- "Face like an angel, mind like a rabid mongoose?"
- ―Miles, describing Cavilo to Oser[src]
Commander Cavilo (kaa-VEE-loh) took command of the mercenary fleet known as Randall's Rangers by the expedient of killing Randall. A compulsive plotter, she was perfectly willing to double-cross anyone that she felt she could get away with double-crossing.
Personality and traits[]
- "She looked ... expensive"
- ―Miles's first sight of Cavilo[src]
Cavilo, at a bit under five feet in height, was only slightly taller than Miles Vorkosigan, and was in appearance every bit as intense as him. Extremely attractive (if a bit elfin), she was slight of build, with white-blond hair cut very short. She used her sexual appeal as a weapon every bit as ably as she used the more traditional sorts, such as nerve disruptors.
At the start of the tale, her mercenary fleet had been hired by the Vervani to protect them from the other people within the Hegen Hub. She betrayed them to the Cetagandans, then she betrayed the Cetagandans in an effort to get herself named Empress of Barrayar. In the end, Gregor Vorbarra and Miles Vorkosigan used her compulsive plotting to entangle her and derail the upcoming Cetagandan invasion of Vervain.
As a character, Cavilo functioned in The Vor Game as something of a dark mirror to Miles Vorkosigan; a warning of what he could become if he were to lose his anchoring to Barrayar.
Behind the scenes[]
- Cavilo is templated from the character Servalan in the British science fiction television series Blake's 7.