"She favors her left," Beren whispered conspiratorially in Jocasta's ear. Jo placed her hand against her mouth to hide her sudden laugh, but the redhead looked stricken in horror. He felt regretful the Baron was getting displeased, but the 'lady' had attacked Jocasta and pissed him off, and her indignation only egged Beren on. He spoke to Jocasta again. "Her hammer's bigger than her anvil. Horses might be good, but she's clumsy on her feet. You'd kill her in axes and shields." 

"Anvil?" Jocasta asked, and lady Giroux took it with an entirely different meaning, trying to make her backside as small as possible. Earlier she had been flaunting it, but when things weren't going her way she seemed to fall apart. Beren had just said a common dwarven saying, and he tried to explain it to Jo in human terms. "Uh... her bark is bigger than her bite." 

"I already apologized!" She said breathlessly. The crowd looked on with wide eyes, and the Baron seemed about to step in and order the guards to come with him. Giroux flushed at all the attention from how things were developing. Maybe not all publicity was good publicity, after all. Beren stood to his full height and crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow at her. Jocasta stood in a similar fashion, her eyes wild to act the part she meant every word of the knightly duel. Maybe she did? Beren wasn't entirely sure this was a farce. 

"You're a few hairs short of a beard-" He started. Lady Giroux gently gasped and grabbed at her chin in fear as he spoke, again misreading his words. "You come in here, try to separate us, then try and frame me and ruin the good baron's party, and then come out here to assault my g- uh..." He looked at Jocasta and she glanced at him. They hadn't even had the time to talk about it. "-assault Jocasta and now you want to back out scot-free? I don't think so sister. Honor demands she meet you on the field."

"I can call for a champion!" She stated, though she sounded very unsure at her initial statement. As the words left her, the developing thought did bring some fire back to her eyes, however. Beren guessed she would be happy to have any win over Beren and Jo. The monk just grinned. 

"Sure, and I'll step in for her. Choose your man, but we'll use fists." He said confidently. 

That dropped her down a peg yet again. She had been as close as anyone in the party when Beren had nearly wrestled himself through four thugs, and it was clear he hadn't been trying to really harm anyone. She lifted her chin, trying to form words of retort, but Jocasta suddenly lurched forward like a dog on a leash. Lady Giroux screamed in surprise. "No stand-ins! She's mine! We'll meet at dawn!" 

"Hold!" Baron Marius said with a stern countenance. He fixed his suit and stepped out of the crowd, joining Lady Giroux though not deigning to take her offered hand. She awkwardly dropped it and smoothed her dress, glaring at Beren and Jocasta with an air of what she thought was superiority. The Baron seemed as if he had taken their jibes as a respite so he might think of a way to solve this, and he had regrettably come up short. "Surely there's a way we can come to an agreement without coming to blows?" 

Beren and Jocasta slowly looked at one another. Beren raised an inquisitive eyebrow, and Jocasta nodded in acquiescence. 

"There is one thing, if the Lady Giroux would be so gracious..."