( Kevan Lannister POV )
He sat on a comfortable wooden chair, high backed and well made, with velvet cushions that kept him from aching too badly after hours and hours in it, listening to petty disagreements that he didn't care about and accusations of crimes he didn't have time to investigate. Passing judgment on most of them was a matter of expediency and calculated benefit to the realm, more so than anything resembling justice. Pragmatism was the rule of the day, at least in the Westerlands.
It didn't suit Kevan particularly well, but then it wasn't his job either. His job was sitting here while his brother was off ruling the kingdom and making sure that the Westerlands didn't fall apart in the meantime. A task which unfortunately took a great deal of work.
It was excessively tiresome how many minor land disputes, criminal cases, and small petty disagreements a high lord was expected to resolve in a day. Every morning, except Sundays, Kevan got up before the sun rose, put on all the official regalia, pomp, and jewelry of court, and went to sit in his comfortable chair set slightly to the right and forward of Tywin's empty throne.
He then held court for the next six hours, seeing petitioners who had frequently lined up the day before in front of the Lion's Mouth, and who were all tired from being made to walk up the nearly 800 steps and two miles of hallways between the entrance of Casterly Rock and the Golden Hall where the Lannisters held court.
The majority of petitions were simple things. Accusations of thievery were common, as were land disputes. The former he would direct to one of the Lannister men at arms (if it was a smallfolk dispute) or knights (if a lord was involved), who would go out and personally investigate the accusation for as long as he thought necessary to make an accurate judgment.
Most thieves would lose their right pinky finger and that would be that. The latter required a bit more effort. Their claims would be noted down and then he would go and reference various historical maps with Maester Eomund, come to a decision on where the boundary line lay, and one of the Lannister men would go out and inform the disputes of the decision.
Kevan assumed that House Lannister probably saw more land disputes than any other house court in the Seven Kingdoms. This was due to the vast regions of the Westerlands, especially on the North Coast and in the Mountains, where the majority of the smallfolk were Yeoman farmers, men who owned their own land and worked it rather than working on a Lord's land.
While theoretically the land was House Lannister's, in practice in the rougher or more barren areas it was broken up into thousands of little familial farms and landholds, which all had their own boundaries and disputes between neighbors. Kevan, and who knew how many generations of Lannisters before him, thought it would be better if they were ruled more directly, but most of their homes were so remote and inhospitable that this really did seem to be the best available system.
In addition to the ever-present stream of thievery cases and land disputes, there were of course other petitions brought to the Lannister court. He saw all manner of contract disputes from merchants in Lannisport, and of course, there was the occasional rapist, murderer, bandit, or similarly heinous criminal who nearly always ended up sent to the Wall.
Appeals from the various lords of the Westerlands were also handled at times, but those were more rare. Mostly they involved jurisdictional and territorial conflicts between House Keyce and House Prester over the lands of the Lion's Tongue peninsula. It was an old song and dance, and those two houses had been playing it since House Keyce was founded in the days of the Red Kraken.
At any rate, after his six hours of court, he retired to his chambers for lunch, which it was just about time for now.
"Liom." He said, gesturing one of his Man-at-arms over. "Go see this man back to… Wulfston was it?"
"Aye Milord" The farmer nodded hurriedly. "South of Olek's Rock." that was in former Reyne lands, lovely.
"Accompany this man back to Wulfston and see to it you find out the truth of this cattle thievery matter."
"Aye Ser Kevan." The man saluted, before nodding to the farmer, promptly leading the man out of the court. Kevan hurriedly signaled with his hand to shut the door before the next petitioner could enter.
"Sound the trumpet." Kevan nodded towards one of the men, who promptly did so, signaling an end to court petitions for the day. The small folk waiting to be heard would return to Lannisport and try again tomorrow, while any noble guests or their representatives would be housed in the lower levels of the Rock, which had enough bedrooms to house an army of many thousand men if necessary.
Kevan smiled, finally standing up from his admittedly comfortable chair and stretching, he rolled his hips and he spun his arms about to loosen the joints, before turning and promptly walking out the back door of the gaudy hall. Passing through the hallways of the Rock, he moved up a good number of stairs and out to the edge of the Rock, to the lower great balcony. The balcony was carved out of the face of the Rock that looked over the Sunset Sea, and it was where he typically had his lunch, sometimes with his wife, and sometimes with Tywin's children, depending on who was available.
Today it appeared it was the latter. A disappointment, he did love his lunches alone with Dorna, but she disliked the walk up through the Rock from Lannisport.
"Hello Callum." The boy was currently working on a bowl of sliced bread, which he was dipping in olive oil with spices sprinkled on it. A fairly common lunch for his nephew. Kevan preferred heavier faire himself, and he quickly let the chef know that he'd like a cut of pork, salted and buttered, alongside two baked potatoes drizzled with cheese.
"Good day uncle, I hope Court wasn't too tiresome for you this morning." Callum greeted him as he sat down near the boy.
