CHAPTER 3
Later that day, in the early afternoon before the ceremony.
Heidi sat atop her throne. The hall was filling quickly, she watched as a number of servants scurried around the room attempting to complete their various tasks before the important guests arrived. The Princess was trying to keep out of the way as to avoid potential onlookers.
Since the Princess had left the confines of her room she'd attracted more attention than she was expecting.
Heidi noticed many of the shocked expressions on her guest's faces. It seemed whatever they had been told about the Princess prior to today seems to have underprepared their expectations, leaving them in a state of shock. It wasn't just the guests who noticed some of the more ample changes. Though most had the decency to avoid saying anything, she had already caught a few of her own constituents making quick glances or catching their gaze during their long-eyed stares. Overall, everyone seemed surprised at the goddess that sat in front of them. While she enjoyed some of the looks she was getting, the extra focus was making her somewhat uncomfortable.
"When was this supposed to get started?", the Princess asked a nearby servant.
"The ceremony will be starting shortly, m'lady. Is there anything I could do for you in the meantime? You look flushed, are you feeling alright?" The servant asked as she put down her tray, temporarily pausing her duties to assist the Princess if necessary.
Her loins were already tingling and her face felt flush, the servant drawing attention to it only seemed to magnify the effects.
"No.. that won't be necessary. Just continue with your duties, I'm feeling fine." Heidi told the servant.
"It's just stress,"
Heidi thought, but the more she tried to repress her feelings the stronger the sensations.
The servant nodded as she moved to continue with her task. Heidi briefly stopped her with a short request, "Actually, do you think you could find Sophie for me? I need to talk to her about something important."
With a second nod the servant moved on.
Sophie hadn't been at the Princess's side as she normally would've been. Her hand maiden was present only briefly but has since disappeared. It was likely that she was merely busy with some other task that she was assigned; and with a few of the expected suitors yet to arrive there was certainly no shortage of preparations still left to be made. Regardless of where Sophie was, the Princess would have preferred her to be at her side right now.
The whole situation frustrated the Princess. It all seemed like much too much effort for something as pointless as marriage -- which was little more than a ridiculous business transaction. Heidi is royalty, she's already a Princess. She was already old enough for the crown, twenty-one as dictated by her father's last testament, it was just tedious red-tape holding her back from her rightful rule. Whether she agreed with it or not, Heidi needed the suitors if she wanted her kingdom. Unfortunately, the suitors that had already arrived left much to be desired.
Many of her potential suitors were hardly men at all, some barely looked a day over fifteen and others weren't much beyond skin and bones. As they'd arrived the Princess would be expected to welcome them to her late father's kingdom and wish each of them luck in tomorrow's festivities. Each of them would be expected to participate in a series of games to win her affection.
Heidi wasn't a fool, she understood how this worked, and only begrudgingly partook in the ritual.
Her kingdom used to be quite the envy in its heyday, back when her father ran the land there was bountiful prosperity. The kingdom had flourished in peacetime, building up considerable wealth and influence with their many neighbors. However, not all good things are meant to last. After a series of wars, the latest of which led to the death of her father, the royal treasury was starting to run a little lean and the kingdom desperately needed a ruler to take charge and rescue them from their situation. Heidi was the only heir to the throne and whether by her ignorance or a lack of confidence the only available Princess was hardly in any position to rule her father's kingdom. The dire situation did not leave her many alternative options; a marriage was seen as a great chance to unite the faltering kingdom with another.
Heidi hardly wanted to worry herself about the minutiae of the pending proceedings, she only had one goal on her mind. Find a great looking Prince - who knows what he's doing in bed. One with a chiseled jaw, rock-hard body and an enormous... - Heidi suddenly snapped out of a lust-filled trance.
As she came back to reality, she moved her hand away from her crotch, where she had been rubbing herself through her dress.
"What the hell has gotten into me."
She thought, shaking out her hands trying to regain some composure.
The Princess inspected her hand as if she was expecting it to be covered in some sort of strange substance. There was no substance, no physical explanation for what she was feeling. She'd been feeling herself up, in the middle of the hall, in front of
all
of these people who could've, at any moment, looked and seen what she was doing.
This wasn't normal for the Princess. Public masturbation wasn't an activity she would typically subscribe to. The Princess bit her lip as her hand subconsciously moved back down to the front of her dress as she tried to discreetly rub at her pussy through the smooth fabric of the gown. She was only vaguely aware of how wet she was getting. Her face felt flushed. Her heart rate accelerated. The problem was, she was deeply enjoying it.
As much as Heidi hated to admit it, the potion was definitely doing more than just physically affecting her. It was already obvious how much of an impact it was having on her libido; she could only hope it wouldn't continue to degrade.
At this rate, it wouldn't be long before her libido wasn't going to let her do anything else.
A sudden sound of trumpets blared into the hall startling the Princess. She snapped up straight and flung her hand away from her crotch. The trumpets were definitely here to announce the arrival of more guests of honor.
"Here we go," Heidi uttered under her breath.
As the procession entered the room Heidi eyed up each of them attempting to discern any potentially worthwhile candidates. Maybe it was a pretty shallow outlook, but Heidi figured with her improved looks she deserved a decently handsome Prince. If she was going to be married for the good of the kingdom she might as well get something out of it.
She grinned at the idea.
As she scanned the newcomers one Prince caught her attention. Unlike the majority of her interested suitors this man stood apart. He had a classy appearance. He attracted her gaze because he looked considerably more seasoned than the rest, and was likely more than a few years older than Heidi. All the while he maintained an air of finesse but appeared solidly built. His tunic, while relatively simple, was decorated by an intricate gold-inlaid around the edges and topped off with a sheathed sword hanging off his belt to complete the ensemble.
Based on his appearance, the precession of his entourage, the numerous coat of arms and the screeching declarations from the court heralds this was clearly Prince Herod.
She wasn't familiar with his kingdom only vaguely recalling they were from somewhere beyond the Mountains and across the Eastern Seas. It was probably covered in one of her many preparations, but all these kingdoms always had hundreds of years of dreadfully boring history, full of wars, famine, and disastrous betrayals; all of which sounded fun on paper, but were written about as if it was just another regular happenstance. Heidi had heard lots of tales from the Eastern Seas; it was a harsh place and this Prince had clearly been up to and seen some serious business. As far as she could tell, his smouldering gaze and refined good looks were enough for her. At this point, she had already decided.
As she stared at him from atop her throne he briefly caught her eye, forcing the Princess to instantly break her gaze.
She could feel her cheeks blushing.
