The princess and the curse

chapter 2

“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.