The closest thing to protocol about the use of magic in social situations boiled down to two things: 'don't get caught', and 'it's rude to interfere with someone else's magic unless they're using it to eavesdrop on you'. There were some exceptions, like using your Fire Magic to warm your food or your Water Magic to make ice for your drink, and other utilitarian uses, but mostly it boiled down to that, as if assuming everyone would be using their magic to mess with everyone else. Not that it was official protocol. Even the seventh edition of 'The Noble's Proper Etiquette Reference and Manual of Propriety and Action', despite having sections for proper etiquette of cold desserts like shaved ices (though those same sections could happily be applied to Katarina's ice-cream), had nothing to say about the use of magic.
To be fair, it tended to depend on what sort of company the party in question had. There hadn't been much nonsense like that at the adventuring party for Katarina's minor squire debut. Even here, there were only some. Wind Magic arcing up and over, darting back and forth to listen to and for gossip, Water Magic doing the same by didn't of feeling the vibrations causing by voices (which is why most canny gossips made sure they were swilring their glass when they talked to deafen anyone trying to listen), Earth Magic keeping track over everyone with vibrations through the ground, which was why most parties were on lawn, carpet or wood. Sophia had heard that some could eavesdrop through the vibrations perceived by gemstones and glass, though it took great power and skill to do that. Keith claimed he couldn't do it. But then, he would, wouldn't he?
Poor Fire Magic wielders had to do their own spying the commoner way, listening in hidden corners, bribing servants and cunning spyholes.
Sophia wasn't sure if Light Magic users had any particular means of eavesdropping with their magic. After all, despite how often that characters in books who had Light Magic generated 'brilliant glows' and 'shining radiances' and such, both Maria and Rafael were always amused to comment that Light Magic didn't generate visible light under normal circumstances.
The eavesdropping utility of Dark Magic was obvious.
Sophia carefully kept her gaze straight on Lady Katarina—not that she wouldn't anyway—making the target of her spell obvious and carefully avoiding the other, subtle whirls of wind magic moving around or staying still to give groups relative privacy. This gave her right of way for her spell, as opposed to the wandering licks of air that bounced around listening for interesting things. A few wondered what she was listening to, hovering over Lady Katarina as she chatted with Lord Wilde and his husband, but most quickly went away, seemingly not interested. Some people, like Maria, simply had no good taste. Not that she wanted MORE competition to get Lady Katarina her…brother, but it was the principle of the thing!
"—I really liked 'The Importance of Being Honest'," Lady Katarina was saying enthusiastically. "All the subplots were hilarious, and I'm glad no one died or anything like that."
"It was originally drafted as a play," Lord Wilde said, clearly glad to find someone willing to converse about him about his work. Sure, it was no Night Fall, But Sophia had to agree, it was funny.
"Ooh, it would be great if it could be a play!" Lady Katarina said, finally slipping into one of her grins.
"What are you all doing?" a familiar voice said.
Out of the corner of her eye, Sophia saw Maria give Lady Lalatina Dustiness a knightly bow, one her fellow knight returned. "Evaluating my squire's progress in her education."
"Here?" the taller, bustier blonde was surprised. "Is she supposed to practice getting behind people to work on her backstab positioning?"
"No, she's not ready for that yet. I have to teach her how to initiate attacks first."
"What, really? Most people need to be taught to not just charge in, swing three times, then run out of stamina."
Sophia found herself nodding, Really, most people had to learn to attack only twice, and save the rest of your stamina for rolling away…
She heard the three knights start going on about early training, Maria clearly fishing for things she had to teach. Really, when did she start hanging around so many knights?
"Hey, Maria," she interrupted, "Lord Wilde is about to introduce her to someone."
She had to admit, the knight was good at looking circumspectly. She never turned to look at Katarina directly, instead pretending to take a sip from her wine so she could angle herself to see from the corner of her eye. "Do you know who they are?"
"Lady Woolf, from the nose," Sophia said. "I've never read her work, though I keep meaning to. I'm just not sure I'd like to read a book written from the perspective of a dog…"
The three knights made faces of distaste. "A dog?" Matthew said.
"What sort of sick mind would write from the twisted view of a dog?" Lalatina agreed.
"I heard it was good…" Sophia defended weakly.
"If it's from the point of view of a dog, it must be a work about how it loves to torture knights, inflicting suffering, underhanded sneak attacks, and similar vileness," Maria said. "Maybe we should step in. My squire really shouldn't associate with people who hold such twisted and perversely unnatural views about dogs. She's very impressionable, she might get strange ideas…"
The Katarina-grading was put on hold as they all went to the buffet for snacks. Katarina dutifully followed orders and came back to the group—now plus Lalatina—with a plate with only four things on it.
The woman following her while holding a tray full of food was unexpected.
"This is not my fault or my idea," Katarina said virtuously making a show of holding her plate. "I did exactly what Dame Campbell told me to do, and got only four things." On the serving platter she had appropriate was a quarter of a cake, half a side of ham, a large glob of mashed potatoes shaped into a bowl and full of gravy, and a bowl full of assorted appetizers. "But then this nicely lady offered me this tray of delicious foods, and she's holding it, not me. So absolutely not my fault."
Maria sighed. This was her fault, really. She should have known that childish minds would look for way around the spirit of the word while obeying the letter, and they didn't come more childish that Katarina. "Congratulations, my squire," she said sternly. "You have found a way around my orders. Revel in you victory. I will allow it." Katarina grinned widely.
Maria held up a finger. "This. Once." she said sternly. "You knew what I meant. When you finish that, and the next time you go back for food, you will take a plate, and put only three things of the intended serving size on it."
Katarina's grin slipped as she blinked. "I thought you said four?"
