Chapter 51. Changing the Widow's Law

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After some consideration, I decided that so as not to spoiler it too much, a trigger warning to this chapter should be written as follows 👇

TW: there is a sex scene that includes Viserys and Otto but they are not having sex with each other and it's not a threesome.

Good luck! 😂

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Otto walked through the corridors of the Red Keep, his pace fast and determined. In hand, he had the copy of a new Widow's Law that the Small Council would vote for later that day. It was delivered late last evening. Too late to really do anything about it right then and there but he still tried, just to be turned away by the King's guards. They told him the King asked not to be disturbed. Then Otto heard a laugh - which he knew exactly who it belonged to - coming from the other side of the door, letting him know just what of a company Viserys had and that he was definitely not going to talk to him that night.

Alright, morning it was then.

So, as soon as the early hour became at least a little bit appropriate, Otto collected his thoughts and headed to the King's chambers.

He was angry. Angry at himself that he did not see it coming. That he fucking should have seen it coming. That he probably would have seen it coming if Diane and the boys didn't constantly occupy his thoughts. Three years ago he would have caught the whiff of it early on and would have nipped it in the bud. But he was distracted. She wanted him distracted and he fell for it like a blind, enamored fool that he actually was.

He couldn't let these changes be signed into law. It would damage his position significantly. If Rhaenyra's claim was supported by law - the one approved by the Small Council at that - he would have almost no stand to argue Aegon would be a more suitable ruler except for prejudice against women. Which still was not a bad stance. Mediocre men were way too eager to put a woman down if it made them feel more important and competent, and he could work with that. God knows, in Westeros, it worked for centuries. But this stand wasn't solid. And if these changes were signed into law, he wouldn't get away from history calling his plan a blatant usurpation. Because it would be. The new Widow's Law would outlaw any attempts to put Aegon on the Iron Throne. And Otto felt way more secure if he could argue that the law was on his side. So he had to talk Viserys out of it.

Otto understood that these changes wouldn't be made without Viserys putting them forward for a vote during the Small Council meeting. So he had to persuade him it was a bad idea. Otto felt quite confident he could do that. He always knew how to twist facts just right to fit his narrative and, even though he was lately rather preoccupied with Diane, he was fairly sure he did not lose this skill. He could still win this round.

The absence of the guards at the King's door should have been the biggest warning sign but Otto was just in such a damn hurry. He needed to talk that fool of a King out of the disastrous idea that wasn't even his. So Otto opened the door and walked in, his mind swirling with all of the thoughts of how he could turn things around.

They came to an abrupt, screeching halt when Otto stepped into the bedchambers. For a second his mind just... went blank, his brain refusing to process what his eyes were seeing.

The King wasn't hard to find. He was sitting on one of the armchairs that faced in the opposite direction of the door. Viserys neither saw nor heard Otto walk in because he was rather occupied.

Diane was on top of him. She had one of her hands on the back of the chair for balance and it was very obvious what she was doing. Her hair was ruffled and even though she wasn't naked, Otto could see the naked skin of her shoulder and the outline of her breast where her white nightgown slipped from her shoulder. She was so fucking beautiful.

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