As you walk to find Elya's room, you once again find your thoughts drifting. Elya, your half-sister, was born seven years after yourself, only a few months after you were disinherited. As such, she's only ever known the bastard form of you.
And she accepted you for who you were.
She must know about King Sobik's death. You owe her that much.
Mira had always discouraged Elya from playing with you, especially after you started learning how to fight. Mira always said it was improper for a princess to play with a bastard disinherited warrior, especially after you started teaching her swordplay. Despite her constant protests, the two of you always found time to be together in the brief moments you found yourself at home.
You feel a pang of sympathy for her plight. As the third in line and a woman, there's very little chance for her to inherit. As such, she was to be married off to secure an alliance with someone or another.
While being a despised bastard had its many downsides, one of the rare upsides was that your father didn't care enough to marry you away. Not that he could anyway, your two missing fingers being a constant reminder of this.
You shake away the thoughts as you round the final corner to Elya's room.
Standing in front of the door to her room is a single guardsman, spear in hand. He sees you coming and raises his hand, motioning for you to stop.
"Back! By the orders of Queen Consort Mira… I… only she herself is 'llowed to visit the p-princess." He looks you up and down, your menacing appearance clearly putting him on guard.
"You're her brother?" he asks in disbelief.
"Half-brother," you clarify.
The guard's expression turns shocked. "O-oh, ye're the bastard." You give him a slow nod. "The queen said not to let no one in… especially you."
You raise a single questioning eyebrow. "She did what?"
"I'm sorry. Not my decision."
"When did she implement that?"
"I… last time you were 'ere. 'Twas o'er a season ago, mind."
Your face remains stoic. "Fine then," you say and turn around, setting back down the hallway.
You briefly debate simply knocking the guard unconscious but decide against it. Doing so would be too messy and might get you into unnecessary trouble.
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