The imperial guards

Table of Contents

Imperial guards are not only the most elite fighters in the country but also elite politicians. Always around the emperor and his soulmates, they are at the heart of power in the empire and do not refrain from influencing it.

Who are the guards

The imperial guards recruits 2 kinds of people:

the absolute best duellers in the country;

the son and daughters of the local elites in each region of the empire, as a mix of rewards for their family and a hostage situation to prevent them from rebelling.

Recruitment: When a place in the guards opens, the emperor decides from which group the recruitment will be done and a tournament is organised between the best candidates. The tournaments are not always pure duelling matches but can also consist of tasks highlighting useful skills, such as having to protect a target, having to infiltrate a crowd... This gives the emperor and the captain of the guard ample leeway to cheat and help their favourite candidate wins, which is often essential to appease important local families.
Tensions: There is a tension between guards depending on whether they were recruited thanks to their duelling skills or political contacts, with both groups looking down on the other and trying to show they off in their respective areas of competence. The captain of the imperial guard has to watch over everyone very carefully to make sure this does not escalate and endanger their duty to the emperor and does not spill in the open and humiliate the guard.
Retirement: Once recruited, a guard will serve in general a minimum of a decade, but many do many more years. Once they retire from the guards, they will use their experience and contacts to either gain a high officer post in the army or to dominate politics in the capital or back in their own region.

Goals

Protect the emperor and his soulmates (even if the tournament to select an emperor ensures he is the most powerful and skilled mage in the country

Filter access to the emperor and his soulmates;

Advise the emperor and his soulmates thanks to their political savviness and contacts.

Where: The emperor and his soulmates each have a specific team of guards assigned, and within each team 3 guards always stay around at all time—3 being the most powerful magical number. Over time, guards and guardees become very closed and form tight bonds. The guards all reside in the imperial palace but avoid entering the imperial soulmated group's quarters. Instead, they are assigned a big quarters "nearby" since distance mean nothing inside adjustable houses.
How: Beyond following their guardees around everywhere, imperial guards have the obligation to train to maintain their skills. They also have to study reports to keep abreast of potential dangers and tension in the empire and in the palace.

Hélène frowned as she saw the bright blue uniform of the imperial guards. And in far bigger numbers than usual.
Of course, with the emperor having been kidnapped, it made sense that they would all be ignoring usual protocol and rush to the Sannian border. Not that there presence would be all that useful, given the wards preventing crossing without bilateral authorisation.
But it was all politics; the guards could not appear to do nothing in the circumstances. The backlash from their home region had to be atrocious as it was, and they all had to be panicking about their chances of political retirement evaporating before their eyes.
At least, none of the emperor's soulmates—her own soulmates—were around. The risk of them finding out she was one of them would be too high...
Still, national crisis or not, she had to find a way to get out of the country and get to Sanne's capital and in the presence of the emperor. And that, before the Sannian decided to execute him. She would not lose her chance to blackmail him!

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Related articles

The Empire of Arboise

Politics Politicians (The Emperor and his soulmates, The imperial guards) · Events (The Empire Renewal, The Twelfth Sannian War, The Sannian kidnapping announcement) · Institutions (The empire and its political system, The selection and coronation of a new emperor, Curses and the legal system, The imperial curse—the ultimate judgment on traitors) Culture Imperial citizens · Overview of the professions in the Empire · Soulmates · Courtship rituals · Languages of the empire and translation magic · Winners of the neighbourhood wall painting competition Locations Geography of the Empire of Arboise · Ilara—Hélène's home region · Quanahr—Hélène's town · Arboise—Capital of the Empire · The imperial palace · Regions outside of the empire