The Princess and The Curse

Once upon a time far far away there was a small, but wealthy kingdom. To get there you would have to climb through difficult mountainous terrain and so even though it was a small and rich kingdom, no larger one tried to conquer it.

The king who ruled there, King Charles, was a wise one and ruled well. His wife, Queen Isabella, a renowned for her beauty in her youth, proved to be more than just a pretty face and was king's best advisor. Despite giving birth to four now adult children, she kept her beauty and made the king one lucky man. But this isn't a story about the king or the queen. This is a story about their youngest child, Princess Bethany. These were quiet times in the kingdom, but it was about to change...

***

Today was the day, my eighteenth birthday. The day I'd finally asked my father for his approval. The day I was longing for, the day I was dreading more than anything else... It wasn't unheard of that the youngest daughter would be allowed to marry below her stature, to marry a commoner. And Thomas certainly was a commoner, but he was well known and respected by my parents, for I often heard their approval of the hard work our chief gardener, a rank he earned despite being only twenty years of age, did. The thought filled me with optimism and so I jumped out of my bed and called for a maid. I had to look perfect on my big day.

"Do you think I'm too thin?" I asked Stella, my personal maid who was tying my dress.

"I wish I had your figure, m'lady."

"But next to my sisters I look so... flat! Unimpressive! They both look so soft and inviting... so curvy!"

"Indeed, m'lady, your sisters are very beautiful, but neither can compete with your beauty. You'll have to pardon me for saying, but Lady Sophia is getting rather... eh... robust. I've heard she needs three maids to get her into her dresses these days. And Lady Cassandra while truly has splendid curves, at times she looks... almost vulgar. Please forgive my words. You on the other hand look so... dignified."

I cannot deny hearing this filled my heart with joy. I still wish I'd had an actual cleavage though...

I couldn't help but stare at my reflection, while the maid brushed my copper waves falling below my wasp waist. A pair of large turquoise eyes shaped like almonds stared back at me from an objectively gorgeous oval face. Why do I feel lacking?

The maid left. I still stood in front of the mirror, staring at my reflection, trying to figure out what was missing, why I felt so inadequate. Loud bang behind my back startled me, interrupting my thoughts and I quickly turned around. Thomas was standing on the ledge with a bouquet of roses in one hand and a box of chocolates in the other. I rushed to the window and let him inside. „Are you crazy?! How did you even get up here?!" I barely managed not to shout.

"A magician never reveals his secrets." He said with a cocky smile on his youthful face.

"You could have fallen! You know I want to ask my father today... You couldn't have waited?!"

"I had to see you! You're all I can think of every second of my life! I love you Beth!" He said color rising to his cheeks. "Here. This is for you. Happy birthday!" Thomas said, handing me a huge bouquet of roses and the chocolates. I placed the box of chocolates on the table and inhaled deeply, getting lost in the smell of roses.

There was a knock on the door. "Princess?" An unsure voice of a page sounded.

"Quickly hide! No one can see you here!" I hissed quietly. "Yes? What is it?" I opened the door and asked once Thomas was safely hidden underneath my bed.

"His royal majesty wants to see you immediately." The nervous looking page said.

Father never calls without a reason. What is going on? "Tell my father I'll be there in a minute."

"I uh... I was told to bring you with me at once, highness. Sorry"

I let out a sigh. "Alright... let's go."

"I am going to be frank, daughter of mine. We have decided you are going to be wed for the good of the realm."

I was stunned, left there gaping at my father. "But I-"

"I have decided. Your suitors should start coming in a month. I will allow you to have a choice within those who will pass my own judgment." The King stated. At the moment I could not see him as my father.

Fiery anger started to burn deep inside of me. Then the shouting started.

I buried my face into a tear soaked pillow. This day could not have been worse. In my outrage I foolishly confessed my affection towards Thomas. I've never seen my father so angry. Poor Thomas! The king had him whipped before banishing him from our kingdom. No, not our, his kingdom I corrected myself. I did not want to be part of this kingdom any longer. I thought about running away, but I knew I could never manage to slip past my father's guards. Then I recalled a story about a witch who lived somewhere in the forest. It was said she sometimes helped the desperate. I certainly was desperate.

