Sten does not understand what 'love' means.
Why the elf Warden smiles whenever the assassin is near.
Qunari view sex as a means to sire children, or to relieve the body. But one does not 'love' the mate, even if one can value and desire her.
The weaker warden speaks up to him in camp one night while they were on shared duty.
"Why are you so condescending of Kallian?" he asks. A very stupid question.
Sten sighs. Under the circumstances, attempting to even educate this bas is futile.
But Sten also knows that this warden would not let him go without an answer.
"I have told her. Women are priests, artisans, merchants," he tries to say as clearly and as articulately as he can. "Women are not warriors. Women do not fight. They belong to the home, to schools, to the temples."
"Many women are warriors," the human elaborates his ignorance. Sten has heard that this one is a prince, even. "You don't need to look very far. Some of our opponents are women. The queens and warriors of Ferelden and other Thedosian countries have also seen battles."
Sten sighs. There is only one certainty in the southern lands: its peoples are barbarians without purpose, without unity.
"Kallian is doing everything," Alistair makes his point clear. His voice is not the usual, cajoling tone he uses with everyone else. "Even with a tenth of the effort she's putting, she's getting more things done than anybody else in this country."
There is some truth in that, Sten has to admit to himself, but not to that human. He watches said human go silent as he adds more firewood to their campfire, which burns brightly.