As much as I enjoy the various relationships Alyn has with other characters in F&B, I do sometimes wish there wasn’t a constant undercurrent of sexual assault.
When Alyn was taken captive, he was threatened with death unless he followed orders and his captor (Racallio) also expected Alyn to be willing to have sex. When Alyn was traversing a foreign land, and his crew was in need of water and food in order to continue onwards, the person (Aliandra) who could provide these supplies required sexual favours from Alyn in return. When he was trying to learn about a missing relative’s whereabouts, Alyn expressed fear over the other person (Drazenko) trying to kiss him in exchange for information. It’s left ambiguous to what extent these characters got what they wanted from Alyn or if they received anything at all, but it’s still disconcerting that this is a recurring motif.
Though it doesn’t bother me too much because I’m okay with dark themes in fiction but at the same time, I believe GRRM was going a bit overboard.
