{ Part 2 }
She confused him, to say the least. Confounded him over many things, many times. She insisted that she was a woman, one who could and would fight.
"One of those things must not be true," he told her, annoyance seeping into his voice. Why could she not see it as he did?
The elf crossed her arms over her chest. "Why is that?"
Sten felt a pull towards her. She had asked many questions of him, of his people and culture. The others mostly avoided him, or when they did ask him questions, failed to see the truth to his answers which ultimately meant it was useless and wasted his time.
But not the elf woman.
They spoke in ignorance. Calling out the Qun to be things it was not. They spoke of freedom and the treatment of mages when they had no clue to what they were speaking of.
The elf was different. She disagreed with him sometimes, yes, but mostly she tried to understand. It had put him on edge at first, wondering if the little thing was playing games.
But then...she had seemed generally interested in his answers. When he answered with 'yes' or 'no', she did not huff and remark on his lack of speech, she thought and then asked the RIGHT questions. Ones he would answer.
"Woman do not fight," he told her. "That is not their role."
Her face twisted in thought, the dark lines of her markings bunched up as they often did then she made that face. "I am a woman Sten," she told him, conviction in her voice.
Her dark blue eyes scanned his.
The expression in her eyes made his throat suddenly dry. He shallowed. "Then it proceeds to be that you can not fight."
"But I do, because I must," she told him. "Do Qunari woman not fight, when they have to?"
She...had a point. It was not often that Sten was stumped, and actually had to think about the lines he was taught in the Qun. They were taught for every situation, to the point where they knew their duty and place without having to think of it.
"You have an interesting point, Warden. I will think on it," he ended.
He had reluctantly said it, and expected her to beam up at him. A victory for having backed the Qunari into a verbal corner. Instead her brows furrowed more, and she seemed uncomfortable.
But then she nodded once, and took off in the direction of the two dwarves who insisted in following them to each new camp. There was a lake obscured by their van of goods which she had taken to bathing in, or disappearing to.
He turned his gaze away. His height allowing him more view of the lake than any of the others.
He swollowed once more.
While he would not watch himself, he would make sure no other approached her.