pardoes and the court princess English version

01 | unwanted royal guest

POINT OF VIEW
Pardijn

''You don't belong here, princess,'' says the man with a cracked voice. His face hangs down with long dark bags under his eyes and gloomy facial twitches. His eyes are filled with hatred as he points his dirt-covered hand at the door of his bar.
Something inside me spins as I look at the man. He can't be serious, can he? He and his so-called high and self-proclaimed 'best-of-all' opinions are the reason I'm stuck in this shithole. His eyes narrow as I refuse to get up from my chair.

''Seems like the princess needs to be taught a lesson. Gentlemen!'' His screaming and very annoying voice screeched across the room. I look around and apparently so are all the other customers in the bar as they stare at him open-mouthed.

I feel my face tighten as three large men approach me. Playtime is officially about to be over, and I don't wanna be here when it does. ''Come on, Jacob, you don't want to cause a scene and run away all your customers, now do you?'' I ask.
I slowly stand up and look him in the eyes before making my way to the exit. I hate it when he does this whole 'I need you, please don't leave me, but stay away from me because I'm supposed to hate you' kind of thing. It doesn't suit him, and frankly, it is growing to be one of the things I have to add to my list of things that I hate about this man.

'Do not come back here ever again, Pardijn,'' is the last thing I hear him say before I close the door behind me. Everyone here knows my title, where I come from. But people here are just the same as at home. They all don't care enough to get to know me. The real me. Because if they did, then they would know that my name is not Pardijn, but Kiara. I only use Pardijn because my dad always used to call me that. It has kind of become my second name.

Ever since I was sent to this stupid place by my dad to learn me a lesson, I have been moving from house to house just to have a place to sleep at night. And being a princess here definitely does not have its perks, the rather opposite even. Most people shut their doors before meeting me because I have the same last name as my father.

And also maybe the fact that I'm working together with the most hated man on both mine and this earth. If there is one person that hates me more than these people around me then it is him. Or maybe not specifically me, but my last name, my family. But we also both have the same goal so it doesn't matter what our private feelings are at the end of the day.

And speaking of the devil, there is somewhere he is going and I need to know where it is so I can spy on him. Walking past all the old shops that sell products no living soul would spend their money on, I let my hand slide into my purse and take out the damaged piece of paper with a coarsely written text on it.

Weststreet, ravenshop, 9b Zombor

It is the address of what I presume is the location the meeting is going to take place. I continue my walking and rather sooner than later I end up at the shop that looks strangely familiar. There is a shop like this back home, owned by the sweetest woman.

She used to tell all these crazy stories about these five teenagers that lived in the mundane world, but could travel to the past through a magical portal. They also had some sort of magical powers connected to the elementals?

Whether it was based on a real story or if the woman just made it up, they seemed pretty cool. I never understood how people like that could end up in a place as destroyed as this. All criminals get sent here for all kinds of reasons. This world is their prison. It is my prison.

I can't shake the feeling of how that sweet lady from that shop ended up here. But then again I think most people think the same about me. After all, the king of Symbolica bans all the criminals here, and he is my father.

But I never understood it either. Why am I here? I didn't do anything. At least I didn't do what the court claimed I did, and the reason I am here. No, I still can't believe how my own father can believe that I killed three grown men.

Because I didn't kill anyone.