296 AC King's Landing, Red Keep, Tyrion's apartments
Tyrion was rather chipper when he learned what his next duty was. Joffrey just hoped that his uncle wasn't acting too creepy and left him to it. Tyrion's weakness for whores was at times rather worrying, especially when he recalled what Shae could potentially do to him. Both the book-Shae and the TV-Shae. Joffrey could honestly not say which one was worse.
Several days later Tyrion returned with a wagon cart full of documents, two blackmail ledgers and a beautiful whore. No money though. Well that would have been too easy.
Joffrey listened to Tyrion while he reported about his search and how helpful the woman beside him had been once he had shown her the property deed to Saffron Rest, the most expensive brothel in Baelish's possession.
"Introduce yourself to prince Joffrey, my dear." Tyrion encouraged with a smile.
The red haired woman had stayed quiet ever since Joffrey had entered the room. She didn't seem to be older than mid-twenties, maybe even as young as 16, Joffrey could never tell with small folk. She was wearing a conservative gown in the style of the wealthier merchant class that would not have drawn attention on any market place in Westeros.
She curtsied well enough before she said in a pleasant voice, "Greetings your highness, I am Ros. Lord Baelish has been training me these last few moons as majordomo for Saffron Rest."
Joffrey nearly jerked when he heard the name. Wasn't she a TV series only character? Joffrey until now was of the opinion that he was in the Westeros that had been described in the books, not the TV show.
"Can you read and write? Count?"
"I can." She said simply.
"With the training you received, do you think you will be capable to run the day to day business of the brothel?"
The woman hesitated, before saying carefully, "I would prefer additional instructions in how various situations are to be handled now… but… yes, I do. My family was of the merchant class, I am aware how to run a business."
Joffrey could only agree with Tyrion's decision of bringing her to him. She certainly seemed to have the right qualifications to run the brothel, maybe she would even be a good choice for heading the spy-network that he was intending to implement, but he would have to see.
"Where are you from Ros? And how old are you?"
"I am originally from Winter Town in the North, your highness. I will be nine and ten this year."
"That's far away." Joffrey couldn't help but murmur.
A slightly bitter smile appeared on Ros face only to vanish a moment later, "It is. Two years ago when I was married for less than six moons, my husband died in King's Landing and I found myself in Lord Baelish's brothel. There was no other way to survive."
"Do you wish to return home to your family?"
Ros visibly thought about it before answering truthfully, "While it certainly sounds enticing at first, no, thank you. I am well aware how people will look at me once I have returned. I would be an outcast after surviving on my own for two years and have no other choice but continue my current profession. No, I think I will stay in King's Landing. The position as majordomo will afford me a certain power and I will have a more comfortable life here than what would await me in the North."
Joffrey hummed thoughtfully before he sent his uncle a quick smile and nodded, "I have no objections to Ros' appointment." He said before continuing in the woman's direction. "Know this Ros, all of Lord Baelish establishments have been written over to me. For the sake of propriety and to avoid my mother's wrath I have temporarily handed the dealings of the brothels to Tyrion… but my uncle has currently no time for additional distractions, so you will continue to report directly to me."
"Yes, your highness." Ros nodded.
"For the sake of a good working relationship I will be frank. While having additional spending money is certainly nice, it is not the primary reason why I have asked for the deeds. Lord Baelish has always struck me as a… well informed man."
Ros' eyes widened before she nodded in agreement.
"People like to talk in bed."
"I will have to take your word for it." Joffrey said with a shrug, "In any case, I would like you to put a priority on gathering information from the brothels' clientele no matter how insignificant it seems. Only for my ears. You are aware of Varys' little birds?"
Ros nodded, "Lord Baelish had us keep quiet in their presence, but we were also instructed to leave them be."
Joffrey hummed and nodded at that, "Continue that practice for now. Please make it clear to your staff that selling information will not be tolerated. Though I am also prepared to pay bonuses for especially interesting information. Developing a reputation for discretion is the goal here. Also nobody but you should be aware that you report to me."
Ros nodded thoughtfully.
"I do have some questions myself Ros."
"I will try to answer as best as I can, your highness."
Joffrey nodded, "I have no idea what is considered a fair wage for this kind of work or how much is too much?"
"It is considered fair for the whores to keep 2/3 of the set price, as well as additional tips. From the money we earn we pay for food and board at the brothel. Lord Baelish had us work in a five day rhythm with one day off. For work on holy days there was an additional bonus, but nobody was forced to work on those days."
"What about hygiene?" Joffrey asked curiously, if a bit uncomfortable.
