Page 27 of Trained Royal
Brett nodded and clapped his hands. “Let’s get to it, gentlemen. I have places to be.”
Brett and Felix guarded Christian and Oscar when they were out and about and, sometimes, at Windsor if there was a particularly high threat like there had been a few months ago.
“Okay, this will be brief because there isn’t much to tell you,” Brett started. “We have a new set of earpieces that we’re trialling. They have a greater range than our current ones, but we’re not sure about what interferes with the reception. I want Eric, Rae, Isaac, Van and Sam to trial them over the next couple of days and report back your findings. We’ll rotate them around until we’ve all had a try before we collate the information and decide where to go from there.
“Second, at the next event, which I believe is the Halloween charity auction, we need more volunteers to work it. Obviously, this will only be if your charge is not due to be elsewhere at the same time. It is a Saturday night, and most of you won’t be working, but I would prefer volunteers rather than choosing.”
That was one thing Kieren liked about Brett. He didn’t push his weight around and make people do what he wanted when they hated something. He always asked for volunteers and preferences before deciding and only ever put his foot down if they weren’t cooperating.
“Kieren, I know Patrick is the guest of honour, and you’ll be there that night. I’ll have you switch out a day that week to get your second day off.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s fine.” Kieren didn’t care about days off. It gave him too much time to think.
Brett glared at him. “Not up for debate. Finally, we have four additional guards starting with us this week. They will arrive on Wednesday, and I’ll assign them to shadow all of you at some point. Their names are Jade, Nina, Greg and Ford.”
“Yeah! Two more to add to our small contingent,” Locke called and high-fived Rae.
They were two of only four female guards on royal duty. The other two, Selena and Viola, were the king’s personal guards, along with six males. When Kieren had first joined the team, he’d expected to see some of the male guards causing problems for the females—it was what he’d experienced in previous positions more often than not—but when everyone was treated the same, it filled Kieren with a sense of contentment. He knew he’d picked the right job and would do everything in his power to stay in it.
“Yes, Locke. No ganging up on us now.” Brett winked.
“Wouldn’t dream of it, boss.”
“Anyway, that’s all the updates from me. Does anyone have questions? If so, make it quick.” No one said a word, and Kieren glanced around, seeing shaking heads. “Good. Well, Felix and I are off on duty. You all know what you need to do. Get to it.”
Brett and Felix left the room quickly, and Kieren followed at a more sedate pace. He hadn’t been called to take Patrick to work, and he assumed he wasn’t attending that day. He had his phone, and the team would contact him should Patrick need him; therefore, he grabbed his bag from the car and headed for the gym.
When he’d first arrived at Windsor, he’d been surprised by the location of the security team. From what Brett had told him, security used to hold up elsewhere and only attend Windsor when needed. But when King Andrew took over, he insisted the security team become part of Windsor, keeping them close at hand at all times. Kieren could see the reasons behind it, but the luxury was more than he could stand sometimes.
By the time he’d changed into his workout kit, he was ready to get rid of some of the tension that had seeped back into his body. He still hadn’t seen Patrick, and he was uneasy. Not because he thought something was wrong, but because they were issues between them that needed settling. He should’ve fetched Patrick for his training session, but the man needed his family more than learning how to fight. At least, in Kieren’s opinion.
He warmed up by going through the karate katas from white belt to black belt. As he finished the brown belt one, he felt eyes on him, but he didn’t stop. If anyone attacked him, he could go into defending mode in a split second, but he didn’t think they were there for that. As he ended the final stage, he closed his eyes and bowed his head.
“Can you teach me that?”
Patrick’s voice sank into him and released the tension he’d not been able to get rid of. He glanced over his shoulder. “I can.”
“It seems…peaceful.”
“If peace is what you’re looking for, tai chi might be a better choice.”
Patrick stepped onto the mat, already wearing his workout clothes. “Do you know that?” Kieren nodded. “Show me?”
Kieren swallowed and stepped back. He knew several martial arts, and although karate was his favourite, tai chi was the best for relaxation and peace, although yoga was even better, in his opinion. He worked through some slow movements, focusing on his breathing and the position of his arms, legs and feet. Coming to a stop after several minutes of silence, he faced Patrick.
“Which would you prefer? Or would you like yoga?”
Patrick scrunched his nose. “I don’t think folding myself into a pretzel is the best choice for me. I like the sound of tai chi.”
“Okay. Stand beside me. Follow my moves, but don’t worry if you get them wrong. You can learn the order of the moves with every repetition you do. It’s not essential.”
The more Kieren thought about it, the more he liked the idea of teaching Patrick tai chi or karate. It would help with his footwork, and tai chi would hopefully help to release him from the tension he carried.
“Can we talk while we’re doing it, or does it need to be silent?”
“We can talk.” It might make it easier for them. “Just focus on my movements and copy what I do.”
He went through the first few moves, allowing Patrick to get used to the speed, before asking, “What did you want to talk about?”