Wrapped in a large cloak I stumbled through the forest. I cursed myself. I spent most of the day weeping over the outcome of the day that by the time I got to the forest, the sun was already setting. My stomach let out a sound and I cursed myself for the second time. The darkness fell, the only light was coming from the nearly full moon, but barely any squeezed through the dense trees. I didn't know where I was and I was scared out of my mind.

In all of my life I barely ever entered the forest on foot. I didn't know how to move in there and it didn't take long before I took a bad step and twisted my ankle. My leg gave up underneath me and I fell to the ground, my head hitting a root. Dizzy I pulled myself to my feet only by the sheer strength of will. My head was bleeding and the world spun around me. Terrified, starving, lost and hurt I stumbled in the darkness favoring my uninjured foot. The trees seemed to crowd together and the branches were reaching for me, pulling at my hair and tearing at my clothes. Suddenly I spotted a little light in front of me. It worked as magic, breaking apart the despair I was slipping into, filling my heart with hope and determination. The light was coming from a window of a small hut as I have found out when I got closer. Perhaps it might be the witch's hut I am looking for? It didn't matter really, I was just glad I found a shelter. I finally dragged myself to the entrance of the hut, but before I could knock on the door, it opened on its own, revealing a small room with a table and two chairs. Sitting there was an ancient looking lady. Our eyes have met.

"Come inside, Bethany." She croaked.

"How do you know my name?" I asked, suddenly filled with indescribable dread.

"I thought you were smarter than that." She said mockingly.

"You are the witch." I stated dumbly.

"People call me that, yes. Are you gonna stand there all night or are you gonna come inside?"

I hesitated for a few seconds before stepping inside and closing the door behind me. I had an ominous feeling that I had just sealed my fate.

The witch listened to what I had to say and then sat in silence for a few minutes.

"I'm afraid there is nothing in my powers I can do to reunite you with your loved one."

My heart sank and tears formed in my eyes.

"There is however one thing I could do, to help you to keep your suitors off your neck so to speak." The hag croaked. Her voice suddenly changed and boomed as a summer storm. "I foresee the gardener will be back in a year and one day. If you remain unwed until then and only if he truly loves you, only then you can be together!" The witch let out a sigh. Deflated, she looked as if she aged another decade.

"Yes! Please, do whatever you can. I'll forever be in your debt!" I exclaimed.

"Be careful what you promise, highness. Someone else in my position could take advantage of your words. Luckily for you I am not that type of witch and I require no payment. I think the solution will be price in itself. You might want to consider other possibilities first for what I offer you is a curse."

"There are ancient rules that bind even a king of the kingdom. You have a right to put your suitors through a challenge. Three quests you may order them to accomplish."

"But that's great! I could give them an impossible task!" I exclaimed.

"You can do no such thing, I'm afraid. It is your father's right to judge whether the task at hand is possible."

"Oh." I sighed disheartened once again.

"Do not be afraid for that is when the curse will help you."

"What does the curse do?" I implored.

The witch grinned humorlessly. "How attached are you to that figure of yours?"

"Hunger? That's it?! That hardly sounds like a curse..."

"Endless hunger! It won't be quick, but with every passing day you will feel it more and more. It might be just a mere inconvenience at first, but it will get worse."

"I have a strong will, I am sure I can resist."

The witch shook her head. "That is not possible. Sooner or later you will feel the consequences. The only way to break the curse is a kiss of true love. Are you sure he loves you and not your body?"

I breathed in and out before nodding. "I am sure. Let's proceed."

The crone nodded. "So be it. May fate be kind to you, girl."

"Forgive me if I sound foolish, but... can't you see into the future?" I asked.

The witch laughed. "It's not as easy as that, highness. I see three possible outcomes, I cannot tell which one will come to be, for I cannot see into human hearts."

I woke up in my own bed. If I wasn't still wrapped in the torn cloak and did not have a slightly swollen ankle I would have thought it was all a dream. Knowing it all really happened, it was time to confront my father.

