The last day of the lectures was about the nation of Drang, which was ruled by King Zardoz of the house of Boazania. They claimed that on their lands used to stand the nation of Drangleic, and that many ruins on their lands were the remains of Brume Tower, Aldia's Keep, Heide, and other places. Despite common sense, since many countries claimed their lands were the location of many places mentioned in the ancient myths, for some reason they boasted an industry catering to gullible people who visited their country to take tours through these ruins. As a result, Drang had many fine inns and taverns that catered almost exclusively to foreign 'tourers', at prices that were known to be greatly inflated.
They had strong economic ties to Etran, Sorcier and Xiarmah, as they imported a large amount of staple foods like wheat and rice. Their own lands were mostly filled with cash crops and orchards, from which they made fine fabrics, wines, vinegar, olive oils, and dried fruits for export, while the mountains that surrounded their country meant they possessed a lot of mines that gave them the raw materials for an extensive metalworking industry. This mining also meant that their knights were more often deployed underground to battle ancient horrors from bygone ages like Imperfects, grotesque swollen mongrels, fire-spewing salamanders, skeletal dogs, poisonous horn beetles, many-tentacled Darksuckers, recusants exiled by The King Below, giant millipedes, and hollowed skeletons of dead miners. The Covenant of the Abyss Watchers had a dominant presence in the country, as the mining resulted in a great risk of appearances of the abyss.
The mountains that surrounded Drang made it very defensible from external attack, and many major passes and peaks had fortresses that doubled as mining facilities, armed with ballistae and archer towers to protect against attacks from dragons. However, those same mountains and passes made it very difficult for them to expand or launch any military aggression against their neighbors, leading to Drang, over the centuries, developing a neutral stance in political matters and becoming a bloody killing ground when anyone was ever stupid enough to move against them.
"Drang is a popular location for exiled nobles to be sent," Professor Vaati said. "A 'soft' exile, where they are housed as befits their station, if they retain the support of their families. Since such exiles prefer to bring their own servants and staff with them, the country is a crucible of cultures as many servants decide to stay there with their families after the noble they served finally surrendered to death. Over the centuries, distinctive ethnic enclaves have formed, such as Xiarmahtown, the Sorcier Quarter, and La Sable District." The professor paused. "Please do not visit the La Sable District, it's highly dangerous and full of smugglers, kidnappers and organized crime. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy outside of La Sable itself."
Katarina was strangely quiet as they gathered their notes.
"Ah, finally! Finally, it's done," Sophia sighed. "No more lectures! It's finally over!"
"There's still this afternoon's etiquette class," Lady Mary pointed out.
"Oh, come on, that's totally a blow-off class! Drang doesn't have any significantly different etiquette because all the years of people from other countries moving in has forced them to suppress everything that's unique about them so they can make more money off of visitors. It's basically just a review of all the etiquette classes we've had so far! Who'd even be dumb enough to… need… to..."
Sophia finally realized the words that were coming out of her mouth, and turned in horror towards Katarina as Lady Mary and Lord Keith watched with looks of smug amusement. "N-not that I'm calling you dumb, Lady Katarina! I-I'm sure you don't need a refresher at all!"
"No, she does," Maria said bluntly.
"Can't you be more supportive of your squire?-!"
"I am supporting her. I don't see how it helps her to lie about her progress. She'll never improve if I help her with every little thing, constantly give her reminders, and make things easy for her."
"If you did, you might make things more accessible for her!"
Maria stared at her. "That argument makes absolutely no sense. I don't see how lowering the standards of difficult makes her more capable. If anything, it's an insult to my squire, since it implies she is incapable of being as skilled and able to git gud as everyone else." Maria raised an eyebrow at Sophia. "Are you accusing my squire of being incapable, Sophia?"
"…I regret ever opening my mouth," Sophia said glumly.
"Ah, it's all right, Sophia. Sometimes I wonder if I'm really good enough to be a knight," Katarina said reassuringly. "Then I have nightmares about etiquette manuals that make me wake up crying and suddenly I feel better for some reason."
Lady Mary, Sophia and Lord Keith all glanced at her bright, sunny smile and then glared at Maria.
"I stand by my training regiment," Maria said blandly.
They glared at her again as Katarina finished gathering her notes and pens. "I'm ready," Katarina said. "Sorry for making everyone wait. Let's go to lunch now!"
As they headed for the door to meet with Katarina's cousins, Maria glanced at Katarina. "Now, what is troubling you, squire?"
"Eh? I-I'm fine. Why do you think I'm bothered by anything?"
Maria continued giving her a flat look.
"R-really, I'm fine!"
Maria raised one eyebrow just the tiniest bit.
Katarina wilted. "F-fine," she said. The brunette took a deep breath. "I was just wondering if I would have gotten sent to Drang if I got exiled."
Maria considered the absurd thought for a moment. Katarina took her absurd thoughts very seriously, and while a part of her wanted to mock the very mockable idea, it was only fair to her squire that she took the statement at face value. "Almost certainly," Maria said. "Your parents love you, and, in the event you get exiled, will undeniably continue to support you financially and politically. Therefore, you will likely be provided with a very comfortable residence in Drang, a full staff of servants, and likely a very generous allowance. I've no doubt your new home will include extensive grounds that will allow you to continue farming."
"Huh…" Katarina said, sounding oddly thoughtful. "That… doesn't sound so bad after all… actually… it sounds kind of nice."
Maria nodded. She didn't mention the absolute civil war that would likely erupt from such a development. It would take a scandal just barely short of treason for someone of Katarina's stature to be exiled, since such a pronouncement would reflect not just on her, but the House of Claes as well, along with their allies and Katarina's personal friends. Such an accusation would impugn the family of the Prime Minister, a Marquis with a daughter known for being an influential socialite, and half of the kingdom's potential heirs, all of whom were publically known to be very astute, intelligent and especially vengeful individual.
Such an accusation without at least the support of a duke behind it would be tantamount to suicide on any field one would care to name, and result in the very messy, public and no doubt bloody destruction of the accused.
An accusation with sufficient support as to make a credible case, regardless of whether the accusation was real or fabricated, would break the country into civil war as the Duchies of Morpork and Hasard armed themselves for violent revolt. If the accusation was unjust, they'd do so for their daughter's honor. If the accusation was, unlikely as it was, factual and with grounds…
Well, having met them, Maria supposed there was a six in ten likelihood of them supporting Katarina in any case and going to war to usurp the throne for her sake or break off as their own independent countries. The latter would be quite difficult, because the Duchy of Morpork was in the heart of the country…
Of course, this was all moot, because if anyone was foolish enough to slander her squire in such a way, Maria would have already visited them in the night and feasted upon their blood, tasteless and weak as it would be.
"However, you are not likely to be exiled, because if you ever try to do anything that might lead to your exile, I would punish you for trying to do such a stupid thing myself," Maria said. "So in the event you ever visit Drang, it would likely be simply as a holiday visitor, to visit the alleged ruins, and enjoy the exotic jams, preserves, dried fruits, and local delicacies."
"Wait, I can visit?"
Maria blinked, then gave her squire an intent look. "Squire," she said slowly, "please tell me you didn't think the only way for you to go to Drang was in exile."
Katarina chuckled nervously. "Uh, I didn't think the only way for me to go to Drang was in exile?"
"Squire… are you lying to me?"
"Y-you said to tell you that I didn't think the only way for me to go to Drang was in exile. I did!
Should she be concerned or proud Katarina was actually trying to be clever? Not succeeding very well, but trying nonetheless…