Chapter 3

Angharad felt well again by the time the ship landed in Carolinga. Princess Brangwen felt better, too, and wept with happiness to set foot on her new homeland. Well, on dry land, anyway. Angharad and Gwen were both kept busy organizing the transfer of the princesses belonging to the castle and the unpacking. She barely had a moment to take in the city of Carazon.

“Whew, I feel like napping rather than going to this banquet,” said Gwen, as a maid fixed her hair.

“Truly,” said Angharad.

But down to the dining hall the whole party went. The princess was greeted by her fiancé, Goric, and then they were able to sit. Angharad found, to her dismay, that she was next to the arrogant swordsman who so annoyed her.

“Well met, my lady,” he said, smiling in a way that showed a prodigious quantity of white teeth. She refused to be dazzled. The trumpets blared and servants brought in the first dishes. There was cured tongue, boar's head, fat capons, roasted swans, roasted herons, roasted pheasants, large, open tarts, white meat in a sweet and sour sauce, white pudding, roasted piglets, roasted rabbits, roasted curlews, roasted marsh birds, roasted venison, roasted peacocks, roasted teals, large custard tart, dates in relish, violets, roasted cranes, roasted partridges, roasted peacocks glazed with gold, roasted quails, roasted plovers, roasted rabbits, roasted larks, small meat pieces, apple and cheese fritters, fruit dumplings, quince dumplings, and two subtleties.

Dish followed dish and all of it was so delicious, flavourful and rich. Cato Carolinus kept up a steady stream of easy chatter about Carazon and people in the court. He also kept Angharad’s plate filled. Musicians played rebecs, lutes and tabors. The wine flowed freely. Angharad unbent enough to laugh and several of Cato’s jokes.

“Now, down there, see that dark haired lady in blue? That’s the kingdom’s chief sorceress.”

Angharad peered blearily across the table.

“That stern one?”

“My lady mother,” he said, grinning. “Not as stern as she appears. You’ll be going to see her tomorrow.”

“I will?”

“Oh yes, my dear lady.”

He popped a morsel of quail between her lips.

By the time the banquet was over, Angharad had eaten far more than she usually did. Everything had been so tasty. She stifled a few burps as she waddled back to her room. It was such a relief to slip out her stays. She looked down at her belly. It was solid and stuck out further than usual. She rubbed it slowly, slipped into her nightgown and collapsed into a deep and dreamless sleep.

She was woken by a maid in time to dress before a late breakfast in the dining hall. Many would still be sleeping off the effects of last night, if she judged by the aftermath of feasts at home. She felt surprisingly hungry herself. She decided to leave her stays a bit loose.

There were few people in the hall. She helped herself to a full bowl of porridge smothered with honey and almonds. It was amazing. Every bite exploded on her taste buds. She went back for a second bowl and a third, before helping herself to an apple and leaning back with a contented sigh.

She went up to the Princess. There were still bits of the trousseau to finish, so the morning was spent in embroidery.

Just before noon, Angharad was released to attend on the chief sorceress, the Lady Evia Carolinus, just as her son had predicted.

“Cato tells me you single-handedly defeated a pirate fleet,” said Lady Evia.

Up close Angharad could see that she didn’t appear so stern. There were laugh lines around her eyes.

“I didn’t mean to.”

“It’s high time you had an instructor,” said the Lady. “Cato, come in! I trust you will be as easy to teach as Cato was himself.”

There was a twinkle in her eye that suggested this was a joke, but Angharad felt her heart sink. Was there no escape from the man?

“We’ll begin lessons right away,” he said.

He led her through the hallways to a sunny chamber. Inside, a group of covered trays and dishes stood on a table, along with two plates.

“We’ll eat while I begin the lesson,” said Cato as he filled a plate for her as well as one for himself.

The food was mostly reheated dishes from the feast of last night, but Angharad still found everything delicious. So many spices and flavours! When she cleaned her plate, Cato urged her to help herself. She swiftly filled her plate again and then again, savouring her food as Cato explained the basics of magical energy.

After her lesson, Angharad ducked back to her room to loosen her stays. She was stuffed. The sensation was oddly pleasant. She rubbed her belly slowly, clenching and unclenching her plump thighs until she drove herself into a frenzy.

Dressed and washed, she returned to her post with the princess. In the afternoon, the ladies painted, played the lute and took a stroll in the garden.

At supper there were only half as many dishes as the night before, but that was still far more than Angharad was used to. She ate until she was full and then had dessert, ending up feeling quite stuffed again. She liked the feeling and was determined to stuff herself as often as possible.

It would be about six months before the official wedding ceremony was held. Angharad swiftly fell into a pattern: hearty breakfast, light duties with the princess, a lingering lunch and magic lesson with Cato, then more lady-in-waiting tasks, then an evening of feasting, often joined by Cato again.

****

Cato was amazed by how Angharad grew. She ate as if she understood his every secret fantasy, as if she was trying to drive him wild with desire. He was often hard put to focus during their magic lessons. Yet she seemed to be wary of him. Her initial anger and dislike, which he still did not fully understand, had broken down in the face of his, he thought, unfailing charm. He let her set the pace of his courtship, but due her wariness that pace was agonizingly slow. And she wasn’t just a lovely plump and plumpening body, she made him laugh and she was quick-witted as well. It was so rare, so impossibly rare, for him to meet a woman who suited him so exactly. He sighed at the thought of her breasts straining against the fabric of her dress. The style of loose skirts made it harder for him to judge, but he imagined her waist and hips were softening and widening as well. Oh. He imagined pressing her huge pillowy white arse against his cock. His member grew as he imagined her bum growing fuller and more beautiful.

If only he could get her to trust him. But the only way to do that was to do and say nothing to scare her away.