Tammy: Just because you’re bold and aggressive in some areas doesn’t mean you’re that way in all of them. It’s one thing to learn to be quick on your feet in combat, and quite another to succeed in romance–look at how awkward men are in that department. And some of this comes from me: I’m quite forward about speaking my own mind, but I prefer to be the pursued, because every time I’ve been the pursuer, I’ve made a fool of myself.
That’s a lot of Kel’s motivation. What has she been called in terms of her femininity? “Cow”? Why on earth would she approach Neal, particularly when she knows someone like Daine is his ideal?
Beka does mention other relationships. Her issues with Rosto are not based on who initiates, but on what he is. She will never be aggressive with him because that will give him ideas. Yes, they have chemistry, but he is a rusher, a criminal, the kind of man she has sworn never to involve herself with.
SOURCE: [78834]
Words of Tamora Pierce 