Chapter 01

The Falcon in Flight

Rebuilding the Clan

Gerry Mannheim

After the Day of Blood Gerry must take on responsibilities many adults would baulk at. A teenager who now has a higher understanding of his own capabilities and powers. It’s time for him to step up to lead his country and people into the future. He knows the legends and he has often wondered if he could live up to them. Now he wonders how far they’ll take him, and he’ll take them. As the power behind the throne he must continue to direct the country from the shadows until the clan has recovered enough to take on their enemies directly. But how long can he stay hidden from their enemies when so many people know the truth about him? How will they keep it from their enemies? The time has come for the Great Falcon to stretch out his wings in full flight in order to best serve his people.

Late 2008

So many of the clan dead, so many empty rooms, so few to carry the burdens of the clan. The whole country is still reeling under the shock of the attacks and the grief weight of their dead. Especially the Amiri tribe and the Amir Clan most of all, much more than any other tribe or clan. The Amiri has the highest percentage of members serving in the Royal Guards and the Amir Clan has the highest percentage of adult members as serving Guards. Although the Guards’ losses weren’t high the Amir and Amiri losses were higher than the others because they had the highest percentage of members in the units involved. Also, due to the attacks on the Amir since the Second World War the Amir Clan has the least adults in the Amiri tribe, while seventy years ago they had the most adults. The attempts by the Generals to wipe them out, and the losses in the various attacks since then, have taken a heavy toll. However, the heaviest single day’s toll is that of the Day of Blood, just two weeks ago.

In December, 1945, the Amir Clan had over one thousand three hundred adults and just over two thousand children. In January, 1949, they were down to one hundred adults and forty children, most were killed by the Generals and their troops. In December, 2001, there were seventy-three adults and fifty-one children, most of whom weren’t in the line of succession and not eligible for senior positions within the clan. By June, 2008, forty-four of the children reached adulthood and over two thousand new children were born, all under five years of age. The clan is growing again, and it will soon be restored to its previous strength. Only four adults and a child died during the period. Of the one hundred and thirteen adults, six children over five years of age, and over two thousand children under five years of age who were alive on the morning of the Day of Blood fifty-five adults, one ten year old child, and a five year old child are killed that day. Leaving alive fifty-eight adults and over two thousand children. All of the dead are close family, but thirty-three are from the line of succession. Of those still alive only ten adults and the bulk of the children under five years are born to the Royal line. These include eight adults who aren’t eligible to take the throne for various reasons. The Clan is all but non-existent as regards adults. Only two members of the most direct line are eligible to take the throne, with a veritable horde of children under five years of age as the next eligible monarch. Not a pretty situation for the clan to be in.

Note: The figures above include only those born or married into the clan; but doesn’t include concubines, slaves, or employees working within the residence. It does include any children born to concubines, slaves, or casual partners with a parent who is a member of the clan.

The situation is much worse for the Amir Clan than most would think because the majority of the clan members involved in running the government are now dead. Only Francine, Harold, Carly, Robert, Nealla, Isobelle, Vicky, and Gerry have any experience in running the government; and Harold isn’t what he was, due to his head injury. Include the disruption to the Parliament because most of its members were arrested for treason and you’ve some major management issues! Plus all of this while they’re dealing with their own grief and fixing their home affairs to cope with so few adults. So many children in need of love and support through their grief as well as basic caring. It’s a very heavy load for them. Especially for Gerry, the Clan Father responsible for all of the orphans as well as being the regent, the acting head of the government of Berant and responsible for all the people of Berant.

Francine is unavailable while seeing to Harold’s care in the hospital, followed by his recuperation. The clan survives due to the hidden strengths of many of its members. Nealla takes over the administration and management of the Royal Palace, supervising the clerical staff while seeing it’s all done right. Erica takes on responsibility for managing the Palace public areas, coordinating public applicants, public relations activities, and tourists. Carly and Robert are the official faces and spokespeople interacting with all the Ambassadors and media. When Harold recovers they continue in much of this work after he takes the throne. Meara takes on responsibility for running the clan residence and caring for the children. Gerry is responsible for making all of the political policy decisions and for directing the management of the country. Isobelle, Vicky, and Deanna help out where and when they’re needed, thus they spend a lot of time working with Meara, Nealla, and Gerry.