"We wash daily, your highness. Bathing water is always kept hot in the kitchen and Lord Baelish insisted on washing between clients if possible." Ros said frankly, not at all bothered by the question.
"Ailments and pregnancy?"
"We have to pay for the maester ourselves, but we often pool money together and then he checks on several women at the same time. The workers that got pregnant even after taking moon tea had the option of keeping the child or giving it to the Silent Sisters."
"What about violence and unwelcome guests?"
"There are eight guards working in the brothel. Generally two are on duty at the same time. Lord Baelish did not permit violence against the girls, unless the client paid for it and the whore agreed. People that misbehaved or became violent were removed as quickly as possible."
Thoughtfully Joffrey nodded, that actually sounded reasonable.
"Continue to run the brothel like that, the only difference is the maester. Set up a contract with whomever you trust for checkups every moon or two. Tyrion or I will find you somebody to teach you how to run the books and what to watch out for… also I want you to prepare yourself for additional work. Baelish' other brothels will have their own majordomos, but you will be responsible for the coordination of the information up to me."
Ros nodded, clearly delighted with what she had just been told and left after a last curtsy in their direction.
"Setting up your own spy network, nephew?" Tyrion couldn't help comment once Ros was gone.
"It seems prudent after what happened with Baelish."
Tyrion hummed while he poured himself a glass of wine and Joffrey some lemon water.
"Not a fan of Varys then?"
"It strikes me as rather odd that the Master of Whispers was not aware of Baelish' dealings. I would rather move my own people into place than having to rely on him for everything."
Tyrion nodded in agreement, "Wise. Though make sure that this does not reach the ears of my father or Lord Stannis. Neither have much patience for these services."
"That's why the brothels, once we have all of the documentation about Baelish' wrong-doing, will be sold back into the holdings of the crown and ostensibly managed indirectly through merchant sons in our employ." Joffrey said softly.
Tyrion stared at him and then chuckled, "And supposedly that will give Ros some time to gain a firm grip on the operation and she will continue to report to you."
"It's the best case scenario." Joffrey agreed, "So what else did you find?"
Tyrion grimaced and took another fortifying drink before he expanded on the rather short report from before. He hadn't found any substantial amount of money hidden away, but after several more in depth inspections of the rooms he had found several hidden caches with documents, letters and ledgers and more disquieting, several empty cells behind a fake wall.
Joffrey felt ill from the thought alone.
The other properties, which included two taverns, a bakery, two cloth shops, a cobbler and various street stands all over King's Landing, were searched as well. At first glance they looked legitimate and unrelated to Baelish more shady dealings, but Joffrey wasn't quite convinced. Still, with no obvious signs of wrong doing he could do nothing but hand them over to Victaron Crabb to add to his holdings.
And then he finally turned his attention to all of Baelish' ledgers and documents that had been gathered in the late Master of Coin's office, under constant guard from his personal men at arms. Joffrey was not taking any chances with that kind of evidence. He was rather glad for the Lannister assistants with merchant backgrounds that Tyrion had acquired for him and knew these kinds of documents. Within the following days they slowly began to assemble the puzzle that was the crowns finances and Baelish involvement. It did not take long for him to send for the ledgers of the 10 years before that for comparison.
Some days after Lord Jon's departure it occurred to me that with the Lord Hand on his way to the Vale and the Master of Coin dead, the Treasury was in a rather vulnerable position. There were enough nobles with access to it through ceremonial titles that were currently unsupervised through the still empty office of the Master of Coin and theoretically could have helped themselves to a bonus. Especially with my father being more interested in the next barrel of Arbor Gold than state craft. I honestly cannot say what possessed me to try to make the gravity of the situation tangible to my King father but apparently I annoyed him so much that he put me in charge of it.
To this day I still consider it one of the most foolish actions of my father, ever. I shudder at the idea of putting one of my 10 name day old great-grandchildren in charge of the Treasury of the Realm. In any case, I had the devil's luck on my side, with my Lannister uncle Lord Tyrion. A man who had experience and more importantly the contacts to the more mercantile- inclined Lannister branches.
What they uncovered was probably the most daring financial fraud in the history of Westeros. Lord Baelish, who had always been considered a financial genius with how he seemed to conjure money for the King out of thin air, had run a long-con on the Treasury that would have seen it emptied at an ever faster rate until we would have been several millions gold dragons in debt with the Iron Bank, the Tyrells and my grandfather. At the same he would have profited with every transaction going in or out.
As callous as it sounds, his death could not have come at a more opportune time.