chapter 2

Greldedor marched the two women to their cell in the tower and magically sealed the wall behind them. There was no way to escape.

“Well, that wasn’t terrible,” Maya said, beginning to pace the room. “But what could she possibly want with feeding us like that? It doesn’t seem to have been poisoned – she ate herself and I’m not feeling ill at all – so why do it? Was it just to humiliate us by forcing us to eat like that? Or is she trying to get into our good graces for some reason? I don’t understand.”

Sylvia made no reply. Irritated, Maya turned to where she thought Sylvia would be standing, only to find that the other woman had already made her way to the chamber’s one large bed and had curled up onto it, laying on her side and panting with both hands pressed to her distended belly. She had pulled her shirt up and was gently kneading the taut flesh.

In the shafts of pale moonlight that illuminated the room from the high, barred window, Maya could see Sylvia’s face twisted in discomfort. Her belly was like a smooth round ball; Maya thought of everything that the other woman had eaten that night, stretching out her companion’s abdomen as her innards worked tirelessly to digest what had to have been days’ worth of food, all in one sitting… and there again was that uncomfortable hot feeling.

Suddenly annoyed, Maya blushed. “Can you pull your shirt down? You look like the village wench who won’t admit she’s been screwing the blacksmith.”

“What does that even mean?”

Maya huffed. “You look like you’re pregnant. It’s… it’s embarrassing that anyone could eat that much.”

Sylvia grunted and turned over slowly, hand still on her unwieldy belly. “Well, if I’m the wench, you’re the blacksmith, as it’s your fault I had to eat all that. You could have helped.” She ran her hand in an exaggerated circle over her stomach, laughing at some private joke.

Maya blushed. “What?”

“Who should we name our food baby after? You or me?” Sylvia looked like she was about to continue this line of reasoning before her face contorted in discomfort again. “Ah, that’s a sting.”

Maya was blushing furiously by this point. She’d never been one for the bawdy jokes of the guard, and now, with this odd warmth in her, it was even worse. “Let me help you.”

She took off her shoes and crawled up on the bed next to Sylvia and put one hand on her stomach. The skin really was as taut and hot as it looked. Experimentally, she began rubbing the guard’s abdomen in circles, pressing down gently.

Sylvia let out a sigh of relief. “Yes, just like that.” She squirmed a little, kicking off her own shoes and relaxed a little. Maya fumbled around until she found herself behind Sylvia, set together like two spoons in a drawer, with Maya’s own small breasts and belly pressed up against Sylvia’s back.

Slowly, she began rubbing Sylvia’s gut as the other woman hummed in appreciation. She tried desperately to ignore the building warmth between her legs.

Sylvia shifted, burrowing into the thin hard mattress as much as was possible and let out a contented sigh. Maya tensed as the other woman’s muscular behind squirmed up against her pelvis.

Sylvia let out a little chuckle and Maya blushed. The knight said softly, “So, escape?”

Maya nodded into her companion’s neck and gave a small hm of affirmation. “It would be easier if we knew why she was keeping us here to begin with.”

Sylvia yawned. “I think she’s just trying to figure out what to do with us. She probably didn’t expect to capture a couple of emissaries of the queen.” The knight’s belly let out a loud gurgle and she chuckled. “For the record, I think that the meal was just her revenge for you calling her fat yesterday. You should be more careful what you say. Besides, it’s inaccurate – she’s not really that fat.”

Maya sighed. After a pause, she said softly, “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For getting you into this mess. I appreciate what you did tonight.”

Sylvia let out a little breath. “Don’t worry yourself, milady. I’m a little uncomfortable right now, but it was nice to be able to eat like that. It was good food, too, wouldn’t you say?”

Begrudgingly, Maya agreed. “It was.”

“And besides,” Sylvia continued, “I could use to gain a few pounds back after weeks of travel rations.”

Maya snorted. “Too many and you’ll never find a husband. Being slender is in fashion now, you know.”

“Like I care what any husband would think,” Sylvia said, the last few syllables turning into a yawn.

“Don’t sleep,” Maya started before stifling a yawn herself, “just yet. Let’s plan.” She paused. “Tomorrow, when Greldedor takes us outside for our ‘exercise,’ why don’t you distract her and I’ll see if I can sneak around the tower and see what’s outside that window up there. Maybe there’s bushes underneath we could fall into or a tree we could climb down, if we could somehow break the bars.”

Sylvia made a discontented little noise. “I don’t know what that will do,” she said. “But okay.” She let out another yawn. “I wouldn’t mind staying here a little longer, if I get to eat like that every night.”

Maya grimaced. “If you eat like that every night, you’ll be waddling out of here,” she said acidly – but that, as if by magic, conjured an image of herself and Sylvia escaping, but with Sylvia holding her sword in one hand and lifting up a massive belly with the other, as fat as Greldedor if not fatter – and there again was the warmth in the pit of her being. Her face flushed with – embarrassment? Guilt?

As Maya continued to run her hand over her companion’s belly, she heard Sylvia’s breathing becoming deeper and more even as she fell asleep. Reluctantly, Maya began to remove her hand, but the knight sleepily reached up with her own hand and held the mage’s hand there against the taut, swollen flesh.

Resigned to sleeping like this, Maya allowed herself to begin to drift off, lulled by the sweet sounds of her companion’s steady breathing and gurgling stomach.