“I’ll deal with that as it arises,” he told her flatly. “And if the Opposition wants a fight, I’ll give it one it won’t enjoy. Besides, I may have to watch High Ridge’s back, but at least I can do it by watching the back of someone I actually like, as well. So don’t argue. It won’t do you any good, anyway. If you’re stubborn, I’ll just send Alfredo along with orders to make an extended ‘courtesy visit’ to Marsh.”

“You would, wouldn’t you?”

“Damn straight I would.” He laughed suddenly. “And compared to some of the other problems I’ve got, fixing this one is pretty straightforward!”

“If you think this is straightforward, I’d hate to see what you think is complicated!”

“Don’t worry, you’ll get to see exactly what I’m talking about after supper tonight.”

“What devious thing are you up to now, Benjamin Mayhew?” Honor demanded.

“Not a thing,” he assured her. “But it seems that Abigail Hearns graduated from Saganami Island this past Fall, and while it may have escaped your notice, Rachel just had her sixteenth birthday. And guess who wants to follow in Steadholder Denby’s daughter’s footsteps?”

“Oh, dear.” Honor felt her mouth quiver, but managed somehow not to laugh. Nimitz, on the other hand, couldn’t quite suppress a bleek of amusement, and Benjamin gave him a disgusted look.

“All very well for you and your six-footed friends,” he told the treecat severely. “As a matter of fact, Hipper’s been less than helpful about the whole thing.”

“I can see where the timing might be less than ideal,” Honor said carefully. “But she does have a point, Benjamin. Abigail did very well at Saganami, and I think Rachel would do even better. And it’s not as if she were your heir. There’s Bernard Raoul and Michael still between her and the succession, even if the Keys were prepared to accept a female Protector. Which you and I know very well they’re not.”

“I know. I know! And Cat and Elaine are busy telling me exactly the same thing, although at least they don’t do it in front of Rachel, thank God! For that matter, I have to admit, speaking as the Protector of Grayson and not a nervous father, that under other circumstances it might be a wonderful idea. But at this particular moment, with relations as strained as they are and as much resistance as there is in the Keys to any closer accommodation with the Star Kingdom, sending the Protector’s oldest daughter off to enroll in the RMN’s naval academy could be a recipe for disaster.”

“I can understand that. But even if you sent her off at the earliest age the Academy would admit her, she’d have to be at least seventeen T-years old, and that gives you a year to work with. A lot of things could change in that much time.”

“But a lot of things might not change,” Benjamin shot back. “And if they don’t, if it’s still politically unfeasible to send her to the Academy, I don’t want to be in the position of having told her she could go and then breaking my word to her. I’ve never done that before, and I don’t want to start now, even if it’s because a reason of state gives me no choice.”