Seeker of Thrones 2-12
Chapter: 2
“And there a bloody compact was made, to seek treasure in the deep and hollow places of the world. And the blood was mixed and thrown on the fire. Iron was grasped, and sweat was wiped from many a brow, for the road ahead was long, and descended far beyond the grasp and ken of happy men.”
– Enyis and the Boar King
Well, I mean, Allison’s pissed that everyone is trying to use her (except maybe Nyave, who just wants to pay her back for saving her), she’s tired of everyone being weird and cryptic with her when she just wants to get her damn boyfriend back, and it looks like she’s finally letting out about two decades worth of repressed emotions now that she finally realizes she doesn’t have to be a doormat anymore. But at the same time, damn girl, tone it down a little…
She’s hot as fuck on this page, though.
Well said.
Does anyone else hear Cio speak in Amethyst’s voice in their head?
Is she working VERDICT up into a spell like Mother Mo worked up PERISH?
Am loving how decisive and imposing she is, its a good change.
Don’t treat your friends like that, Allison! I wish I had friends. Maybe if I did they could have helped me with my problem. Don’t take it for granted.
Despite the rising king’s heart-felt proclamation she remained a character in Cio’s story.
Now kiss.
Ah, the rising king joins forces with two former ebon devils (robbed of power if not intellect), an polymath (a dime a dozen, honestly, but will allow her to avoid the classic mistake of all conquerors), and a renegade angel (the most dangerous kind – one no longer bound by either the concordance or the thorns)
Fools may do what they like, I am liquidating my assets immediately
Divine this mortal coil,
Or coiled is the mired divinity?
AL-YISUN manifests.
But truth unknown,
is she Becoming?
Or Returning?
I think the people thinking she’s going power-mad have forgotten that she’s surrounded by people who WANT things from her. It’s entirely logical to be wary of all of them until it’s proven they’re there for HER and not just the power she wields. Just because they didn’t IMMEDIATELY stick swords in her like the others would have doesn’t mean they’re not dangerous to her…in fact, their subtlety makes them even more dangerous because it allows them to get close.
White Chain wants her to be a good girl and give power to the “right” authority so White Chain can prove she’s up to doing the duty she thinks she has as an angel. Cio claims she wants away from her husband and seems to have a crush on Alison, but she’s a storyteller so there’s stuff she’s not talking about. She’s likely the most adept liar of them all. The other girl that Alison displaced from a certain death might want revenge or some such eventually, or another sort of bureaucratic power. The devil Alison renamed wants their former status as an ebon demon back.
Everyone WANTS from Alison. Nobody surrounding her actually cares for HER. It would be exceedingly dangerous to be too trusting at this point or continue to react instead of act…the others have to earn her trust through continued actions…and even then, they may be too dangerous to trust if they’re playing the long con, and why wouldn’t angels and devils play the long game of planning and waiting? Especially around a young 20-something human?
That’s not to say Alison doesn’t have a lot of learning in front of her. But she’s not anywhere close to evil or power-hungry here. Just practical.
Everyone wants something, all the time. As humans we appreciate certain desires more then others – someone driven to help you because of lust is seen as more desirable as someone driven to help you for greed’s sake. There are reasons for this, of course, but the point is it is entirely normal for everyone to want something. What’s important is WHAT they want, and if giving them that clashes with your own goals and ambitions, and how that might impact their long-term loyalty. That said, if loyalty is of value (and no matter who you are, it always is), one should seek to repay kindness in kind – lest that loyalty be spent and made void.
AAA NOT MY SHIP
They’re not in the Void but she’s doing the soul fire thing.
That’s kind of interesting.
Cio was foolish to romanticize this situation. Wasn’t she the one that kept calling AL-YIS-UN a buffoon for relying on her expectations?
A little wonder and indulgence is all well and good, but the world owes her nothing, and neither does the Rising King
I for one, can appreciate Allison’s hardness of character here. It’s her time to cut through the red tape, and eliminate what’s nonessential and wishy-washy.
No friend of Cio’s? Damn right, not yet anyhow. While power running raw in one’s head may lead to a certain strand of developement, on its own here it’s a worthy and calculating risk she’s pulling; comandeering the ship, brooking no reservations on cutting ties, making deals with devils.
Remember: those who submit to such an authority have no hold, can lay no expectation, on the ruler. They are prisoners in her story. Allison glimpses this.
We live in a world where such morals are shocking and outdated. Might makes right.
I believe it might be best to withhold judgment of AL-YIS-UN’s behavior until after she recovers from excruciating pain accompanied by blood loss. I find that both of those things tend to negatively affect one’s magnanimity.
Was that… a Syllable? Did Al-YISUN pronounce her first Syllable? She truly is Royalty, to Speak already…
Her eyes in the fourth panel– she’s not looking at Cio, she’s looking… at US!
Either yes, or no…. Royalty doesn’t deal with trivial responses. Why are you acting brand-new, Cio???
My Main Mang’s Sclera be tellin the good good
I guess this immense power’s… Gone to her head?
Looks like all this power has… gone to her head?
Whoops. Pardon the double post, I didn’t know how comments worked on this site.
To all who mention that Alison should be kinder, consider that she cannot afford to trust a person on the basis that they saved her, for their goals may just need her alive until it no longer suits them. Princess has admitted to revenge, White Chain to usurpation of her crown for who they consider the rightful ruler, and Cio to not needing her as Alison, but as holder of an unimaginably powerful crown that could be made her omnipotent meatshield. Only one has come to serve, if indeed she has and is not lying to gain a better position to strike from, as power is a tempting lure. Better to have trust earned through honesty and deed, through a changing of goals to fit with all in question, than to give it freely in this situation and end up playing to only the benefit of one person.
I would argue it’s easier to spot a traitor that thinks you consider him friend, rather then one that knows you don’t. Also, courtesy a not acting like… well, this, is far removed from giving away friendship and trust so freely. Of course, one needs some manner of wisdom to act not in accordance with one’s own heart in certain situations.
That said, I do think it’s an act for the group – the leader role must be claimed. She desperately wants respect to go along with her power, lest she be a tool in another’s schemes.
She’s looking more Kingly by the minute
“A friend is a lesser that one indulges. A peer is an equal that one respects. A master is a superior that one fears.
A true king has none of these. A true king has only subjects.”
-un-Jebhal, “A Treatise on Ruling,” verse XIV.
Wait, is Cio playing possom here?
She claims she has to avoid thieving, for mental health reasons. So far, so good.
But she stole the boat?