General Darius' Loud Mouth

"You know very well!" General Darius yelled, and Francessa flinched at his loudness. Oh, her headache was back. She couldn't help frowning - if she knew, would she have asked?

Honestly. Military men! Could they go one day without yelling! Her father had those sorts of men in their house before, and she recalled wincing at their raised voices and the way they had to thump on the tables with their meaty fists before speaking. It irritated her.

"Excuse me, kindly refrain from speaking to me in this tone," Francessa said imperiously. Sure, she was only a woman, but she was a wife of a Marquis, and a lady in her own right. To yell at her for no good reason was supremely uncalled for! "I have not done anything to deserve such disrespect!"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Darius roared even louder, upset that Jasper, this illegitimate son of an Earl, born of lust and ill-sense, dared to rebuke him for his behavior.

Who did he think he was, to talk back to his betters? If not for the Crown Princess' grace and charity, he would be forced to engage in a life of thievery simply to make ends meet! He'd be a highwayman arrested for robbery and thrown into the prisons!

Then again, General Darius wouldn't know if Jasper was already committing petty theft, but then he wouldn't be surprised if it was true. Jasper was not an upstanding gentleman in any sense of the word!

Duke Richard, who was more rational and less prone to emotional outbursts, immediately realised that there was something strange with the way Jasper was acting. This was out of the norm!

Darius had yelled at Jasper many times in the past, and Jasper always responded with a combination of a cocky grin and a disdainful sneer as he continued to slouch insolently to spite Darius. There was even once where he dug out his ear wax and flicked in Darius' snarling face.

Never had Jasper brought himself to his full height to glare down at Darius as though Darius was the insolent one behaving out of turn, as though it was beneath Jasper to interact with someone like him who couldn't keep his emotions in control.

There was a niggling feeling at the back of his mind. He had seen someone behave similarly before… who was it again? It had been years, but if he focused, he could still recall a straight back clad in a lilac dress, light brown hair with lovely green eyes.

Did Jasper make her acquaintance and learn all her habits? Richard felt jealousy churn in his gut at the thought.

"WHO ARE YOU TO SPEAK TO ME THIS WAY? YOU BASTARD!" Darius continued to yell.

Francessa was incensed. "Me? A bastard? Retract your insult towards my parents immediately! Your behaviour is deplorable and an insult to your house!"

Before Darius could continue raging, Richard held him back by the arm and gave a quick shake of his head. This was Jasper's body, but every word that came out of his mouth didn't sound like it.

"I think Jasper is overwhelmed at the moment, we best get a physician to take a look at him."

"Surely you're not expecting the Royal Physician to treat him?" Darius asked incredulously. "That is beneath his duty, and he's supposed to be caring for the Crown Princess!"

Francessa paused, listening attentively. They were talking about her father! And why were they calling her a 'him'? Military men clearly didn't pay attention in the schoolroom!

"I'm sure the princess would like to keep her people in the pink of health. I'll summon him for a visit." Richard said. Darius could only sigh, he could never out-argue Richard when he played the Princess card.

"Fine." Then he gave Jasper a dirty look. Francessa returned it with the haughtiest look she could give, and Darius froze. For a moment, Jasper was intimidating, terrifying even! But then he scoffed and strode out of the room. Nonsense. He would never be intimidated by gutter scum.

Meanwhile, Francessa's heart began beating faster in excitement, at the thought of seeing her father again.

Maybe he could tell her why her body now looks like a man, and how to fix it!