A Line of Soft Princes - Ch. 9 - Spring Break

The last few weeks of spring brought quiet to the crown princess’ palace. It was the lull before the summer social season. Evie insisted they make the most of it. “You’ve not really had to go through an entire season before, my dear. Four months of endless court festivities will knock you flat, so we must enjoy our freedom while we can.”

The couple went riding most mornings. In the afternoons, Evie would take time to go through her correspondence. Bartem would usually find a comfortable spot in whatever room she was in to lounge with a novel. He found himself reading paragraphs again and again, his mind wandering back to the Driesens’ party, and Lucas.

His memories of that entire evening felt like a blur. Everything had happened so quickly, and it had all been so much to take in that even now, weeks later, he had not quite eased back into daily life. He found himself thinking often of how freeing it had been to be surrounded by others who were so open with their desires. Being able to confidently approach another man and flex his seductive capabilities without concern over who might see had been a heady rush. He hadn’t realized how much he missed flirting with different people, or how satisfying it would be to bed a man after months of thinking he would have to do without for the rest of his life.

If Evie noticed his inattention, she didn’t say anything. He had come to realize this was a sign of respect from her. Where some wives expected their husbands to be at their beck and call, Evie never assumed he was available to her, even if they had been in the same room for hours and she had watched Bartem staring at the ceiling for the last thirty minutes, idling away his time. She would always ask if he was busy before inviting him to join her in one activity or another. He suspected she knew just how limited one’s freedom was as a royal and wanted to ensure she was not a tyrant in her own home. Leisure time was a precious commodity to her, and she wasn’t interested in taking it away from him.

One particularly hot afternoon, she stood from her desk, ink staining the tips of her fingers after hours of writing letters and signing documents. Bartem had found a seat by a set of windowed doors that opened out onto a balcony overlooking the garden. A large empty bowl, sticky with the remains of what had been a small mountain of mint ice cream, sat on a low table beside him. She moved to stand beside his chair, resting her hand along the back of it. A breeze blew through the open doorway, carrying the scent of wisteria with it. “We are lucky, aren’t we, my dear?” she asked as she breathed in the fine air.

“The luckiest,” Bartem said, though he wasn’t entirely sure if he agreed right then. He had eaten nearly four bowls of ice cream in an effort to cool off, and each one had been dauntingly large. His stomach had felt comfortingly chilly at first, but now he just felt bloated and sluggish, which only made the heat worse. He was dismayed to find that over-the-top indulgence like his ice cream binge was becoming mundane to him. Some part of him had assumed the whole being-a-prince thing wouldn’t have much effect on him, that falling into the rhythms of married life wouldn’t change him.

Before, he would’ve enjoyed the weather. Gone riding, found some sparkling pond to swim in, maybe taken a nap in the shade, found a partner to fondle and fuck once the cool night air returned. Instead, here he was, stuffed to the gills in the middle of a hot summer day, too full for much of anything besides lazing around and digesting. He told himself that this was to be expected, and that it wouldn’t go on forever. He was merely bored and hadn’t yet found out all that he could do with his newfound wealth and power and status. He would stop overeating once he had a little more purpose. The summer social season would set him to rights, he was sure.

Evie leaned over the back of the chair and kissed the top of his head. “I’d like to enjoy the sunshine for a bit. Would you care for a picnic out near the ruins? That would be a nice walk.”

The idea of trudging through the heat in his state made his stomach turn. “Perhaps another day. I’d like to opt for something… cooler.” He made a face as he said it, at once disappointed in himself and grateful to know she wouldn’t push the issue. He had no desire to sweat in his condition.

She hummed a little, trying to think up another idea. “Oh! It’s been some time since we went for a swim. Perfect for a hot day.” She ran a finger along his cheek.

He took her hand and turned, kissing her soft palm. He looked up at her as her fingers traced along his cheek. Her skin shone like white marble in the afternoon sun. He wondered what bathing costume she might choose for the day. He hoped it would be scandalous. “A lazy afternoon by the pool sounds like just the ticket.” His hand unconsciously ran over the swell of his stomach. He didn’t notice the way Evie’s eyes followed the movement like a hawk sighting prey.

