1857 AC, King's Landing, Red Keep

With another expert in medieval history present, the assembly of other sources became quicker, and Hedda wasn't interrupted every ten minutes to help understand this or that abbreviation in the citation notes. Dr. Redwyne was also kind enough to begin with the assembly of the timeline along the long magnetic wall on the left side. It would hopefully ease both the translation and interpretation of the Journal. Until now everything had sounded believable but Hedda knew from countless documents and letters and inventory lists that what had really happened was always a thing of perception for the individual.

Whilst I spent the following months on sea, learning the seafaring craft that my Baratheon uncle had made his own, another uncle, this time a Lannister, handled a task of utmost importance for my own person. He was sieving through the throngs of people suitable for various positions in my household. The court, I had learned rather quickly, was an ever-turning maelstrom that would pull you under within moments if you stopped paying attention for just a fraction of a second. Courtiers also, no matter how loyal, craved knowledge of the ongoings of their royal family. Spies were not a rarity and I came to thoroughly despise the invasion of my privacy in my early years in the Red Keep. With my absence, this was a prime opportunity for busybodies to convert and bribe members of my household. To prevent this, I released most of the staff I had held until now, and tasked Massey with finding replacements in Oak Valley Hall and its surroundings. The more prestigious positions I left to a man whose wit was rarely surpassed in these days. My uncle, Tyrion Lannister. Or as many called him so callously, the imp.

295 AC, King's Landing, Red Keep

Joffrey found the younger of his two uncles where he expected him to be. In his rooms with two whores.

Tyrion Lannister was probably the smartest person Joffrey had ever encountered in this life, also the most cynical. Though that was not so surprising, considering the circumstances of his birth.

For years, Cersei had done her best to keep Joffrey from ever crossing paths with Tyrion until Ser Jaime finally found an afternoon on which the Queen was distracted, and he abducted Joffrey from his lessons to introduce him to his younger brother.

It had been a rather pleasant if vulgar afternoon while the Lannister brothers regaled him with stories and small adventures. Joffrey learned more about the politics in the Westerlands from several of Tyrion's snide comments than in the months Master Devan had discussed the lands of his Lannister grandfather. That afternoon had followed a few similar encounters, more often than not facilitated by Jaime, who clearly knew the schedule of the Queen by heart, and quite a few times Joffrey encountered whores who were just leaving.

That didn't mean that he was indifferent to the sight of his uncle, half naked with two naked whores. Joffrey hastily avoided looking at the bed and cleared his throat to announce his presence.

"May I have a word, uncle?"

"Nephew…" Tyrion drawled out, clearly not happy about the interruption before he sighed and turned to the girls. "Well, you heard the prince, off with you."

The women giggled and sauntered naked across the room where their clothes were before leaving with lascivious grins at both Tyrion and a somewhat uncomfortable Joffrey.

Once the door had closed behind them Tyrion's amused expression dropped and he raised an eyebrow in Joffrey's direction.

"Well?"

"I need advice," Joffrey admitted.

Now Tyrion sat up and looked serious at Joffrey. "What kind of advice?"

"I convinced father to let me foster with uncle Stannis for a few months."

Tyrion choked at that. "You did what? Are you out of your mind boy? Stannis has his seat on Dragonstone, a cold dreary and miserable place in the middle of the sea. And you want to foster there?"

"I rather doubt that we will be long at the castle, uncle is obvious in his disdain for it. I imagine we will be on sea for most of the time, which is fortunate because it's the sea and the royal navy that I wish to know."

"Can't you learn this from the Maesters?" Tyrion complained.

Joffrey just raised an eyebrow at the statement and waited.

Tyrion sighed. "Yes, yes. Hands on and all of that tripe that you tall people prefer."

Joffrey snorted. "You know just as well that I have no objection to a good read. The problem with the books is that I found them not always quite accurate. I would rather learn about this topic only once. Also, I have nary seen my uncle since the day we have been introduced. I would like to know his mettle."

Tyrion swallowed wrongly and sprayed his watered wine over the stone floor while he gave into helpless mirth. "He reflects his seat rather well, nephew. Just as dreary and miserable, not an ounce of humor in his body. I guarantee you, you will not enjoy your stay."

"That may be so, but he is also one of the most competent commanders my father has. He has always accomplished what he had been tasked with, no matter how impossible it seemed."

"Only with the Targaryens he failed," Tyrion said wryly.

Joffrey rolled his eyes. "I do not know what father was thinking to punish Lord Stannis for the simple fact the Targaryens had already left the island before he and the fleet arrived. It does not make sense."

Tyrion looked at him and sighed deeply. "Sometimes I truly wonder how a man like your father and a woman like your mother achieved you."

"Uncle, careful there. We are still in the Red Keep."

Tyrion sent him a glance before he gestured at the room at large. "Why do you think I insist on these lodgings here instead of the ones closer to Maegor's Holdfast, as is my right as the Queen's brother? Certainly not because of the side entrance for the whores. Although that was a rather pleasant coincidence. No, this is one of the rooms that has no little holes for anyone to spy on me and the walls are thick enough that nobody will hear us, not even if they listen at the door."

Joffrey nodded at that tidbit of information and gladly took the glass of lemon water his uncle handed him.

"So if you are determined to go through with this fostering, what do you need my assistance for?"

"Uncle insists on only one guard and servant while in his care."

"You don't like that?"

"I couldn't care less, but it gives me the opportunity to release most of my retinue back into my parents' employment without raising eyebrows."

"Ah… spies?"

Joffrey sighed. "Mother's, Varys', Littlefinger's... and I suspect various other nobles as well."

