Ill-Conceived Escape, An

“You have wronged me and the court,” the king bellowed, his voice echoing through the filled throne room. The lords and ladies of the court stood around, all glaring at the fellow in the center of the room. At the head of the room, the king and queen sat, resplendent and handsome. To the queen’s right sat her daughter, the princess. The young woman, having just seen her twenty-first name day, sat primly, yet could not help wiggling her fingers at the man in the middle. “The kingdom despises you, sir. Were it up to me, you would be put to death. Yet, my daughter has mercy and wishes you to live. Therefore, you are banished. Take your cart of witchcraft and remove yourself from this kingdom. Your name and likeness will be spread to every hearth that bears my banner. Begone!”

The crowd dispersed as the guards grabbed the thin man and dragged him from the throne room. He disappeared without a squeak. Nearly ten minutes passed before the crowded room emptied completely, save for one figure. Displeasure and relief filled her as the proceedings had drawn to an end. Steeling herself, the princess rose from her throne and made her way to her room. She knew she had little time.

Giacomo the Healer found himself thrown out of the keep, landing face-first in the muck. Peasants laughed and jeered as the man rose, removed the mud from his face, and scuttled to the main gate. His cart sat around the back of the castle, and he knew they would not leave it in peace.

Locating his cart, Giacomo began securing everything in the back so the hasty journey wouldn’t decimate his wares. His horse stood nearby, grazing unconcernedly.

“Come on,” Giacomo said desperately, pulling the horse over to his cart. When he turned, a thin figure sat in the driver’s seat of the cart. “I’m going! Damn your king, I’m going!”

“You would speak of my father like that?” The figure said in a voice that made Giacomo’s heart beat faster. In shock, he merely stood in place as the figure jumped down from the cart, and pulled down the hood. Princess Heather of House Sien smiled gently as her white-blonde hair fell, thick in a braid. She’d changed from her gowns to a simple shirt and pants, bland and unremarkable. A sword adorned her round hip. Clutched in her hand was a sack, presumably her necessities. “I’m coming with you,” she said. “There is no place for me here.”

“Why do you think they are banishing me?” Giacomo said frantically. “For exactly this crime.”

“I love you, Giacomo,” Heather replied, flouncing up to him and kissing him. “I’ll go with you, or I’ll take my own life here. Please.”

“They’ll recognize you,” Giacomo argued half-heartedly.

“Not if you can do what they say,” Heather replied. Heaving a sigh, Giacomo kissed her on the lips, then scurried to his cart.

“I have such a thing,” he replied, quickly finding the phial. It was a large phial, filled with a pink liquid. “Take a drink, and you’ll grow fat and large.”

“And why would I want that?” Heather said, cocking a hip.

“Because Princess Heather is thin and beautiful,” Giacomo answered. “I cannot leave with someone who is quite obviously the princess. And it is temporary. By the time we are long gone from your father’s lands, you will be back to yourself.”

“That is acceptable, then,” Heather replied cheerfully, still casting the phial a nervous look. He handed her the glass phial and she took a small sip. “It is bitter, my darling.” Cursing himself for his foolishness, Giacomo blindly pulled a smaller phial from the cart and poured it into the larger one. It bubbled and fizzed before resuming its pink hue.

“Try it now,” he urged. “And please hurry.”

“Alright, my dear,” she said, gulping the rest of the mixture. “My goodness!” She added, handing him the empty glass. “It tastes of ripe fruit.” Her slim belly gave a gurgle. After a second, the princess gasped. Her loose-fitted clothes now grew tight as every bit of her swelled. Her beautiful female curves billowed and thickened. The slim belly now bulged out, pushing her shirt up and the waist of her pants down. After a few minutes, the princess stopped growing, a big, fat parody of herself. Thick, sausage-like fingers pushed some stray hairs from her chipmunk cheeks as she examined herself in bemusement.