"Father, I am not going to try to undermine your authority any longer and I will not make any trouble when my suitors arrive." I announced.

"I am glad you have come to your senses, daughter."

I raised a finger. "However, I do invoke the ancient tradition of three tasks." I said.

Father's face turned crimson red, he stood up from his throne and started to shout in anger. "Who told you about this! Someone is going to hang for this!"

"Relax father, you will see I only want things that should not be of any difficulty."

The king let out a sigh and sat back down. "Very well, what are your tasks?"

I smiled and lifted one finger. "Task number one, the suitor has to bring me roses, cut by his own hand." I raised a second finger. "Task number two, he must be able to carry me from here to my chambers." I raised a third finger. "Task number three, he or any one from his entourage must be able to eat more than I can." I hope the witch was right...

The king was watching me. "Those are... unusual tasks." He fell into silence, no doubt searching for a catch in my wording, but there was none to be found. "Very well, daughter. As unreasonable choices as they appear, they are more than reasonable in their feasibility."

"Thank you, father." I did a curtsy and left the throne room.

Back in my room I stared at the box of chocolates I got from Thomas. "Eat the chocolate from your loved one for the curse to start working." That's what the witch said. Do I eat all of it? Or just a piece? Does it even matter? I shrugged and placed a piece of the sweet delight on my tongue. Something... awoke deep inside of me. My stomach growled and in a blink of an eye all the chocolates disappeared in my stomach.

"Stella!" I called for the maid, who appeared a minute later.

"M'lady?" The maid asked.

"Stella, rush as fast as you can to the kitchens and tell them to bring as much food as they can carry here to my chambers."

The maid stared at me in confusion for I have never made a request such as this. "A-at once m'lady." She ran off, leaving me to myself. I laid a hand on my stomach. I hope I am not going to regret this...

***

Meanwhile poor Thomas, beaten and thrown beyond the kingdom's borders, stumbled through the inhospitable mountains. The only thing that gave him strength was the hope he might see his beloved Bethany again.

It would have been a story on its own to recount all the adventures he went through. Stories about his brains and bravery seeped into legends and local folklore. Tales about how he fought with a giant, outsmarted a wizard and even how he won a favor on a golden dragon were common in taverns all over the world. Some say he did all of this out of love. Some say it was greed what drove him forth. And some say none of this happened and he was just a man with a heart of gold. Who knows where the truth lies? But this is a tale of Princess Bethany and her curse and we don't have time to run into details...

***

I stood half naked in front of the mirror lifting and dropping my breasts. I have breasts! Just three days in and the excessive amount of food I have consumed had already bore its fruit.

"It was about time you started putting some meat on those bones." My sister Cassandra said, startling me a little. Blushing with embarrassment I tried to cover my exposed chest. To my amazement my breasts turned out to be a bit too big for my small hands to fully succeed.

"Cassandra! What are you doing here? You can't just barge into my chambers like this!"

"I sacrificed my time in my husband's court to visit my little sister and that's the greeting I get? Oh, don't be shy, you have nothing to be ashamed of. I too had been flat chested once." Cassandra jeered.

Even though I knew that after my recent growth I was far from being flat chested, the remark still stung. To be fair to Cassandra I must have looked that way as she was by far the bustiest out of our family. As always she put it proudly on display, her chest spilling out of cleavage. I slowly started to dawn on me how much I envied her those curves and I was elated with finally having some of my own. With my initial irritation subsiding I realized just how happy I was to see my sister again and so I abandoned my attempts at modesty and rushed to embrace her. With my sisters wedded away and my brother, prince Daniel sent out to get worldly experience, I felt awfully alone with no one of my own status to keep me company. Only Thomas was there to alleviate the pain of solitude. Thomas! My heart ached at the thought.

"I am so glad to see you, Cass! I missed you so much!" I squealed once I was in my sister's soft and warm embrace.

"And I missed my gorgeous little sister." Cassandra smiled.

Our reunion was rudely interrupted by my stomach letting out a loud rumble, a sound I was getting quite used to recently.

"Well, somebody is hungry! Come, let's sit down in the kitchens and talk over a meal. I want to know everything!" Cassandra grabbed my hand and started to pull me with her. She stopped suddenly. "Maybe you should cover your royal breasts first."