“I’ll have the servants bring our things down to the dressing room next to the solarium and meet you down there, then.” She kissed his cheek and walked off. Bartem took a deep breath, knowing it would be a moment before he could will himself to stand.

***

Bartem felt a tad self-conscious as he walked out of the dressing room and onto the cool tile that surrounded the saltwater pool. The swimwear he’d been provided was scanty, barely covering his backside and covered a bit at the front by his stomach. It wasn’t exactly embarrassing, given that Evie and the servants were the only ones who were going to see him like this; truthfully, he was most concerned by how large he felt. He’d looked at himself in the mirror as he dressed and been a bit taken aback. He hadn’t looked at himself nude in some time, and he looked far softer than he remembered. He knew part of the reason he looked bigger was that afternoon’s ice cream binge, but that didn’t explain why his love handles looked puffier, or why his thighs had more jiggle to them than they ever had before.

He was realizing how easy it would be to puff up without even trying, and how hard he would have to work to keep his pre-nuptial figure. He consoled himself by resolving to take more walks and make more time for riding, and of course eat less. Once the social season began, he planned to spend the days rubbing elbows with nobility and the evenings dancing until his shoes wore out. He needn’t let himself run to fat, even if he was a princess’ consort. Even if everyone expected him to. Even if that might’ve been easier...

As he walked to the edge of the pool, he saw that Evie was already swimming. Her swimming costume was as scandalous as he’d hoped, and not dissimilar to his own. She wore only a simple, heavily embroidered breast band and bottoms like his own that were designed to cover the important bits and not much else. She swam toward him, her eyes large and dark, stopping at the edge and looking up at him. “I must say, I’m really enjoying this view.”

“Oh?” He struck a pose, one hand on his hip, the other outstretched, like some ancient statue. She giggled, and he winked at her. “Always glad to be of service.”

He slipped into the pool with a dreamy sigh, grateful for the cold water. He rolled onto his back and floated, staring up at the intricate glass structure that enclosed the entire pool area. It was a relatively recent addition to the palace. Evie had added the solarium and the pool just a few years before when she had taken up residence at the palace. It was, to his knowledge, the only one of its kind in the entire country. There were ancient spring-fed baths in some places that were still in operation, and he had visited other nobles who had well-managed ponds and little lakes, but there was nothing so grand as this where one could slip into perfectly clear, clean, cool water without worrying about one’s feet touching some slimy growing thing on the pool-bottom, or some ambitious fish taking a nibble. Evie was forward-thinking when it came to life’s pleasures, and Bartem was more than happy to reap the benefits.

He floated contentedly for a while. Evie watched him, marveling both at the hard, round apex of his belly and the softness it accentuated. Since they’d been married, his weight had mostly been stable, but she could see now that he was beginning to succumb to palace life in the most delicious way. Watching him grow fascinated her, and seeing him floating atop the water, nearly nude, gravity pulling at parts of his body that had only recently grown soft, felt like a gift designed just for her.

They whiled away the hottest part of the afternoon in the water. At one point, after he’d digested more, Bartem managed to pick Evie up out of the water and toss her back into the deepest part of the pool. After that, the lazy day devolved into them splashing each other and Evie attempting to get her revenge only to have Bartem toss her back into the pool again and again. They exited the pool with the sun low in the sky. Servants wrapped them both in enormous, fluffy towels. They walked back Evie’s quarters, bumping hips and teasing each other, Evie still plotting her revenge, assuring him that one day she would shove him right into the pool when he least expected it.

The couple ate in bed that night, hungry after their active afternoon. It was all simple fare, a selection of small plates of their favorites. It was, as usual, far more than either of them needed. Bartem ate until he was full, and then a little more, but not so much that he wouldn’t be able to sleep. He told himself he had earned it.

Evie cuddled close to him that night, her hand resting on the soft mound of his belly, lulled to sleep by the sounds of it digesting their evening repast. She had happy dreams of the months ahead of them, filled with the thickening waistlines and feasting she had come to expect from summer.