“What do I do now?” She asked, looking back at him. His heart still skipped a beat for her, and she didn’t miss it as she scrutinized his face. “Was this part of your plan? You like the overfed girls?” She leaned forward at her thick waist, hands on her fat hips. “Will this wear off?”

Giacomo opened and closed his mouth several times. “This seems like a trick,” he replied softly, and Heather laughed, her belly shaking.

“Well, it is not the worst thing, so I’ve heard,” Heather felt around herself again. “It will just take some getting used to. All part of the adventure!” She sounded quite content, and Giacomo allowed himself to smile. No other princess would be fine with being fattened like a cow, yet his dear Heather seemed ready to be this way forever. Suddenly, her gut gurgled again. “What?”

In horror, Giacomo watched as all the fat the princess obtained melted away. Within seconds, the slim, very recognizable Heather stood before him again, looking at her loose clothing in confusion.

“This wasn’t the plan,” Giacomo squeaked, dashing up to the princess. She still had the phials in her hand, and she surrendered them, her sweet face concerned. He scrutinized them, heart freezing. “Oh gods…” He took a frightened step from her as a hissing sound filled the air. It reminded him of an angry snake, yet it filled the air without pause.

“What is that?” Heather asked, looking around for the source.

“You,” Giacomo said, voice strangled.

“Me?” Heather said, surprised.

“I thought I grabbed a flavoring solution for your potion, but I grabbed something else,” Giacomo admitted.

“What does this something else do?” Heather pressed.

“You’ll see.”

Heather went to argue when her belly made a reappearance. On her willowy body, it stood out like a large bubble, finding the gap in the clothing it had previously made. She felt it and looked up at Giacomo in shock. Mouthing words she couldn’t find the voice for, she watched as it swelled, filling her hands and then some. “By the gods,” she murmured, rubbing it. Like rubbing glass with wet hands, it made a squeaking sound that could not be further from the sound of flesh. After a few moments, her belly had swollen beyond any pregnant woman either lover had ever seen, bigger than when she was fat.

“Any way you can reverse it?” Heather asked, looking at her shining orb of a belly.

“Not right away,” Giacomo said. “At the very least, it’s temporary- oh dear.”

Heather’s loose-fitting pants had grown tight around her legs, giving them a very defined round shape. Giant calves rubbed against even bigger thighs, which nestled under her vast, protruding butt. With a loud pop, her sword belt burst off, falling to the grass.

“That was my father’s,” Heather muttered. She had adopted a very wide stance as her legs grew thicker and wider. Her simple shirt had shed all of its buttons as her small chest blossomed, two great globes sitting atop her swelling body. Giacomo took another step back, staring mesmerized at his handiwork. Heather’s slender neck had been swallowed by her body, which began to lose definition all around. Her legs vanished into her posterior, which in turn became the lower half of her globular form. Her vast breasts and thick arms disappeared. The transformation took only a few minutes, but now the once-slim princess outsized his cart. She probably wouldn’t even fit through the main gates. At least her clothes remained in one piece, the young man thought, mind filled with the unchivalrous knowledge of the princess he already possessed. Sneaking her out as a fat peasant would have been embarrassing enough, but her bursting her clothes for all the kingdom to see… She might even beg for a needle, to end the shame. After several moments, the hissing died away, leaving the princess huge, round, and helpless.

“I liked the fat better,” Heather mused as Giacomo slowly rolled her face down to his level. “At least I could move. And wear clothes.”

“I have connections,” Giacomo promised, finding her fingers amongst her swollen flesh. “You will be clothed. How do you feel?”

“Big,” she said. “Any good news you can offer?”

“None,” Giacomo said sadly. “You will not fit on my cart, much less through the main gates.”

“I can see why I have been your only lover,” the princess groaned.

“But I won’t leave you! I’ll think of something.”

“Guards!” A distant voice called. “Guards! The princess is gone! Find her! Find the Healer!” Giacomo and Heather shared a look.

“Think quickly,” Heather pleaded. “I’m in no shape to wield a sword.”

