#20 – Jasper Black

Sir Jasper of Blackhaven (aka Jasper Black) is the captain of the royal guards in charge of protecting Princess Catherine.  He is extremely intelligent, but he was born into his position and chose to honor his father’s wish by becoming a royal guard. He’s a little more than a servant, a soldier with no hope of glory in war, reduced to babysitting a royal brat.  The royal family doesn’t really notice him except as a muscle man who is supposed to keep track of the wild Catherine and stop her from doing something stupid.  Catherine who sees him as a little too arrogant for his station and enjoys teasing him, taunting him, and flirting with him just to see if he’ll respond.  She’s very beautiful and gets a lot of men to fall for her meaningless flirtations, but not Jasper.  He can’t stand her.

Her spoiled streak angers him, because he thinks she’s stupid and selfish and she is.  When she starts visiting the wizard he tries to stop her but she insults him and commands him not to tell on her and he’s just kind of like “okay bitch, go get into major trouble – see if I care.”

He is the first to figure out that Princess Catherine has been switched with a double because although Kathrina looks exactly like her, personality wise they’re night and day.  She tries to play the snobbish princess but isn’t convincing.  To most people it’s refreshing for the princess to be quiet for once, or since she’s a woman they don’t really pay her much attention, but Jasper does.  He’s with her a lot and knows her so well that he sees the difference right away.  He confronts her and she tells him the truth, but rather than thinking she’s crazy – which she expects – he demands they switch back – it’s his duty to protect the real Catherine after all.  Kathrina refuses to go back and there’s a lot of tension between them but as reality sets in for her, she starts to realize just how different he is from the other men, and he realizes how different she is.  He sees her intelligence and they become friends, than fall in love.  When she can’t take the past anymore he takes her to confront the wizard to send her home, promising to go with her.  The wizard sends switches the girls, but Jasper is forced to stay in his own time.

Jasper seems to be cold, arrogant, and easily annoyed at first, but as Kathrina gets to know him, she sees that he is really just trying to hide his intelligence and keep his job for the sake of his family. He’s brave and brilliant, determined and loyal, but he’s not that handsome.  He’s okay looking but nothing special, and he doesn’t really care about being handsome.  He isn’t married because he hasn’t found a woman who’s smart enough for him basically.  Most of the women around him appear docile, except Catherine who’s just a shrew.

Category: Uncategorized