It didn't take Tywin too long to find someone to find Renly on the Small Council. Mostly because I don't think he enjoyed my view of justice – or actually siding with who I perceived to be on the right side of any particular argument brought before me. Despite his frequent lectures about siding with those who'd be allies or merchants who'd could be persuaded to give us deals, and my ignoring of those lectures. The seat was offered to someone of House Tyrell's choosing so as to continue to curry favour with the rulers of Highgarden. Loras appointed one of his retinue, Arthyr Ashford, second in line to inherit the Lordship of Ashford, who would serve until such time as he was able to inform his father (who'd appoint whoever Lady Olenna would tell him to appoint) and he sent word on the subject.
Arthyr was a young man, who'd apparently been Loras' advisor on the subject of the law. Which was nice, as it meant I had someone experienced in the position he held. I brought him up to speed on the collation of the laws task I'd given to Renly and that I wanted him to check on the progress made. After a brief discussion on why I wanted such a thing and the related merits, he took to the task with enthusiasm. Which surprised me slightly, as I wasn't expecting such a thing out of someone who'd been appointed in haste as Loras was getting the hell out of town. There was a contingent of Lannister soldiers escorting Cersei, which was larger than it should have been. Tywin wanted her to actually get there in one piece I'd imagine, and my grandfather had made doubly sure that everyone in the escort was loyal to him and made sure they understood what would happen to them if they failed him.
During Cersei's imprisonment, I'd considered her having some kind of accident and dying, and marrying my younger brother Tommen to Margaery instead. It was something I was still considering as they were escorting her to the carriage she'd be travelling to Highgarden in, but she was too well guarded in at this point. And would garner suspicion from the Tyrell's and my grandfather and would undoubtedly lead to some sort of conflict, which I was desperately trying to avoid where possible. I was expecting keeping my mother alive would come back to bite me in the ass at some point, but hopefully we would be secure enough to weather it when her revenge came around. Who knew, there might a civil war yet.
Speaking of things coming back around, the Martell's were apparently appreciative of the gift that I'd sent them. That gift being the Mountain of a Man known as Gregor Clegane, who'd done his best to prove himself a complete and utter douchebag in the past I'd sent to pay for at least some of his crimes. They had elicited every scream and cry of pain out of him that they could muster before allowing him to die a slow, torturous death, which I'm sure, was extremely cathartic to them. And while it didn't entirely mend the bridge, which I could understand, it would start the process in earnest. A process I hoped to engage in by offering them a seat on the Small Council, with Tywin's blessing, to advise on topics they considered important. It was interesting that I was slowly enlarging the membership of the Small Council – thus far I'd added a representative of the Alchemists' Guild, added a Master of Roads to the mix and was now bringing a representative of the oft ignored Dorne to the table. If I kept this up, we'd have to rename the Small Council to something else entirely. Something I wouldn't object to at all.
I believed in receiving advice before I made a particular decision, and also making sure the responsibilities of the Realm were being met by appropriate officers of the Iron Throne. The Master of Roads position would hopefully become a permanent position, given that I had more than just dealing with the Kingsroad on my mind. Especially considering that for its length, the infamous road only served a small portion of the Seven Kingdoms. If I could establish further highways and byways across the Realm, it would allow me to collect taxes quicker, summon armies faster and allow for better communication. Sure it could be used against me by my enemies, but that was a price I was willing to pay. This is the one lesson that I was willing to learn from the Romans. Or at least capable of learning without an engineering degree at least, as I had no operational knowledge of aqueducts or the like. But I was going to be seeking advice from Tyrion when he got back in regards to updating King's Landings sewers, as I needed some positive press here at home to counteract some of what I'd done.
To that point, I'd started walking the streets of city and interact with the smallfolk alongside Sansa as often as Tywin would allow. This was mostly publicity, but it also gave me a chance to see what I could do to better the city. So far, all I could think of was having Bronn increase the size of the City Watch and start the hiring of smallfolk to clean up the dirty parts of the city. Which was something I'd already doing. It wasn't much so far, and was eliciting more than a little suspicion. Which I could understand, really, given the apathy the King's had previously shown to them. I made a point of listening to all the complaints of the smallfolk I talked to and dealing with their problems as best I could on a scale as small as they were. It was hopefully something I could continue going forward.
Hopefully Tywin would eventually let me go out unprotected, which was doubtful, but a man could hope couldn't he?