it was one of those formalities that you didn't want to take lightly, especially in public, lest it falls out of practice by the time you need it to save your life. Fortunately for Jace though, Zelda's benevolent nature came through for him and he received no resistance--other than a questioning look, that is. ...All of this was promptly forgotten when the news of the hidden village's fall met her ears, though it did little to calm her down. The princess' eyes widened in shock and, for a brief moment, her breath was stolen from her. One could just see her gaze drift off into space for a moment as her mind traveled to the old village, trying to wrap her head around what she'd just been told.

"...How?" Zelda wound up breathlessly asking after a long moment's consideration. The idea that the village residents could have simply evacuated prior to whatever had ruined the town had immediately occurred to her, but that was only a comfort if they could find them, which so far wasn't the case. She needed to know more before she could decide how to react. A search party seemed obvious, but what if an invading force was in the area? They could encounter it again, and unless their search and rescue party was equipped for it that would be a tragedy!

It took Zelda some time to really process what was going on. Not the least of which because she had accepted Jace's staff to get a better look at the scene. She definitely saw what Jace meant, but what she saw also left her with more questions than answers. An organized force would have simply used fire she rationalized, therefore she must have been looking at the work of a monster or perhaps some supernatural force. Probably the former, if she had to wager a guess. ...But the problem with that conclusion, of course, was that anything that could ravage a town like that would likely be more than a match for a humble scouting party--even a heavily armed one. To simply throw her people at whatever was behind this disturbance until it eventually succumbed was to deem them as acceptable losses, a thought that did not sit well with Zelda. Even from a practical standpoint, the consequences of such a course of action seemingly outweighed the losses they'd already suffered. She silently resolved to do better.

At this point, Zelda no longer questioned Jace's intentions. Instead, she questioned his resolve. Taking a moment to steel herself so that she could speak calmly, she finally addressed the mage. "...Yes. I need to request a royal guard to accompany me to the Hidden Village. I would like to investigate the circumstances there myself, but I require the company of someone who can be trusted to look after me." Zelda would reply, eyeing Jace knowingly with a hint of curiosity. She was entrusting him to find someone, it seemed. Or rather, to choose someone. She would gain a better understanding of him through his response, especially if it was a brave one.