Unfortunately, as much as Maria would have liked to just stay near Rafael and fill herself with his tea, she had taught her squire not to do that and she wouldn't be a hypocrite… any more. And she also had a sort of guest in the form of the young Trina, so it would be rude on her part to just ignore them. So with a cup of tea that she intended to ration, a few cookies on the saucer to go with it, a heavy heart and burning loins, she stepped away from Rafael and his strange disguise.
Young Trina accompanied her, a cup of Rafael's tea also in hand and Dame Millicent having been draft to carry two plates of snacks. The latter wore a fondly long-suffering look that reminded Maria of Anne with Katarina. "So, where are we going next, Dame Campbell?"
"Do you have a preference, young Trina? I was going to look for my squire, but"
"Oh, don't really know anyone here, Dame Campbell, so I'll follow your lead. I'm sure anyone I meet with you will be interesting."
…
Did she have any obligation here? Technically she didn't—she was a guest, not a host—but given this girl was King Miquella's ward—supposedly—it would reflect poorly on Sorcier, even if only in an unofficial way, if she rebuffed the girl.
Besides, a part of her honestly didn't want to leave Trina unattended. Even with Dame Millicent accompanying her, the height difference would be sufficient to break line of sight, and could be used by a noble to make off with her to some isolated corner to do vulgar things to her. It didn't matter if this tea party was for noblewomen, women could also have those predilections, or an unscrupulous man could come in disguise.
Speaking of which…
"In that case, would you like to meet my squire?" Maria said. "She and her friends should be here somewhere."
It was usually easy to find Katarina. One simply had to find where everyone was converging, especially when there was a strong smell of food coming grom there. Unfortunately, the presence of foreigners seemed to have prevented that from happening, or perhaps it was simply because there was a significantly lower concentration of people who were casually admiring of Katarina Claes in this party. Still, Maria knew her squire's habits. Unless actively pressed to socialize in the proscribed way, it was her preference to remain in a single location, talking to her friends and welcoming anyone who wanted to speak to her.
Once, finding that place would have been easy: it would be right next to or near the food! However, Maria had been working to divest her of that habit, and she liked to think she was finding success. Unfortunately, it now seemed that this had managed to circle around and backstab her, because her squire could be anywhere! Maria was both proud and frustrated.
"Oh my, Lady Campbell! It's been Ages! How are you?"
They did meet someone else, however.
"Lady Randall," Maria said, giving her a bow of greeting. "It has indeed been some time. You are well, I hope?"
"About as well as can be expected," Susanna Randall, the First Prince's fiancée, said. "The troubles that hound the First Prince's faction are seemingly never ending. Ah, but you don't want to hear about all that." She looked down. "And who's this little lady?"
Trina performed a curtsy. "My name is Trina, Lady Randall. Dame Campbell was kind enough to show me around."
To Maria's surprise, Susanna Randall knelt down to be eye-level with Trina, heedless of how her skirt pooled on the floor. Trina seemed surprised as well, but didn't step back as Susanna leaned forward to peer at her. "My, you have such wonderfully understated makeup, young Trina. Did you do it yourself? My compliments. We should exchange tips some time. I'm especially impressed of what you've done around your eyes and your cheekbones."
Trina looked surprised. "Ah… t-thank you for saying so."
Susanna Randall winked. "You know, after the tea party, we should get together in my rooms for some girl talk."
"Lady Randall, I think Prince Jeffery's faction has enough problems without rumors of you taking little girls to your room," Maria said flatly.
Susanna Randall laughed as she got back to her feet. "Ah, I suppose I should thank you for thinking of my reputation, Lady Maria. How heroic as always." She tilted her head with a smile. "If you're looking for cute little Katarina, she's over there doing something very interesting." She waved in a particular direction.
That made Maria raise an eyebrow. "if it was interesting, why are you here?"
"Oh, I was looking for you, dear," Susanna Randall said. "I thought it would be more interesting if you saw what she was doing."
Cold filled Maria's heart. "Is she eating?"
Susanna Randall laughed. "Oh no. In fact, she didn't even take any food."
…
"I need to find my squire immediately. She's obviously unwell and needs Light Magic."
Maria knew they were approaching Katarina when she spotted Mary and Sophia… clutching at each other in seeming panic.
"—finally find a fake Katarina?" Sophia was saying. "Is that what's happening here?"
"No, that's the real Lady Katarina!" Mary said. "I would never mistake a fake for her!"
"Then why is she acting like that?"
"Maybe someone's been slipping her wine again?"
"She hasn't drunk anything this whole time!"
"I should hope not."
The two jumped at Maria's unamused interjection.
"After all," she continued, "if I learn someone is handing my squire, who has difficulty curtailing her appetites for food and drink once she has begun consuming, something that would impair her judgement… I would be quite… annoyed."
"We didn't do anything!" Mary said.
"I wasn't planning to!" Sophia added.
