chapter 17

Travis felt strange over the next few days. He kept expecting something to happen. He was waiting for the other shoe to drop. After all, he had added something to the Prince's food and he had no idea whether he could trust the sisters. In fact, he knew he couldn't.

Still, something in him believed that Prince Bartholomew had killed his father. There was something about that man that told Travis that he would do anything for power. He heard nothing from Maria about her brother as he continued to eat and sleep, unable to think of anything other than being used as a conduit. Three times a day, Travis would stuff himself full of food, until he could barely breathe. Then, when she was satisfied, Maria would give him the pink mixture to drink. Before long, Travis would be starving again and she would bring him snacks just to sate him until his next meal.

After just a week of drinking the mixture three times a day, he felt like his weight was out of control. Not that it wasn't before. Travis got out of bed on the seventh day and could barely get any of his clothes around him. He felt more than a little helpless. At least Maria was still by his side.

After another week, Travis began to hear whispers. He had been spending more time in the courtyard and library. He was making use of the rooms outside his bedroom whilst he was still able to.

He heard two guards talking about Prince Bartholomew as he was dragging his weight down a corridor.

“He was raving all night again, shouting about seeing spectres...” one of them said.

“Surely a doctor should be called?”

“On your head be it...”

Travis continued to walk, unsure of whether the sisters had been up to more tricks or if the guilt really was settling in. It had to be. He needed it to be.

He collapsed on the bed as soon as he got back to his room. There had to be a way to get this over with.

Before he knew it, the sun lowered in the sky and his door swung open. A trolley entered, followed by Maria and Travis couldn't help but sigh.

He was tired. He couldn't be bothered with more and more food but he knew that wasn't something he got to choose. Even his body betrayed him when Maria pushed the trolley to the edge of the bed and removed the first dome.

Like a well trained dog, Travis sat up and shuffled his huge form closer to the trolley. As always, the utensils went unnoticed as he picked up cuts of meat with his hands and started his nightly ritual.

His newly acquired shirt, which in reality resembled a large sack with holes cut for his head and arms, pulled tight around his belly as it expanded outwards with every huge mouthful. Plates and plates of food were emptied without a second thought, chased down with flagons of milk and after a while, Travis began to worry.

The hint of fullness had come but there was no more. As Maria helped him by replacing empty dishes with full loaves of bread and more meat, Travis was surprised not the feel the familiar sting. When those were gone, he was disappointed. He was still hungry. He wanted more.

Before he could share his concerns with Maria, she placed another dome in the center of the trolley. It was the biggest he'd ever seen, with ornate carvings fit for a feast.

With a small smile and a flourish, Maria removed the dome and stepped back. Travis' eyes widened as his hands shot forwards.

The cake in front of him was like nothing he had ever seen. There were five tiers, each with a different type of sponge, thick icing and decadent decorations that he didn't have time to appreciate. Travis began to panic as he ate, knowing that cakes like those were reserved for celebrations that many, many people were to attend.

Still, he ate.

Fullness never overtook him but his clothes began to tighten around him as his belly pushed forwards. Had he broken some part of himself? Was he never going to be able to feel full again?

Mouthful after mouthful slipped down his throat as the thick material of his hastily made clothing constricted around him and Travis really began to worry. How would he know he needed to stop if he couldn't feel full?

His pleading eyes looked up at Maria but she just smiled at him as he continued to swallow.

He could barely breathe, his clothing was so tight. He had to be full, didn't he?

By the time the first tier was gone, Travis was a mess. Torn between leaning back to give his belly space and leaning forwards so he could just stick his whole face into the cake, he couldn't get comfortable. He lost focus. Every neuron in his brain was screaming at him to stop but all he could think about was finishing the cake fit for an entire wedding party.

Flagons of milk helped him to wash down the sickly sweet cake. He could see the swell of his belly in his peripheral vision; it was huge and took up most of his lap. With one hand, Travis reached down to feel how firm it was. If he couldn't feel full any more, he needed to know just how much more he could take.

Travis was shocked to feel very little resistance under the tight fabric. Even through all of the fat, he was used to being able to feel the mass of food inside of him, but not this time. His belly squished like it did in the early morning, even as he shovelled more and more cake into him.

He wanted to question it, but he couldn't. Not with that monstrosity in front of him.

Aeons seemed to pass as he ate without slowing down. It wasn't until Maria replaced the flagons of milk with water that Travis started to feel anything at all. The tightness of his clothing was becoming unbearable as it squeezed around his mountainous torso. That really didn't help as the feeling of fullness started to creep up on him and then hit him quickly.

Heaping handfuls of cake turned into smaller and smaller mouthfuls as he fought to breathe. Small burps fought their way out of him as Travis began to feel like he was almost at his limit. The water didn't help. As it always did, the discomfort began to turn to pain as he continued to eat. He sat back as far as he could, trying to stretch enough to let his belly rest.

The relief he felt when he heard a loud ripping sound was unfathomable. His shirt had torn at the seams and he could breathe just a little easier.

“Let me help you,” Maria said finally.

Travis had almost forgotten she was there. She was a lot less hands on than he was accustomed to. He felt like a subject under glass as she'd been watching him.

She moved forwards and picked up the tray before sitting next to him on the bed. Finally, Travis could lean back further and still eat.

The rest of the cake was a struggle. He was sure it was going to be too much and he still didn't understand how he'd been able to eat so much more than usual.

His head spun as Maria helped him force the last tier into himself. Fat poured its way out of his ruined shirt as Travis lay there, stuffed belly heaving on top of him.

He could do little but groan and burp as Maria tried to clean the crumbs off of him with a cloth.

“You're so fat...” she said breathlessly.

“Of course I am,” he said. “You sound surprised.”

“No... I mean look...”

Maria helped Travis sit up, much to his annoyance. He wanted to lay down. Everything ached. Still, he looked down at himself and he didn't know what to say.

Of course, his belly looked gigantic. It always did after he'd eaten. Hell, it always did even when he was starving but this was something else.

There was no way those clothes should have ripped so soon. Maybe a few more days with the way he was going but...

“What did you do?” he asked breathlessly.

“I... just wanted to see what would happen,” Maria said.

“What did you do?!” Travis asked again, angrily.

“I, uh, might have put some of Jeremiah's concoction into your milk,” she said quietly. “I'm sorry, are you mad at me?”

So that explained it. That weird, sweet liquid. He'd been digesting everything as he was eating it, which was why he didn't feel full for such a long time. That explained how he had been able to get through so much... and how his clothes were getting tighter even when his stomach wasn't. It wasn't food that had been filling his lap, it was newly formed fat.

Travis blinked at Maria. What was happening to him? None of this made sense. Curses and potions and the princess looking at him like that. Eyes so afraid that she'd crossed some line in all of this madness.

“Travis?” she asked.

“No...” he said quietly. “Sorry, I was just... shocked that's all. Come, sit with me.”

Sit wasn't really the word for it. He let himself fall back onto the bed, so he could breathe as best he could as Maria cuddled up next to him.