Robert watched as his daughter and her betrothed walked the courtyard, accompanied by Ser Arys and the boy's direwolf, he looked to the right and saw his son and his betrothed walking together, accompanied by the Hound. He frowned when he saw that the girl's direwolf wasn't by her side. That wasn't right.
He pushed that thought to one side-he'd speak with the boy about it later-for now he had other things on his mind. He turned around and looked at Ned. His friend was standing near his table, a cup of wine in his hand. Robert's own cup was on the table as well. He resisted the urge to pick it up.
"I need to tell you a few things about King's Landing before we get there, Ned."
"I'm listening." His friend replied.
"It's full of fucking Lannisters." Robert said. "You go for a piss and you turn up a Lannister. My squires are Lannisters, my groomsmen are Lannisters, half the fucking guards are Lannisters. They're bloody everywhere."
He expected Ned to react to that, indeed, he'd half hoped that Ned would react. Instead, his friend merely nodded.
He continued. "There are a few men from the Stormlands and from the Crownlands who owe their direct allegiance to me, but the rest belong either to the Lannisters, to Renly or to Baelish."
That last got a reaction from Ned. "Baelish? Petyr Baelish has men who owe him allegiance. I thought he was a minor lordling from the Vale."
Robert snorted. "Oh Ned! Baelish is Master of Coin, that means he's paying the wages of the Gold Cloaks and some of the other guards in the city. Thus, they owe their allegiance to him if they want to get paid."
"That's not right." Ned said.
Robert waved a hand dismissively; he hadn't even gotten to the good part yet.
"Thanks to his relationship with Loras Tyrell, Renly has Reachmen bolstering his household as well as men from the Stormlands. That makes him quite a competitive threat to the Lannisters. I'd recommend bringing him on side quickly when you get to court."
"What do you mean his relationship with Loras? The boy fostered with Renly, didn't he?" Ned asked.
"He did." Robert agreed. "And it was during that time that they became lovers."
If he could have, he would have had someone paint Ned's reaction. The man's jaw was touching his chest somehow, and his eyes were wide.
Robert laughed.
Ned eventually got himself together and asked. "I thought such a thing was a crime in the Faith?"
"It is." Robert said.
"And you are Defender of the Faith, so, shouldn't you have done something about this?" Ned asked.
Robert laughed again. "What would you have me do? Renly is my brother, and Loras is a good lad, arrogant but a good lad. Besides, the Tyrells control the High Septon. So, even if I wanted to do something, I wouldn't be able to do it."
"The Tyrells control the High Septon?" Ned asked.
"Yes. They ensured he got chosen, and I agreed." Robert said.
"Why?" Ned asked.
"Because Jon told me this would be the simplest way to get things done." Robert said.
"Jon told you…" Ned said sounding stunned. "How much of what you've told me did Jon know about?"
"Pretty much all of it. Apart from Renly and Loras. He named Baelish as Master of Coin; he encouraged him to grow his network. He allowed the Lannisters to grow their network. He did a lot of things. And he told me that this would keep the peace." Robert explained.
"So…why are you telling me this?" Ned asked sounding both terrified and confused.
"Because I want to change it." Robert said.
"You want to change it?" Ned asked.
"Yes. You're going to be bringing a lot of northmen south with you, correct?" Robert asked.
"Yes." Ned replied.
"Good. That should help balance out some of the nonsense that's there in King's Landing. We can use that as a starting point, and from there we can turn things around." Robert said.
"How exactly?" Ned asked.
"I'm going to dismiss some of the Lannisters from my household, and name Northmen in their place. I'll have Northmen join the Gold Cloaks, and I'll have Northmen become members of the court. Furthermore, I'll start arranging marriages between some of Renly's retainers and yours." Robert said, his mind whirring as the plan he'd been devising for the last month came out of his mouth.
"Furthermore, I'll start putting Northmen on the Small Council. You're Hand, I'll name a Northman as Master of Ships and once Pycelle dies, I'll have a Northman as Grand Maester."
"I thought Stannis was Master of Ships?" Ned asked sounding slightly surprised.
Robert snorted. "Stannis has fucked off to Dragonstone because I didn't name him Hand. He left without my permission, so, he's lost the right to sit on the Small Council. I'll want the names of six Northern Lords you think would make a good Master of Ships before we leave for the south."
Ned nodded, stunned.
"Oh, and another thing," Robert said. "Your son, Jon? I'm naming him my squire."
"Sire?" Ned asked, completely stunned this time.
"Jon Snow will be my squire. I think it's only fitting; he needs something to do. I know Cat won't tolerate him being here if she's staying here. So, he'll come south and learn the ropes from me. It'll do him good. It'll also mean your daughter will have more family with her." Robert said.
It'll also stop Joffrey from trying anything.
Robert pushed that thought to one side. He needed Ned to see what his son was like first before he brought up his idea.
"I…I am honoured, Sire, thank you." Ned said then.
Robert waved a hand dismissively. "No need to thank me. I am simply doing what I believe to be right. The thing that should have been done a long time ago."