Spurred into action, Giacomo dashed to the cart, looking through his bottles and phials. Damn my filing system!He cursed himself. I mixed potions that should never be mixed.He rifled through various potions as Heather whimpered. Wait.A clear potion caught his eye first, then the series of ropes in the corner of his cart, then the loops of wood at the ceiling. He now had a clear idea of how Heather had gotten as big as she had, and the road to recovery was long. It would be longer still after he implemented his plan. Grabbing the potion and the ropes, Giacomo dashed toward his enormous love.

“What are you doing?” Heather asked as he rolled her head up.

“Do you trust me?” He asked. Smiling, she nodded.

“Good, because I need you much bigger.”

“Say that again?”

Wordlessly, he stuck the phial in-between her fingers, which easily held the phial’s neck. Then he tied one rope to each of her feet, one to each of her hands. Hurriedly, he tied the other ends to his cart. Finally, he rolled her body so her head came to his level again.

“Promise me you still love me?”

“I do,” she said, her voice steady.

“Even if this isn’t quickly reversible?”

“I made my choice,” she answered. With a peck of her lips, he took the potion and emptied it into her mouth. Then he dashed back to the cart, turning her to keep facing him. He had barely stepped foot on the cart when Heather let out a muffled squeak. With a loud groan, her body began to swell again, the hissing in the air. Her orb-like body grew, bigger and bigger. Her clothes couldn’t cover her pink skin, barely able to cover her unmentionables. She rolled forward onto her stomach, her pretty face straining as she looked at Giacomo.

“This feels even more uncomfortable,” she said, panting, as though it took energy to keep herself in one piece. “Why am I getting bigger?”

Giacomo opened his mouth to answer when the princess shrieked. She had left the ground! Continually growing, filling with his special gas, Heather took to the air. As she rose, he saw the guards come rushing around the corner. Hands up, Giacomo looked up at Heather’s huge form. She floated languidly above the cart, slowly rising.

“What in the name of the gods is that?” One guard cried.

“Crossbows!” Shouted the other.

“No!” Giacomo cried. “That’s the princess!”

“You lie,” the guards sneered, raising his crossbow.

“It is me!” Heather cried, her moon-shaped body rotating. The guards looked at her, swooning in shock. The woman’s face and hair they knew without question. Grinning sheepishly, she wiggled her fingers. With a bump, the cart’s wheels left the ground.

Inside the highest tower of the castle, the king paced frantically. Of course his rebellious daughter would abscond with that charlatan. It was the reason for his banishment in the first place. He didn’t realize she loved the scoundrel enough to leave her life of royalty behind. Something outside blocked the window and he turned, startled by the darkness. What looked like a wall of clothed flesh blocked up the window, yet it was moving as though rising.

“What the…?” He muttered, stepping up to the portal. Suddenly, the small, beautiful face of his daughter floated into view, smiling timidly.

“Hello, daddy,” she said, her head already threatening to disappear from view. “I love you, and I’ll miss you.”

“What has he done?” The king cried, reaching out for her. His fingers scrabbled uselessly against her smooth, shiny skin, and she floated away. The last thing he saw was the exile’s cart, tied to his child like some grim attempt at flight. A breeze blew by, carrying the enormous girl over the castle walls and away over the horizon, setting like a small sun.

“Well, that could have gone better,” Giacomo moaned. The countryside drifted by below him, a great, round shadow marking the princess’ travel. The young woman’s face, partially obscured by her silver hair and her own bulk, still looked delighted as she soared, higher than any bird. If only it happened some other way,he thought. She was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever happened upon. He could get used to her size and shape. He’d have to, since her recovery was unknown.

“Giacomo, my sweet,” Heather called.

“Waiting!” He replied, pulled out of her thoughts.

“Where are we going?”

“Wherever you take us, my lady.”

She giggled, shaking her body and the cart. “I like that. As long as I’m with you.”

End?