A Joke

"Your Majesty, here is what you asked me to look for," a shadow said. He appeared in front of Yolanthe and handed him a scroll.

"You’ve always been amazingly fast," Yolanthe said, smiling. He took the scroll and began reading. As he read on, his smile slowly disappeared. In the end, he was frowning, and tossed the scroll down on the table with a single word, "Bastard!"

"I agree, Your Majesty," the shadow said.

"The poor girl," Yolanthe said, shaking his head. Had he been twenty years younger, he would surely swear to avenge her, and send in his own men to correct the wrong. After twenty years of court intrigues and political struggles, he found himself numb to injustices like this. He rarely used words like "bastard" anymore.

"I did not find her teacher, Your Majesty. However, I think anyone that could train a young girl to be a senior swordsman is someone to be reckoned with."