"David Weber - Honor 09 - Ashes of Victory" - читать интересную книгу автора (Weber David)

"That's correct, My Lord," Honor agreed after a moment. She'd been Steadholder
Harrington for so long that it no longer seemed unnatural to have somehow
become a great feudal magnate, yet she hadn't even thought about the possible
constitutional implications of her actions on Hell.

She should have, for this was one point on which the Constitution was totally
unforgiving. Every armsman in the service of Harrington Steading answered to
Honor in one way or another, but most did so only indirectly, through the
administrative machinery of her steading's police forces. Only fifty were her
personal liege men, sworn to her service, and not the steading's. Any order
she gave those fifty men had the force of law, so long as it did not violate
the Constitution, and the fact that she'd given it shielded them from any
consequences for having obeyed even if it did. She could be held responsible
for it; they could not, but those fifty were the only personal force
Steadholder Harrington was permitted.

Steadholders might command other military forces from within the chain of
command of the Grayson Army or Navy, but to satisfy the Constitution, the
command of those forces must be lodged in the established Grayson military
with the specific approval of the planet's ruler. And Protector Benjamin IX
had not said a word about anything called "the Elysian Space Navy."

She looked over her shoulder at LaFollet, and her armsman gazed back. His face
was calm enough, but his gray eyes looked a bit anxious, and she raised an
eyebrow.

"Just how badly have I stepped on my sword, Andrew?" she asked him, and
despite himself, he smiled, for "sword" had a very specific connotation on
Grayson. But then he sobered.

"I don't really know, My Lady. I suppose I ought to've said something about
it, but it never occurred to me at the time. The Constitution is pretty blunt,
though, and I think at least one steadholder was actually executed for
violating the ban. That was three hundred years ago or so, but -- "

He shrugged, and Honor chuckled.

"Not a good precedent, however long ago it was," she murmured, and turned back
to White Haven. "I guess I should have gone ahead and called them units in the
Grayson Navy after all, My Lord."

"That or the RMN," he said judiciously. "You hold legal rank in both, so the
chain of command would have covered you in either, I imagine. But it might be
just a little awkward the way things actually worked out. Nathan and I -- " he
flicked a small nod at the imperturbable young lieutenant behind them " --
discussed this on our way to Farnese. He actually went so far as to consult
Benjamin the Great's library. I don't believe there's been a precedent since
the one Major LaFollet just referred to, but the fact that a steadholder not
only held command in but actually created a military force not authorized by
the Protector could be a real problem. Not with Benjamin, of course." A casual