Prologue

The Day of Blood

Prologue

The Royal Guards

They’ve been some changes in the Royal Guards in the last couple of years. Most are changes in their equipment and a new unit is raised.

The Shields, the Protector’s Own, is a regiment of troops who give their oath of loyalty direct to the Royal Protector and the crown, not the King or Parliament. They’re usually recruited from amongst the Guards and are given extra training. The King gives the Guards a personal release from their original oath before they’re appointed to the Shields. These are the only people who can lawfully disobey the King, but only when acting under direct orders from the Royal Protector. As well as the Guards communications systems they have another system of their own hardware and frequencies to use. Technically, they’re part of the Royal Guards, despite being outside of the Guards normal command structure. They wear a Royal Guards patch on their right shoulder. Their unit patch is a heart shaped shield with a crown in its centre. The structure is the same as a Claymore regiment. They’re better trained and much more multi-skilled than the other Guards. Two regiments were approved, but only one was raised as a permanent unit.

The Shields were created by a special order of King Herbert in June, 2006. The intent being to give the Protector a small and highly effective military capability responsive to the Protector’s direct command. Thus allowing the Protector more flexibility and greater speed when dealing with extreme situations. In the Royal Edict establishing the Shields King Herbert gave them the authority, under direct orders from the Royal Protector (given personally and in writing), to execute the King. In such a case the Protector is the only person to be held responsible and executed for treason. This provides a way to remove an abusive King while ensuring it isn’t used without a really good reason.

Gerry Mannheim

Gerry is now an adult, a businessman, and a general while he’s still in high school. What do you do with such as he when the enemy attacks with all they have? You pray he’s in command and he knows what he’s doing, don’t you? You pray very hard he’s in control of your defences.

Through the combination of his political, military, family, and business authorities Gerry is the most powerful person in the region. His businesses have made him the richest person in the region, and this has allowed him to do a lot of things that he wants to do without any interference from others, and very few know what he does or the full extent of his businesses.