Tyrion hummed and toasted Joffrey's clever move.

"I take it you will keep those three little bees that always buzz around you?"

"Massey and her sisters, yes. The Hound and the guards as well. Maege – the second oldest – and the Hound will accompany me, and I plan to send the rest to Oak Valley Hall. Away from the influence of certain characters."

"Very wise, nephew."

"My problem is now the following. Once I return from uncle Stannis' care, I will be expected to have a household, a full one this time. I am closing in on my tenth year after all."

"What was the retinue size of a crown prince again?" Tyrion asked, honestly interested.

"At least twenty and a hundred."

Tyrion whistled. "That's a lot of people… and a lot of potential spies."

Joffrey nodded and pulled out the list he had put together.

"Massey will start searching for suitable smallfolk for the base positions but I am in need of competent, efficient and loyal people of education."

Tyrion whistled. "Competent, efficient and loyal… a tall order in this day and age." He finished his wine and then stretched a hand out, "the list, if you will."

Wordlessly Joffrey handed it over and Tyrion regarded it for a moment, the prince had underlined the positions that needed somebody of a certain education and standing.

Household

Steward 1 (Massey - servants and further training)

· Assistant (Maege and Mab, possible third)

Steward 2 (capable of numbers and letters, responsible for ordering supplies, planning the travel route)

· Assistant (numbers and letters)

Treasurer (travel purse of the prince, note the expenses, pay the household, sending letters)

· Assistant (numbers and letters)

· Assistant (numbers and letters)

Marshal (horses and travelling carts)

· Stable hands

Septon

Joffrey's handmaidens (Maege and Mab – are training under Massey)

· Female servants (serve food, repair mundane fabric, daily tasks) 7

· Washer women (wash clothes and fabrics) 7

· Footmen (setting up tents, packing, running errands- orders from Massey, serve food) 10

Keeper of the Wardrobe (numbers and letters, fabric care and basic arithmetic skills)

· Assistant (numbers and letters)

· Seamstress

Apprentice

Chandler (candles, torches)

Ewer (bathing utensils and filling the baths)

· Assistant

· Assistant

Kitchen

· Head Cook

· Cook

· Cook

· Apprentice

· Apprentice

· Keeper of the pantry (read & write)

· Butler (responsible for wine, mead, beer)

· Keeper of the Cutlery

· Naperer (dish linen)

Guards

· Knights (guards, currently 8) – at least 12

· Sergeants (guards, currently 14) – at least 20

· Archers/Crossbow men (10-20)

Master huntsman

· 2 Hunters

Falconer (of noble lineage)

"You certainly put some thought in this list… I may have some people in mind for several these positions. How long do you plan to stay with Stannis?" Tyrion mused.

"At least a couple of months but I cannot tell you for certain. I will write before I return though."

The dwarf nodded absentmindedly before shooing him away. "Well then, run along nephew and enjoy your last days of leisure."

Joffrey snorted again before genuinely smiling. "Thank you. I would not know who else to ask on this short notice."

"It is fine, we are family after all… oh and Joffrey?"

"Yes?"

"Not a word to your mother about what you walked in on."

Joffrey rolled his eyes. "As if I would invite unnecessary drama like that."

Tyrion quipped. "I thank the Gods every day you take more after your uncle Jaime and me than our sweet sister," he said, before taking another sip of his win.

"Have a good day, uncle Tyrion," Joffrey said while he left his uncle's rooms, tactfully ignoring the unflattering mutters about his mother.

296 AC, King's Landing, Port, Fury

Joffrey was thankful for having bidden his family farewell inside the Red Keep the night before instead of dragging three fourths of the castle's population out of bed before dawn. Stannis had insisted on leaving at first daylight and not a quarter of an hour later, so the festivities in his honor had been moved accordingly.

"Lord Stannis, my thanks for allowing me to accompany you," Joffrey greeted his uncle politely before turning to the man beside him. "Ser Davos," he nodded in the Onion Knight's direction.

"I do my duty, when it is asked of me," his uncle muttered before he visibly pulled himself together and nodded at Joffrey. "Good morrow."

"Good morrow to you as well. I hope that I won't inconvenience you too much but I find that I have much to learn about the Kingdom and that includes our Navy."

"So it was your idea?" Stannis muttered darkly.

Joffrey just nodded.

"Don't expect me to coddle you, boy. You wanted to experience working on a ship, so you will start out like any other."

"Yes, uncle," Joffrey agreed calmly.

XXXXXXXXXX

The next fourteen days were hell on Joffrey's newly ten-year-old body while he shared the duties of Stannis' cabin boy, Macos, a boy of fourteen. He was running from one end of the ship to the other, learning about sails, lines and ropes. Devan Seaworth, Stannis' page and only a year younger than Joffrey often sat in on the lessons in sailing lore as well. Ser Davos' son was a head shorter than Joffrey, who had grown nearly six inches since his last birthday and was rather tall for a ten-year-old, though not very broad in his shoulders yet.

Clegane and Maege stayed mostly out of the way of the crew, though Clegane never was farther than several feet away from Joffrey, and had shed most of his armor for lighter leather.

"Seven Hells, I'm not going to drown in that gods-forsaken sea because I was too pigheaded to put away my armor," Clegane grumbled when one of the sailors dared to ask.

Maege on the other hand helped the ship's cook and mostly repaired worn clothes. Not trusting the sailors that didn't see a woman for months on end, Joffrey made Maege sleep in the cabin he shared with Clegane. It was a tight fit, hanging up three hammocks in what was barely bigger than a Red Keep closet, but no one complained.

Beta'd by Lyova