[i think this is my first time actually writing a long sterling post on the games. dies.]
Sterling was not a knight. Maybe one day, when it was all over, he would be knighted and exalted, just something for him to dream about while working or lazing, but he was not a knight. He could just afford armor and a sword from what he scrounged together, but what was that in comparison to her? Illanya donned steel and furs impossible for him to ignore when he first saw her.
Not that he was envious, mind you. He had a "sense" for power, as he might call it, and she fit the bill on her own -- staunch and hard-headed with a chiseled physique to match. Maybe it was appealing to him, as he then came to ruminate on. She was only a passerby to him, but even that was enough for him to decide that... he really, really wanted to fight her. If he won, after all, that would be another instance of his #AlphaMaleStatus to be asserted, and the so-called knight dominated. Would it be enough for him to gain the respect he craved from his superiors? Or, superior. There was only the one he truly admired. Even if he had an inkling of doubt, he was sure said superior felt the same way, too.
..And even if he had an inkling of doubt that he could really take on Illanya, Sterling rose from his seat. The room they were in was bustling, with silverware clacking and people chatting, and it took a moment for him to swim over to her, but once he reached Illanya, he slipped in carefully to confront her. Or speak to her. There wasn't much of a confrontation yet.
There was the thinnest layer of uneasiness, he realized, upon closer inspection of the woman. Maybe it was best that they left this place.
"If you're worth salt, you'll meet with me." Sterling said to Illanya, his voice gruff as it always was, "I don't know how people like you work. Maybe you get shit like this all the time."
Frankly, he didn't care if she got these sorts of requests on the reg. It was more of a be-there-or-be-square situation for him, but then maybe she much preferred being a square.
"No weapons, not a lick of your magic, and off with our armor." he continued, "There's a bridge out of the way where the water's not so deep. 'Course if you don't come, I'll just have to assume you've gotten where you are by the blood inside of you, not the blood you might've spilt. What a shame that'd be."
my lip is bleeding rn
Sterling was pissed.
"Come on, you old rat." He spat at Roswell, resisting the temptation to tug and struggle with the handcuffs clasped around his wrists. What a party this all turned out to be, he thought bitterly, as the other man picked at the lock. Once the irons fell, he ripped apart his clenches fists and flexed him, freed at last of chains and restraints. Maybe that was a bad thing, but it didn't seem he was about to body slam Roswell any time soon, opting instead to scoff at his words.
"They say he's got a lot of bastards out there, so who knows?" he uttered, "He especially liked Durutan women, back during the war. S'what the reports all say..."
As Roswell handed his weapon over to him, Sterling trailed off to grip it firmly in his hand. He had half a mind to whack Roswell over the head with it for poking fun at his scar, but he didn't dare to. Not right now. He needed help finding his sword and then making it back to base.
"Alright." he droned out, as he tied back the dagger, "You've got my attention. Lead on."