Chapter 339: Work In Progress
Dominic went straight to the smoking room when he made it back into the house. The atmosphere was cordial, but somewhat tense, with everyone focused on the political implications of their discussion and not the lighthearted discussion of potential problems that Dominic had been having earlier.
"Duke Dominic, you’re just in time. We were just discussing the housing situation, and the changes to be made to the manor in advance of the arrival of the other dignitaries." Prince Fahad greeted him.
"A nice light conversation, then. Do we perhaps lack a specific fabric that is needed? I am told that the local tailor has a lovely Kerian Cotton that resists staining and maintains temperature well in warm climates." Dominic replied.
The prince smirked, and Alexis sighed. She should have known that he had absolutely no clue what the issue was.
"No, the problem isn’t the sheets, though those are a wonderful option. I use them at home as well. The issue is one of dignity and propriety.
You see, we can’t have the dignitaries of different delegations on different floors. The change in floors implies a change in rank. However, we also can’t have delegations sharing a floor, as that is a security risk.
So, the design that has been proposed is entirely unsuited to the events that are coming in the near future, and it would be inappropriate to ask the envoys to stay at another location." Prince Fahad explained.
"It would imply that you do not trust them in your own home. An insult to the foreign envoys, and an open insult hinting at treasonous notions when done to your own." Prince George added.
"So, we can’t make a family style compound?" Dominic asked.
"You could, if the buildings were attached." Fahad agreed.
Dominic smiled, "In that case, I think that I can come up with a suitable design. There are many similar compounds within the town, and I am familiar enough with the setup that it would be easy to create additional compounds with equal access to the central house.
That should put each envoy or guest in equal housing, and give them the privacy that they need, without compromising security."
"How do you propose that any of them won’t be viewed as preferable?" Prince George asked.
Dominic shrugged. "I was thinking of arranging them around the main manor, but having the covered walkways all gather at the back garden porch. That way, they all come in the same entrance, and if they’re the same distance away, they’ll be as close as possible in status."
"That’s not bad. Most palaces have towers for just this reason. It puts everyone in an accessible spot, but separated for security. Your property has some space, so you could do it with a compound. However, you’ll need to upgrade the walls as well.
This simply isn’t acceptable for envoys." Fahad insisted.
Alexis sighed. "We have Royal Guards everywhere, how is the wall not sufficient?"
"It doesn’t make the minimum standard for Royal Lodging during stays of over seven days." Fahad insisted.
Alexis nodded. "I see. It does meet the Cygnia standard, which I had assumed was sufficient."
Dominic thought about the options. "What about a secondary wall? Outside the primary wall, and higher for sturdy defence. That will make the inner wall a garden wall, and the outer the defensive perimeter, without sacrificing much of our view.
The manor is on a slight hill, so a taller wall placed further from the house won’t significantly block the light."
"It does have to be higher than the windows of all the bedrooms, though." Prince George added.
"Higher than the windows? Alright, we can work with that. Perhaps I should arrange for them to make something fancy? A twenty-metre statue of myself and the Princess at the gate would be stunning." Dominic joked.
Alexis glared at him, while Prince Fahad laughed. "It’s not against the rules. The Royal Palace has a similar statue of the first King at the gate."
"No." Alexis insisted.
"We have been vetoed. No giant statues of myself at the gates. But I can do a secondary wall that is higher than the existing one, to give us room to stage troops between the two if we need to defend the Manor." Dominic agreed.
Alexis smiled. "That’s the first sensible thing that you’ve said today."
"Should we bring in the Royal Infrastructure team? They will know how to do just what we need, and they might have ideas on design features that I have overlooked. There is certainly something that would make it better than expected when we’ve got so much magic available and a whole Royal team."
If they weren’t footing the bill, it became much more reasonable to do a massive renovation and expansion all at once, with custom details and extensive magitech.
They could give them all the luxuries, and even start making up random things that the Nobles could talk about when they got home. It didn’t even have to be practical. It just had to be memorable.
Something like a dehumidifier, so that the Nobles from desert regions could feel more at home during the rainy season. Magitech fireplaces did dry the air a little, but not nearly as much as an actual wood fire.
It would keep the house from getting damp and musty, but for those used to the desert, it would still feel like Stansia Province.
Making fussy rich people feel at home was one of the great challenges of hosting. Dominic had learned that from an innkeeper many years ago, and the memory surfaced when they started talking about all the little rules and requests that the Envoys were likely to insist upon.
Which also meant that they should get the Merchant’s Guild to import dozens of new interior bedding sets so that they could decorate the Envoys’ suites to suit their home nations, should they not be satisfied with the Wavemates’ usual styles.
The more he thought about it, the more that got added to the list.