"That was before you tried being clever," Maria said. "Do this again, and you will leave to find someone else to teach you." Katarina stiffened. "Are we clear?"
"Yes, Dame Campbell," Katarina said quietly.
"And you will eat that with etiquette to make your teacher proud, or else," Maria said grimly. "Perhaps you will understand that food is served in the portions it is for a reason. Now eat. Properly." Katarina, no matter her state, didn't need to be told twice, and began to eat with exaggerated care. Maria turned to the woman with the tray, who was one of those wearing trousers, a shirt and a coat. Right then, she looked like she expected to be struck by a large swinging log covered in spikes. "I'm sorry for ignoring you. As you are a friend of Lady Katarina's, may I have your name?"
"Um, we're not really friends…" she said, eyes darting around and down to her tray of food.
"Her name is Marsha Catley," Lady Hunt said, and there were swinging pendulum blades, trapped flagstones that shot flaming arrows, rolling boulders, and beasts hiding in ceiling rafters in her tone. "She's a friend of one of my sisters. I'm surprised to see you hear, Lady Catley. I'd have thought you'd go back to your parents after graduating from the Academy?"
Marsha Catley looked like she was facing a gigantic beast that crackled with lighting wielding nothing but a broken bottle and a shield. "If you must know, Mary Hunt, I applied and was accepted into the Ministry."
"Really? Which department?" Lady Hunt's smile was a doorway shrouded by fog, beyond which distressing sounds emanated.
"The Magic Tool Laboratory," she said, chin lifting in defiant pride.
"You are in Rafael's department?" someone said. It took Maria a moment to realize it had been herself.
"Ooh!" Katarina said simultaneously, looking up from her food. "That's where Sora works! Do you know Sora?"
Lady Catley blinked in surprise as she found herself unexpectedly crowded. "Er, yes, I am in the Sha—er, that is, Assistant Director Wolt's department. And yes, I know Mister Smith." Her brow wrinkled in confusion. "How do you know that womanizer, Lady Claes?"
"W-womanizer?" Sophia and Lady Hunt both gasped.
"Womanizer?" Katrina said, tilting her head thoughtfully. She tapped a finger to her temple, and began nodding. "Yes, that pretty boy looks, that girly hair… yup, I can totally picture him as a womanizer." Abruptly, a grin came over her face and she leaned forward conspiratorially. "So… have you and him ever…?"
"Done the voluntary backstab?" Sophia said, then her eyes went wide with panic a moment before Lady Hunt made a spirited attempt to keep her from speaking by covering her mouth. Or possibly strangle her. With the forearm over Sophia's throat, it was hard to say. Maria sent a disapproving smile at the scaleless young woman. She thought they had all agreed to keep that sort of language away from her squire?
Maria's squire blinked cluelessly, but Marsha Catley gasped. "I would never!" she declared. "He's just a co-worker! I'd sooner have an affair with Larna Smith, and that woman is paledraked in the head!"
And suddenly, Lady Selena was just there, a smile on her face. "I thought I heard someone putting down Larna Smith," she said, her gaze sweeping the group before falling on Marsha Catley. "Hm… Lady… Catley, I believe? As I am unfamiliar with you, could it be it was you who made the delightful utterance?"
"U-utterance, your ladyship?" Lady Cattley stuttered, clearly not taking the surprising turns of events well.
"I believe you said something insulting or derogatory about that bitch Larna Smith," Selena said.
"I… said she was paledraked in the head?"
"Ah!" Selena made a very satisfied sound as she nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, that was it. I'm glad to meet such an intelligent, perceptive young lady such as yourself. We must talk more some time soon. Would you be available for tea sometime this week at my private residence? I would love to hear any more complaints you might have about that woman."
"You… would?" Lady Catley said.
"Yes, that horrid woman once put me in danger because of her nonsense," Selena said. "Has she done the same to you?"
"I nearly got scalded making tea because she put unauthorized alterations on the kettle!" Marsha Catley cried. "Director Walt told her to make it exactly like the old one, but she thought she knew better, and I almost got a face full of steam!"
"Yes, that sounds exactly like the sort of thoughtless thing she'd do," Selena said, nodding.
"Oh, you have no idea. We have this warehouse full of things she's made, but of course she couldn't be bothered to label any of them, so we have to sort through it all and match things to their paperwork…"
The two women cheerfully began to badmouth the Magic Tool-artisan. In all honestly, Maria felt inclined to agree, but as the woman had helped save Maria's mother at great danger to herself and had broken her ankle doing so, Maria as obligated by honor to keep such thoughts to herself and be nice to the woman… which thankfully wasn't that hard.
Well, back to business. She turned to her squire, who was at least still eating with propriety, even though she was handling the knife and fork with some frustration. Yes Katarina, THAT was why ham was served in slices and not as whole hocks. They were frustrating to cut. "Squire Claes," Maria said, "as Lady Catley is currently occupied, explain the tray to me."
"Not my idea or my fault!" Katarina instantly said defensively. "Sometimes, in parties, when I go to the buffet, Lady Marsha would just happen to have a tray of my favorite foods ready for me. I didn't ask her too, but it would be very ungrateful of me not to accept when she went to so much effort to put it together for me, right? Right?"
Maria frowned. Someone… just happened to have a tray of food ready for Katarina? "Aren't you worried the food might be poisoned?" She was a duke's daughter after all. More importantly, she as Katarina Claes, the harming of whom would drive a lot of powerful people violently insane. More so than they were already.
She, of course, would only be driven to violence, with her sanity intact.
Katarina blinked at her. "Why?"
What sort of answer was that? Who just responds 'why' to a perfectly sensible question?-!-?-!