"Why don’t we all have a seat? I’m sure that we have better things to discuss than land use." Alexis offered politely, with a gesture to the sitting area and its leather-bound sofas.

"And what could be more important than land use and the threats to the use of that land?" Prince Fahad asked curiously.

"I can think of a few other things, but I would rather speak about business opportunities. With the Merchant Guild here, it is the perfect time to discuss a bit more about the trade situation between our three nations.

I know that it traditionally all goes through the Guild, as they are about the only reliable merchants for any large-scale deal. But we do have an opportunity here.

Wistover is central to the three capital cities, remote enough that we are not easy to threaten, and flexible enough that we can make nearly any sort of arrangement work. You can’t easily add a huge trading market or new airship repair docks to the capital city, without going many kilometres out of town, or buying out farmers.

That either costs a fortune, or breeds resentment among the commoners.

But here, it’s not an issue. We’ve already sorted out the logistics, and we will have a large warehouse for the Merchant’s Guild not far from both land and air staging areas. In fact, we could even make accommodations for water travel between here and Cygnia City, which would reach a half dozen more cities along the way.

It really is an optimal location, no matter which country you’re wishing to trade goods to." Dominic replied.

The Merchant smiled as Dominic pushed his position for him. They had a mutual interest in the success of this endeavour, as the Duchy would get a small tax on the trades, and the Merchant Guild would get a central staging area to move goods between three capital cities as needed, instead of sending goods to one or the other and hoping they were needed when they got there.

Naturally, they would need more warehouses, enough to hold a dozen caravans worth of goods, with a convoy or airship headed out two or three times a day. But that was easy to arrange, and there was a Royal Infrastructure team in town to assist with the construction.

"I see that the Wavemates Family’s association with the Merchant Guild has not faded much, despite the circumstances. There was a long-running rumour that Wistover was a smuggler’s port before everything started, and now you intend to make it an official trading hub.

My concern is that it might not be the most profitable location. We could move the hub to one of the cities just as easily, and get thousands of locals added to the supply rolls." Prince Russel noted.

Dominic shook his head. "It would be further to ship the magitech that Wistover creates, and we are gaining residents by the month. By this time next year, we are going to be a proper city in our own right.

Perhaps not a hundred thousand like some of the old cities, but it wouldn’t shock me if we were ten thousand or more. We’ve got good crop land, we’ve got work, and there are a lot of disillusioned folk who are looking for somewhere to settle.

Whether the hub is here or not, Wistover is about to become a hub for magical development."

The younger Prince of Cygnia frowned. He had almost forgotten about the reports that said there were thousands of mages headed to Wistover, and the reports of farmers fleeing the droughts and war taxes all over Stansia Province.

Alexis sighed as she saw Prince Fahad, and Prince George smile at each other. They were clearly on board with this proposal, on behalf of Axbridge and Mitfield.

And if they were on board, then this was likely going to happen.

However, that didn’t mean it was going to be easy, and if Prince Fahad started sending out messages that Wistover had openings for resident Mage Sects and a need for Magitech workers that they were willing to train, she was going to be swamped with work orders requesting more housing and amenities be built.

Dominic was good about helping on that front, but when it came to nonessential requests, everyone wanted to go to her first, as they might require Royal Assent.

Though Cygnia was mage-friendly, moving an entire Sect into town was a delicate issue. Mages could be dangerous, and in large numbers, their loyalties and threat level needed assessment. So, a ranking Royal Family member had to sign off on their change of location, and she was the one with that authority, not Dominic.

The Princes considered Dominic’s words for a few moments before deciding that he was right. One way or another, Wistover was going to become an industrial hub for magitech, simply because this is where all the people who could make it wanted to live.

The hardest part about specialty industry was finding the right workers, and luring the best professionals to your city to run the factories.

So, if you already had them, you had the advantage right from the start.

"Alright, we won’t argue against making Wistover a major shipping hub between the nations. But that means that we are going to need a trade deal to make it happen.

If there is a Cygnia import tax, and then a destination import tax on all the goods, it simply won’t be worth it." Prince Fahad noted.

His country exported a lot of valuable raw materials, and some magical items of their own, so he didn’t want this arrangement to make it less profitable than sending them directly.

Prince Claudius nodded. "That shouldn’t be an issue. As long as the goods remain in the warehouses for holding, we won’t charge the import tax, and can consider them to still be in transit. Wistover Duchy will need some sort of revenue from the process, though.

Their exports are valuable, but if the deal doesn’t benefit them, it is bound to get twisted in only a few years."

Dominic drummed his fingers on the table as he chose his words. "Perhaps a dockage fee? Not for the goods, but for the ground handlers, with a cut for the Duchy. A fee per truck and trailer, a fee per airship. Pay the fee, and the duchy will provide labour for the loading and unloading of your supplies.

It’s not like we’ve only got trade goods here. We’ve also got plenty of food, and that is something that the caravans will need to resupply anyhow.

Shop at the market, and we can have the fee cover someone bringing your purchase to the warehouse."

The caravans had plenty of men who could do that. Usually the drivers, once the trucks were parked. But having locals do it kept more people employed, and would give the drivers time to shop for personal items.