"Slow down, pup! If you keep going like this, you'll end up fat like Sophia!"

"Hungry!" was all I could mutter in between bites.

***

A month has passed and the first prince from one of the nearby kingdoms has arrived. It was a quiet, peaceful month, though there was one name on the lips of the majority of people. That name was of course Princess Bethany. The princess seemed to have acquired an unusual taste for food. The slight young lady she was previously has grown into a rather... voluptuous shape. Her body with breasts surpassing her head in size and derriere overfilling most chairs had caught the attention of many men and women. She still looked pretty slim though a rumor went that it took combined efforts of two maids to tie her softening middle into her pretty dresses.

***

Prince Maxmilian was an insufferable prick and I am putting it mildly. He did nothing but stare at my cleavage whenever I was around. To be fair I couldn't be too angry about that... That he talked about nothing else but himself as if he was the greatest man to ever walk the face of the earth was a much bigger issue. The worst of all was his vain overconfidence about his looks. The fact was he had an overbite, hooked nose and receding hairline. Do not get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with being ugly, but if you want to be treated like prince Charming, you better look the part. He did cut the roses for me by himself as he should have, the marks from thorns on his fingers proved that, so he wasn't that bad I guess. I still couldn't wait to crush him when it came to eating. But it was more because I was hungry than anything else.

Maxmilian pressed his face against my bosom and tried to use all his strength, but my feet never left the floor. Ohhh, I sighed in disappointment. Oh well, a farewell feast will have to do for today...

Despite the feast went on for hours after sundown, I still woke up the next day starving. I must have taken it too far last night, for I seemed to be visibly larger than only yesterday. Along with my body grew my appetite and I was starting to understand what the witch meant when she said it was only going to get more difficult. I couldn't imagine how I would look in a year. I wasn't even sure how I felt about it, though I knew I felt great in my current body. Sitting up I clapped, a signal for my maids. Not even a minute later the door opened and my maids wheeled in a cart with my breakfast. It was not a modest meal, I can assure you of that.

"M'lady, the king wants to see you after you are dressed." Stella, my first maid told me.

I nodded, because my mouth was too preoccupied to answer properly. I swallowed and commanded. "Bring the seamstress." I commanded before taking another big bite.

"I am afraid I am not capable of letting out the dress any more than this, m'lady. There's just no fabric left."

I let out a sigh. The dress, as pretty as it was, turned out to be barely adequate. My breast spilled out of my cleavage obscenely and my abdomen was painfully suppressed inside the constricting waist. Breathing was going to be a task. My posterior, while definitely not lacking in size, was the only part of my body, without any issues as the dress was big enough in its lower parts to accommodate it. Things would get more problematic when it came to my backside, when I would be to sit down on a chair, as it was now sizable enough to spill from both sides at the same time.

I stared at my reflection. Just a mere month ago I was so slim and slender, lacking any real curves. Now my bosom was the biggest I have ever seen, noticeably larger than even Cassandra's. My middle, while clearly larger and softer, remained well defined and narrow when compared with the rest of my body. My hips flared out, making me wider than any other woman in the court. All in all I was very lucky with how my body coped with the gained weight, though it seemed, by the tightness of the dress, that my midsection was finally starting to catch up. Fully dressed up I headed out of my chambers and into the throne room to see what my father wanted. I was only too aware of how my body jiggled with every motion.

As it turned out another suitor had arrived, Prince Richard from the kingdom beyond our eastern border. Unlike Maximilian, Prince Richard was a handsome man with long black hair reaching his shoulders, steely blue eyes with a slender, yet muscular figure. There was something off putting in his gaze though and the way his own servants flinched whenever he looked their way made me doubt his character. He seemed to be in a hurry. While Maxmilian spent his time boasting, Richard gave me a pair of roses immediately upon our first meeting and attempted to carry me to my chambers ten minutes later. Unlike Maxmilian he succeeded, though I clearly wasn't as light as a feather as he tried to claim before attempting to lift me up. Red in face and sweating, I think he too changed his opinion.