Arturio watched her with a scrutinizing gaze. It was a matter of why she had challenged. In the end, it didn't matter. Based on injuries taken, neither had sustained significant damage that would harm them for life. He might be missing an ear, but once he was cleaned up and healed up, he'd still be able to hear. The throbbing and swelling posed a bit of a distraction. Before, Asteraia had chosen. Now, the fates had deigned Sekhmet to lead. But would it last?
"I will find someone on the outside," he said. He felt that several would depart as he did. "I am curious, before I go. What made your heart set on this place?" he asked. Arturio had no illusions about being hunted by Blackthorne. In fact, even now, the White Knight was considering alternate courses to take regarding the boy king of the moors. That she would come for him, it was likely the result of his own actions in their battle.
He wouldn't change his actions either. Better to remove the threat than allow it to come back to bite him. A lesson he should have applied much sooner with their mutual.. friend. His good ear laid back momentarily, a small cringe gracing his features for a fraction of a second. All the while, Arturio showed no signs of submission. He would not be staying here after all. Arturio shook his head.
"I don't worry for them; some will stay, and some will leave. Asteraia is a place of tolerance. In the brief time it I led, as much as you may be led to believe other wise, it was such a place," the brute paused momentarily, watching her body language, her reactions to what he spoke. "Perhaps in a different life, we could have live peacefully here," he said with a shrug. Arturio was not the one to hold a grudge either. They both would fail, Blackthorne and Sekhmet both. He had allies, and intended still to speak with Orion and Zelda even now. There were bigger things to worry over than him re-acquiring the plains. Let Sekhmet have it, he told himself. If she fails, then it would be Fate's way of showing her she should never have tried to take it in the first place. Time would tell. The moment she began to fail Asteraia, he would be back on her doorstep.