Untitled

I stood at attention, standing with three other maids in a line, shoulder to shoulder. In front of us sat a lone maid, Gertrude, her head down and holding a small box. She sat in front of a long table that was covered with a small feast fit for ten, if not more. And standing next to her, with one foot on the maid's chair, was Princess Jam.

Princess Jam glared at Gertrude, purple eyes narrowed underneath perfect brown curls. She looked up at the rest of us. "You four," she said, pointing, "prepare your plates."

I looked at the other maids on the line, which looked back with confused faces that surely matched mine. "Your Highness?" I asked.

Princess Jam sighed. "The chef hired an apprentice and they made a bunch of food as a test." She stood up straight and placed a gloved hand on her chest. "I so generously offered to take the food and distribute it among my maids. You four will each prepare a single plate of food and consume it." Nobody moved, processing the princess's words. "Now!" she barked.

The four of us silently ran to the table. I grabbed a plate and began grabbing food. The food stacked high on my plate, chicken legs and fish fillet and sausage links mixed with steamed vegetables and mashed potatoes and mixed fruit, with slices of apple pie and chocolate cake on the side. My fellow maids each had plates stacked high with similar mixtures of food, aside from Olivia, who is vegetarian. We sat down at the table, filled our goblets with some of the wine, and started to eat.

Princess Jam watched us closely, while Gertrude continued to hang her head. We knew better than to question the princess, and if she ordered us to eat, we were to eat as if it was the last meal we would ever have. Any passerby would assume there was a feast filled with twenty people, as the speed and ferocity we ate with matched five regular men each. Sucking, snapping, chewing, gulping, the chorus of our mouths filling the banquet hall.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Princess Jam started to look flushed. Her face reddened and her breathing became labored. The longer we ate, the worse the princess looked. I swallowed down a whole chicken leg, bone and all, before turning to Princess Jam and asking, "Your Highness, are you well?"

"Did I say to stop eating?" she asked. I shook my head. "Then don't stop until there is nothing left but your reflection on the plate!"

"Of course, Your Highness," I muttered out quickly before returning my focus to the plate in front of me.

Before long, the four of us sat with overfull bellies and clean plates. Rosalie let out a long belch, one I echoed in kind. My eyelids grew heavy, a wish for a nap filling my thoughts. Princess Jam cleared her throat. I looked at the princess. "Good. Now, it is time for punishment."

The four of us immediately jumped to our feet. My mind raced, thinking about every possible thing I could have done wrong. I could think of nothing, but Princess Jam did not need an excuse. Slowly, Princess Jam turned towards Gertrude.

"This lowly maid," Princess Jam said, her voice low and threatening, "ruined one of my dresses. One of the sleeves had a slight tear in it, from when she hung it up to dry. I will not tolerate such disrespect from a servant who doesn't make enough in a year to afford even half of one of my dresses. Your punishment will be severe." Princess Jam snapped her fingers. "Marie-Ann, remove the jewelry box from your subordinate's possession." I stepped forward and took the box out of Gertrude's hands. "You three-" Princess Jam pointed to Olivia, Rosalie, and Elizabeth "-prepare the rest of the food on plates. I want a constant line of overflowing plates in front of this disrespectful maid." Princess Jam opened the jewelry box in my hands and took out a pair of simple earrings. She turned to Gertrude. "As for you, you will eat everything in front of you. You will not stop until there is nothing left. And if I feel like you are going too slow-" Princess Jam lifted the earrings above her, dropped them into her open mouth, and swallowed loudly "-then I will take your jewelry and ensure you will never see it again." Princess Jam held a hand out towards the three maids preparing the plates and commanded, "Plate."

I watched silently as Gertrude started to eat. Princess Jam stood, arms crossed and foot tapping. My fellow maids quickly swapped empty plates for full ones and refilled the large goblet after every drink. I counted over twenty plates in just as many minutes. Gertrude ate as fast as she could, her stomach visibly expanding with each finished plate. However, she started to slow with only around one-third of the feast left.

Gertrude breathed hard as another plate was set in front of her. She stuck an entire fish in her mouth, but struggled to swallow it. "Your Highness, please, let me slow down."

Princess Jam said nothing, simply reaching her hand into the jewelry box and pulling out six rings. She popped each one into her mouth individually, then swallowed them all at once.

Gertrude shoveled a mixture of mash potatoes and corn into her mouth, swallowed, then covered her mouth. A small burp snuck out of Gertrude. "Your Highness, pl-" she was interrupted by another burp "-please."

"Hmph." Princess Jam pulled out a pearl necklace, slowly lowered it into her mouth, and swallowed.

"I can't," Gertrude begged, starting to tear up.

Princess Jam ignored Gertrude's pleas and ate a silver hairclip.

Gertrude put another large mouthful of food in her mouth and swallowed, barely forcing the food down.

As Princess Jam lifted a locket out of the box, the sound of ripping filled the hall. Gertrude's maid uniform tore open, her gut spilling out into her lap. She took in a deep breath, her stomach no longer compressed. The locket fell to the floor. Princess Jam stood still, her breath coming in quick gasps. Olivia, Roselia, and Elizabeth stopped shuffling plates. I looked at them with my eyes and slightly nudged my head towards Gertrude. They managed to break out of their stupor and resumed filling plates.

With stomach unbridled, Gertrude resumed her punishment, finishing the rest of the feast with quickness. Princess Jam stepped forward. "I want you to let the entire castle know that you have completed your punishment," she said between breaths, then leaned down and put her ear to Gertrude's belly.

Gertrude blinked slowly, took a deep breath, hiccuped, put a hand to her collarbone, and belched long and loud. The sound echoed through the hall, lasting several seconds after she finished.

Princess Jam stood up, her eyes wild. "Take what's left of your belongings and get out of my sight, you disgusting sow," she said, her voice dripping with disdain.

Gertrude stood up slowly. "Right away, Your-" she belched again "-Your Highness." She took the box out of my hands and bent down to grab the locket on the ground, but struggled to get low enough to actually grab it. I quickly picked the locket up and handed it to Gertrude. "Thank you," she whispered before hurrying off as fast as her enlarged gut would allow.

"As for the rest of you," Princess Jam said without turning around, "return to your duties, starting with the remnants of this feast."