"Are you implying I was?"
She and Sophia both gave her a flat look.
"W-well, I wasn't!"
Maria decided to drop the subject. "So what is my squire doing to make a spectacle of herself?"
Mary and Sophia hesitated, glancing at each other. "Wait, you don't know?"
A raised eyebrow. "Why would I know?"
"Well, where else would Lady Katarina learn those… things?-! You're the only one who's been teaching her anything for months!" Mary accused.
"How sad that Shana's contributions are ignored by one she holds in such high regard. She will be so heartbroken when in inform—"
"I take it back, I take it back, don't do it!"
Maria sighed. "Is my squire in there?" She pointed in the direction the two had been facing, where a large crowd of noblewomen—not just from Sorcier but also from foreign parts—were standing around a table. They all seemed to be agitated to some degree, though it was hard to say exactly simply from looking at their various backs. "What is she doing?"
"She's… no, I refuse to say it! it's too outrageous!" Mary exclaimed.
Without missing a beat, Maria turned towards Susanna Randall. "What is she doing?" she repeated.
Susanna Randall smiled. "Oh? Straight to me? Shouldn't you ask Ascart first?"
"No, she's probably be just as useless."
"Heartless!" Sophia exclaimed.
"It's true though," Mary pointed out.
"Yes, but it's still heartless!"
The First Prince's fiancée laughed. "Ah, you're all always so interesting… To answer your question, Lady Campbell, Lady Katarina is interviewing for candidates to become her brother's fiancée."
…
"My apologies, I don't think I heard correctly," Maria said. "Could you please repeat that, but slower?"
"Lady Katarina is trying to rectify her brother's lack of betrothal by interviewing possible candidates."
…
No, no, this didn't count as Lady Katarina becoming a pimp! A female family member finding candidates for their unmarried male relatives was a perfectly respectable endeavor!
"I-I don't see why you two are so upset by this," Maria said to Mary and Sophia. "That's a perfectly respectable thing for a female family member to do for a male family member. I would have thought you two would be supportive of Lord Keith having a fiancée"
The two blinked, eyes widening as if they'd just realized that. Then they both shook their heads. "E-even if that's true…" Mary said
"What lady Katarina was doing was so outrageous we didn't even think of it!" Sophia said.
"It's Lady Katarina, I doubt it could be that bad," Maria said flatly.
In response, Sophia held up a hand, the air above it swirling and rippling strangely. Wind Magic. "Listen to what Lady Katarina is saying."
Maria looked at the swirling air, then glanced towards the wall of bodies. She could vaguely hear her squire, but unless she wanted to try and push through… "All right…"
Sophia stepped forward and held the ball of Wind Magic up to Maria's ear.
Her squire's voice came in through the Wind Magic construct. "—with another woman, would you be a top or a bottom?"
… (+10 Insight)
Maria looked down to meet Sophia's eyes. "I blame you for this."
"Me?-! Why are you blaming me?-!"
Maria and Mary both gave her a flat look.
"I still don't see why you're blaming me! Half of those books were ones Lady Katarina introduced me to! I didn't even realize there were romances about men with men until she introduced me to the Lord of Gambling series!"
Mary blinked. "Wait, that's what those novels are about? I thought it was about playing card games in stupid places, like while riding speeding horses?"
"It's both! You need to read it to understand!"
"No, playing card games while riding on the backs of speeding horses is stupid."
Maria glanced to the side and saw Trina—with her chaperone—and Susanna Randall both watching them as if taking in a show. "We should continue this discussion in private," she said. "Right now, I need to collect my squire and warn her there are some things should not be spoken of in public."
Deleted Scene 1
"So you claim you were not the one who taught my squire the phrase 'trash fetish'?" Maria said.
Mary and Sophia both twitched.
"I think I'd almost managed to forget Lady Katarina using that phrase,' Mary said. She glared at Sophia. "Why did you sully Lady Katarina's pure mind with such filth?-!"
"It wasn't me! I don't believe anything is a trash fetish!"
Maria and Mary both gave her a flat look.
"That explains so much about you," the two said in almost a chorus.
Deleted Scene 2
"—you don't think my brother isn't up to your standards as a fiancé, then I can remove your name from the list. I'm sorry if you think this had been a waste of your time. Let's see, let's see… Ah, here we are Lady Laura Ars—"
"N-no, no, t-that's not what I meant, Lady Claes!" Another female voice said hastily.
"Now, now, I told you, call me Lady Katarina," her squire's voice said. Maria could easily imagine the smile on her squire's face. "Though when you do become engaged, you'll have to call be Big Sister, just like Keith. What did you mean?"
"I, uh, just meant that I would like to hear more about your brother's good points, Lady Cl-Katarina."
"Oh! Well, I think we can take a break to talk about Keith. Ah, but don't worry, if I can't get to you during the tea party, you can talk to me during breakfast, lunch and dinner, and every other time too."
