Speaking of Inconsistencies - When did Shrewd meet the Fool

[Small Ferret]

I think the Fool might have arrived in Buckkeep shortly before Fitz did, but that for some time he kept to Shrewd's/his own chambers and was not really visible at court. He mentions in the TM that he pretended not to speak the Six Duchies language for some time after his arrival in Buckkeep, so it may be that Shrewd wished to educate him a little before making him his "official" jester. Fitz kept mostly to the stables during his first years in Buckkeep, so it could be that he simply did not encounter the Fool during that time.
Another explanation might be that the Fool arrived a few years after Fitz, that is after the hysteria and gossip about Chivalry's bastard had settled but before Fitz moved from the stables into the actual castle. Assuming, again, that the Fool was very isolated during his early days in Buckkeep, it is not at all unlikely that the first time he heard of Fitz was when he heard Shrewd and Chade discussing him.