#sigurd olsgur

[worldwithinworld]

Do you think Lyria told Cassius about her plan to talk to Volga before she asked Darrow to let her do it? I bet she did. She promised Cassius she would run any potentially stupid plans by him first, and they spitshook on it. I think Lyria would have kept her word on that. She expected Darrow to keep his word to her, after all, and telling Sevro to remind Darrow of his promise was what got Darrow to hear her out. It would seem a spitshake is not something Reds take lightly.

So, I believe Lyria discussed her plan with Cassius, and he hated it as Sevro expected. However, I think he also understood it and respected it and gave Lyria his support pretty quickly. It's the same choice he would have made in her shoes. Diomedes had just told him that Lysander was probably dead. Cassius believed he had been too late to reach Lysander, but Lyria could still reach her friend. There's a good chance that they'd been talking about possible ways to get to Volga and how to deal with the Obsidians for a while. Sevro said that he'd heard Lyria practicing Nagal every night, and we also know that she stayed up many nights with Cassius and there seemed to be little they didn't talk about.

I've already gushed on my blog about how protective Cassius and Lyria were of each other, but Cassius also deserves some recognition for his decision to not protect Lyria when he left her with Sigurd. He really didn't want to do that. He was so scared for her and wanted so badly to keep her safe. Obviously, he knew couldn't stay and make himself a target for Ascomanni. That would put Lyria in danger too. However, he didn't have to leave her behind. He could have picked her up and taken her with him, and Lyria wouldn't have been able to do a thing about it. He could have even justified it pretty easily. The plan had gone awry. He could not confirm for himself that Sigurd's friends were still coming. He had far more warfare experience than Lyria, and that gave him the authority to make the call. Scrapping Lyria's plan would not cause any problems for Darrow and Sevro's plan; they seriously doubted she could succeed at turning Volga anyway. Despite all this, Cassius chose not to get in Lyria's way. He understood her heart. He knew that she had to take this risk for Volga, just like he would have (and later would) take a huge risk for Lysander. And because he cared for her, he had to risk losing her. Cassius chose to yield his protectiveness and instead respect Lyria's choice, which was just as brave a moment for him as any of the fights he had in this book.