Not long after that—indeed, the very next day after he had yet another bout with Shortbeak, finally managing to hold his own with the bird when it came to polearms—he got the news. It was the unhappy news that he was to attend the happy occasion of a noblegriffon's wedding to impart the unhappy apologies that the king could not personally be there to share his happy congratulations. Handy, as one might imagine, was unhappy about this, he hated social gatherings of any kind. He had thought the coronation feast would be his last for a good long while. Joachim was well aware of this, and found it most amusing to personally see Handy off, smiling genially, knowing full well Handy was scowling beneath his hood.