You are attempting to be logical, I suspect, and logic has little to do with government, and nothing at all to do with military administration.
He laughed, tried to make it into a cough, inhaled at exactly the wrong moment, and then really did cough.
He looked at her rather as a man looks at a problem that he would very much prefer to do without. She supposed it was a distinction of a sort to be a harassment to a king.
And none at all has ridden at the king's side since Aerinha, goddess of honor and flame, first taught men to forge their blades. You'd think Aerinha would have had better sense.