"It was a bit dull," Kevan admitted freely. He rather liked Callum. It was as if he'd been crossed with Tywin, the boy was clever and competent, but still the second son, and overshadowed a bit by his elder brother.
Well, in part at least, nobody considered the boy unintelligent, but his older brother was proving the darling of Casterly Rock as he proved to have a talent for martial skill that far outstripped what anyone had seen of a boy his age. Jaime was rapidly becoming famed amongst the knights and servants of the Rock for his skill in the yard, while young Callum spent most of his time in the Study he'd had built atop the Rock's watchtower. Tywin did ask after him frequently in his letters though, despite the fact that he knew the boy maintained his own correspondence with his father.
"Shame, I'd think that holding court would be rather interesting." Callum frowned, dipping another piece of bread into his olive oil. "I suppose that the lack of a defined legal system means that you have to answer too many questions below your p-, that is your worth, though."
"Well, it's the King's law," Kevan answered though he tilted his head afterward. "I'd have thought you'd know that."
"I do know the King's law, but it's not a real system of laws. Not with enforcement mechanisms, or with structures in place to resolve civic or contractual disputes. It's just a mess of criminal codes and regulations put in place by successive generations of Targaryens with no real end goal or overall concept in mind." Callum bit into his bred, chewed it, then swallowed it down. "There's too much of that in our seven kingdoms, lots of informal understandings, but nowhere near enough actual laws. We lack for mechanisms of government as well." the boy grumbled.
"Mechanisms of government is it?" Kevan asked.
"Mmm!" Callum nodded, swallowing down another hunk of bread. "Like the Baillifs the Dornish use to collect their taxes instead of men at arms. There are quite a few roles in government that learned men ought to fill so that Lords can spend their time doing more useful things. I'm writing a treatise on it."
"A treatise?" now Kevan's curiosity was piqued. "With Maester Eomund's help I presume?"
"Yes, though most of the concepts are my own." Callum nodded. "I mean, even the position you're holding for father right now. Materially, you're functioning as a sort of stand-in Lord while my father is at King's landing, but your title is still only Ser. There should instead be an official position clearly denoting who has the authority to act in the Lord's place while the Lord is away." Callum waved a chunk of bread in the air.
"That way if Father were to leave on a short-term basis without designating the role specifically, it would still be obvious to everyone involved. Likewise, we Lannisters have too much land for one house to manage the way we're doing it. We need the ability to delegate governing responsibilities without actually creating new noble houses."
Kevan blinked, taking all that information in. He spent a long time sorting through what the boy had said, organizing his thoughts, long enough that his food arrived, though he didn't touch it right away. "And how do you suggest we do that?" he finally asked after a long bit of thought, considering his nephew's words.
"Ah, well that would be spoiling my treatise, but if you must know." Callum chuckled to himself, a high-pitched sound in such a small body. "I posit the creation of a position called "Lord Tempor", short for Temporary. A man of suitable education and standing would be assigned the position to rule over a region for five years, during which time he would have the authority of a lord in his designated territory, but not the ability to pass on the lands he ruled to his family. By this means, House Lannister would maintain control of the vast territory that our ancestors… and particularly my father's works have acquired us."
Kevan chuckled, yes, Lannister holdings had increased by nearly a third when Tywin decided not to appoint new lords at Castamere and Tarbeck Hall. "So they'd be only a false lord for a few years? Why would a man agree to that?"
"Why? Well, two main reasons, first off, because he is likely a household or landed knight, a Maester, or perhaps a particularly useful merchant, not a lord himself already, and secondly because one can become very rich even by being a lord for only five years, and that wealth might still be passed to your children, even if you don't pass on lands or the like." Callum smiled.
"The best choice would likely even be family members, like you or myself, uncle. Father could appoint you lord Tempore of Castamere and you'd rule it for a few years, better the land there, and then be done with it and wealthier for it."
Kevan scratched his chin. Yes, that was a rather clever thing, wasn't it? Held all the power in the Overlord's hands, while still bringing the benefits that a local lord might provide. He wouldn't mind holding a position like that if only to build some wealth for his eventual children. "Tell me more about this position of yours," Kevan said, a bit eagerly. "Do you think your father will approve of it?"
"I think he will if I ask correctly." Callum said cheerfully, "As for the position, well, I think it would be best if no Lord Tempor was appointed twice to the same region, at least not for ten years in a row. To avoid conflicts with inheritance and potential for rebellions and such..."
...
Chronicle of the Targaryen Dynasty in the Seven Kingdoms
Maester Willem
275 AC- Second moon
The Maesters send out white ravens announcing the arrival of Spring in the Seven Kingdoms after a 3-year winter. Celebrations are held across Westeros as the end of a relatively mild winter leaves little in the way of starvation or damage in its wake.
Even the North is spared any terrible population loss despite the long winter. King Aerys II undertakes a walk of Shame from the Red Keep to the Great Sept of Baelor after several months of fasting. He declares that he shall never again take a mistress and instead always be faithful to his wife Queen Rhaella. The High Septon Celebrates this renewal of the proper good of Marriage before the Seven.
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