Ch. 9 Gaining a Partner

I stand to the side quietly, as the men make their way out of the room. Several men are giving Uncle Gerion sympathetic looks, but some are looking at me oddly.

Tywin ignored the departing men and began to study my drawings. He would glance at me from time to time, but he never said a word. Not a word was said about father and Uncle Gerion staying behind either.

Once everyone had finally exited, and the door closed, Tywin placed my drawings down. He gave Uncle Gerion a meaningful look. "We will discuss this later."

Uncle Gerion gave a nonchalant nod of his head. It was clear Tywin would only be wasting his breath. Uncle Gerion was already decided to see through with his elaborate suicide.

And that is exactly what this is, suicide. I wasn't aware of him seeing a woman, but it is clear he loved her greatly. My heart arched for my uncle's grief, and my blood boiled at his need to leave his family behind.

Well, my fool of an uncle was in for a surprise. I fully intend to ensure he has everything humanly possible to carry out his mission and return to his family safely.

My father curiously picked up my drawings and tried to study them. His brows were furrowed, and he attempted to shift the parchment to see it from a different angle.

I love my father, but it was clear to see, he wasn't a visionary. He wasn't an uneducated man by any means, but I would have to give a much better description for him to fully grasp the value of what he was looking at.

Tywin ignored his brothers as he studied me. I've come a long way in the past two years as the page to Tywin Lannister. I no longer felt the need to blurt out when he fixed me with his infamous stare.

Plus, I think he genuinely likes me, at least a little bit.

I patiently met Tywin's eyes, waiting for him to begin his questions. I didn't have to wait long.

"Where did you get these plans, Lancel?" Tywin asked in a surprisingly curious tone.

"Most of the ideas I intended to discuss with Uncle Gerion are my own." I calmly stated. Of course, that's not even close to being true, but I'm not about to tell him I've reincarnated from a world far more advanced than this one.

"And why have you waited till now to bring these up?" Tywin asked with a bit of an edge in his voice.

"I am only ten name-days-old. I doubted anyone would take me seriously. But I felt I had to do what I could to protect someone too stupid to see what he has here at home." I fearlessly said.

"Careful, Lancel," Uncle Gerion said with a stern expression. The Laughing Lion was the most pleasant of the older Lannisters, but even he wouldn't idly stand by and be insulted.

Fearlessly meeting Uncle Gerion's stare, "If you feel so inclined, I will not argue if you decide to stay and see that I learn proper respect, uncle." I boldly state.

Uncle Gerion's stern look quickly fell from his face, and his trademark smile slowly appeared. "You really are my favorite nephew," Uncle Gerion softly said.

I gave Uncle Gerion a warm smile. He might be my favorite uncle, but I'm not stupid enough to say that in front of Tywin.

As if he could tell I was thinking about him, Tywin spoke up. "You expect us to believe these ideas just came to you? As if sent by the gods?" Tywin asked.

Giving Tywin my full attention, I shook my head. "Of course not, uncle. Greater men than I have already spent centuries conducting research and testing. I just came up with practical uses for their work."

I looked over at the drawings in my father's hands and pointed to the compass. "When I was studying metallurgy, I learned of lodestones, a stone that will stick to metal. I further read accounts of blacksmiths, occasionally creating iron nails that acted similar to lodestones.

"I acquired a lodestone from the forges and conducted a few tests of my own. My biggest discovery is that a needle rubbed on a lodestone, will always point to the north. The only time it doesn't is when there are other metal objects close to it."

I paused and began to think over my next words. For the most part, I'm telling the truth. There is a great deal of books about metals in the Lannister Library. "This will revolutionize sailing. Our sailors will be able to accurately plot their location and direction in the middle of the day. They will no longer need to use the sun to estimate their direction."

Picking up another parchment, I begin to draw a 16-point compass rose. When my crude compass rose was finished, I swiftly moved to the shelf containing maps of the Narrow Sea and Westeros. The men silently watched as I laid the map out and placed my drawing on top.

With a bit of maneuvering, I stood back to allow the three men to look over the maps. "We will need to test if these maps are truly oriented in a north-to-south direction. If they are, then regardless if you're out at sea or in the middle of the woods, you will be able to direct yourself in less than a minute.

"Not only would sailors be able to take more direct routes instead of sailing along the coasts, but scouts would be able to easily cut through the wilderness. And give accurate locations to enemy forces," I mentioned scouts due to their need to travel quickly and unseen. A compass would do little good for the main army since they rarely left the roads.

The way Tywin's eyes were darting across the maps and parchment, I knew he was putting a great deal of thought into the possible advantages a compass would give. Finished with his thoughts, Tywin directed his gaze towards me. "How soon could you have a 'compass' ready?" Tywin asked.

I did a mental calculation before answering. "A couple days by myself. A single day if I had access to someone experienced in carving bones and a blacksmith." I reasoned.

"Bone?" My father curiously questioned.

Nodding my head, "A cow femur will be ideal, to carve out a container for the needle to be mounted in. Bone is more durable than most woods and will fair better on the seas."

"And covering a ship's hull with copper?" Tywin interjected.

Turning my attention to the Lord of Casterly Rock, I answer to the best of my ability. "Copper has been shown to be toxic when exposed to saltwater. This toxicity produced by copper submerged in seawater, will eat away other metals and harm most marine life. This makes it ideal to prevent barnacles and seaworms from attaching to the hull of the ship. With a smooth bottom hull, seaweed will not be able to attach itself to the hull, and the speed of the ship should remain the same as the day it comes out of drydock.

"Of course, copper plating an entire hull will be more expensive than wood sheathing. I estimate it will cost 48 gold dragons just in copper materials. But the copper plating will last far longer, and the ship will retain superior speed throughout the life of the copper plates." I finish with an emphasis on superior speed.

That may not seem expensive, but a gold dragon is worth 11,760 copper pennies. Hell, you can buy a cheap set of plate and mail armor for four dragons. I guess it's a good thing Tywin shits gold.

Tywin continued to look between the drawings and me. I'm not sure what he was thinking, but I'm willing to bet he'll take a gamble for a chance at having the fastest ships in the sea.

While Tywin was debating with himself, Uncle Gerion and my father began to ask their own questions. Everything from where I learned this, to how it works. I obviously couldn't fully answer every question they had, but I did my best.

As their questions died down, Tywin stood up from his chair and collected my drawings. Once he had them rolled up, he held them in his hands as he stared at me.

"What will you need to create these little projects of yours?" Tywin asked.

"I will need gold, craftsman, blacksmiths, shipwrights, and one other thing... Tyrion Lannister." I brazenly say. As Tywin's eyes narrowed, I hurriedly spoke up. "If we are to keep this from getting out to the rest of Westeros, we can't call on the aid of Maester Creylen. After the maester, Tyrion is the most knowledgeable in engineering and mathematics, two things I will need help with."

Tywin continued to seethe for a moment before he relented with a nod of his head. "I will order Tyrion to seek you out tonight." My victory is short-lived as Tywin drops the hammer down. "You are not to leave Casterly Rock or discuss these plans with anyone except Tyrion and myself. You will give detailed plans and explanations for Gerion's ship directly to me. I am giving you five gold dragons for the construction of a 'compass'. I expect to have it in hand by the end of the week. Understood?"

I should have expected this. With a reluctant nod of my head, I agree. "Yes, uncle."

"Good, now go. I expect the first set of plans when you deliver the compass." Tywin ordered. With a wave of his hand, I find myself dismissed and wondering if I just messed up.