[Zhao may not know of Yzak's emotional baggage being swept to the side, but he does see how easily the young man falls into the discourse. This was clearly something Yzak took care and pride in, and Zhao could see that he was good at it. He had to know himself because he was a leader. But he also knew when to follow the advice of someone else.

Or to give out an order that sounded like advice of his own.]

Well, the priority is simply to keep our party from suffering losses so it doesn't matter which route we take so much as whether we think we can minimize risk. These three roads look good, like you said safer than the other options, so any one of them will do.

Once we pick one we'll tell the diplomat and his entourage what route we're taking and prepare for the trip. From there, we just keep them safe no matter what happens.