The Jester

The court jester was a short and stubby man Agile as a monkey, quick and dextrous as a cat, he had showed up at the castle a decade ago, passing through a window at the top of a reputedly unclimbable wall. His arrival in the midst of a feast had caused a lot of emotions; the guards had stormed the room as soon as the intruder had been spotted. Leaping from chandelier to chandelier, dodging the numerous arrows flying at him without so much as an effort, he had quickly earned the esteem of the King, amused to see dozens of his best guards so easily fooled by a single hapless lad.

They had approached him like an animal, using food to convince him to come closer. At the time, he was clad in pitiful rags and much to the surprise of the King and his men, he knew not a single word of any tongue known to any scholar! And even now that he had been educated, the Jester (he had no other name) seldom spoke and amused the court almost exclusively with his extraordinary capers and pirouettes.

Was it because of his unusual arrival? Was it because of his alien look and behaviours? Apart from the King, none at the court seemed to genuinely appreciate the Jester's presence. The maids avoided him like the pox and the King's daughter, though she was known as an avid sinner, had once said she would never go so low as to bed him. Many dark rumours on his behalf were whispered all across town: he could talk to animals; he was an animal himself; he knew of the dark arts; it was he who had brought a lust demon in the princess' mind. Needless to say the rumours grew wilder and wilder as they spread among the populace and quickly, it was impossible to tell apart fantasy and rightful suspicion.

If his life in the castle had ever caused bitterness and anger to grow in his heart, the Jester had never shown hostility towards anyone. His face seemed to be able to express only two emotions : stoicism and pure amusement. That is why it would be hard to judge of his motives as he approached the King that night to offer his help in rescuing his daughter. Was it genuine friendship towards the old man? Painful love for the princess? Or an occasion for him to take while posing as a saviour?

One way or the other, he went to see the King as the sun was sinking beyond the horizon. "M'lord, he said in his strange and guttural voice, the criers talk about the abduction of sweet Sofia, your daughter. Is there any truth in this dreadful tale?
-Alas, Jester, my friend, softly uttered the King. As you see me, I cling to life not in hope of seeing my daughter rule the land justly, but in hope of no more than seeing my daughter again, one last time." And the King instructed the Jester with far more details than what he had learned from the criers. The King spoke more like to a friend than to some courageous adventurer; he did not expect the Jester to say what he then said: "M'lord, if you give me leave, I shall take on the quest of saving Sofia.
-What? You, Jester?" The King coughed, laid his head on his pillow and rested a few seconds before talking again. "I recall the first day you came to my court. Yes... You are no ordinary jester..." He looked at the stubby man standing by his bed, clad in grotesque and flashy garment, then slowly expressed his assent with a movement of the head. "You are blessed with some uncanny power, Jester... I've felt it ever since we met. Though the outcome of this adventure is veiled to my old eyes, I believe it will be for good. Go. Help yourself to what you need before taking off. You shall no longer be a jester when you come back, but a hero!"