King Alexander III was the handsomest man in the land, if not the world. When he sat upon the throne, with the golden crown on his flaxen hair and the kingly dignity in his smooth formed face and well formed figure, everyone had to agree that a greater sight had never been seen.

Alas! They also had to agree that a vainer, more uncaring ruler had never existed. It was as if the trim beauty had used up all the goodness needed for compassion and justice. Taxes and corruption ran rampant through the land as people cried out and felt the pain of their monarch's misrule.

One of Alexander's subjects was a plain young man named Jack. He was a simple and pleasant fellow, if a bit far too skinny and lanky to be very attractive. Still, looks aside, the young man always tried to make the people around him happy. If there was a way he could help his neighbor, Jack would find it. As a result, the youth was as beloved as his ruler was hated and feared...

If the King had known of this, he might have made the life of this fine soul a misery, but the worlds between the two men were too far apart for such a thing to happen.

Until...

One day, after Jack had spent a morning selling his produce in the marketplace, the young man walked off in search of a quiet and cool place to eat his small lunch.

Approaching a group of trees near the royal castle, Jack heard the feeble cries of an old woman. Hiding behind a tree, Jack watched as two burly guards passed by, cruelly dragging along a hysterical old crone.

"Can't a great Monarch spare just a crumb of bread?"

"Begone, Hag, before we use you for an archery target!"

"She might be too slow for a good shot!"

The two soldiers laughed cruelly, when, to their surprise a young man leapt forward.

"Mother, what are YOU doing pestering these busy men!"

Watching in surprise, the guards looked on as Jack, yelling threats of punishment at the old woman, dragged his "Mother" off into the woods.

After hurrying along until he felt it was safe for the two of them, Jack sat down with his elderly companion.

"I am sorry I had to pull you off like that," Jack addressed the woman, "but they would have shot at you unless they thought someone would be dealing with you..."

"Please, eat this if you are hungry," the young man continued as he pulled out his small meal. Placing simple flask and food in between him and the old woman, Jack said, "It isn't much, but you are welcome to enjoy it with me."

The old lady burst into laughter, cackling until the tears ran down her cheeks.

"You - you - you will be the perfect man for this!" She gasped between laughs.

"What?"

"To rule the king!"

"What!"

"I am here to find the man who will give the king some feelings and conscience. You are the one!"

Passing her hand over the food and drink that Jack had set out, the crone uttered a few words. To Jack's astonishment, the simple sandwich of brown bread and crude curds he usually ate had become a fine loaf stuffed with rare spiced cheese.

"Pull out your flask dear," the crone told Jack.

Pulling it out, Jack tasted the water he had filled it with. The unexpected flavor and foam of good beer flowed over his tongue.

"With these foods, you will have the power to conquer your king's vanity and hard heart. When you seem to run low on supplies, just say:

Not a great rhyme, but it will do to replenish and increase your food. Just always eat it without greed."

With a final farewell, the old crone vanished with a puff of smoke.

Jack sat in shock, staring at the wisps of smoke still drifting about in the summer breeze. He was so stunned that he didn't even try to run when the two soldiers rushed over and grabbed him.

Before Jack fully realized what had happened, he had been roughly brought in front of King Alexander III.

Surrounding the Monarch were the very handsome men of the royal court, but their male slim sculpted beauty, which had very few equals in the land, dimmed when placed next to that of their ruler. Even frightened and unsure, Jack had to admit he had never seen such a handsome man before. Seated on the throne, His Majesty looked every inch the man that had all the princesses (and most of the princes) of the land swooning in desire. The sun shone down on the gold of his crown and glistening, flowing hair. The flashing eyes, full mouth and rigid chin of the fine face made it hard for the onlooker to lower his gaze and take in the trim body that was sheathed in fine linen and silk, another fine view on its own, but not to be outdone by the full thighs and well shaped legs (not to mention bulging codpiece) that filled the royal tights.

Quickly, the guards informed King Alexander of what had occurred in the woods.

"Rule the King, eh?!?!"

"Get power - a skinny stick like that?!?!"

The court and its Monarch stared in amused surprise at the humble scarecrow of a young man before them.

"Bring in the witch's food." Alexander ordered.

Looking intently at Jack, the King broke off chunks of the bread and passed them out to the others in the room, noblemen and soldiers alike, saving the largest amount for himself. Guards and courtiers followed the lead of their Sovereign as they all swallowed the enchanted food and washed it down with the magic beer. Not a crumb remained.

"There goes your glory, you spindle-shanked peasant!" Alexander said coldly, turning to the guards, the King added, "take him away."

Only when Jack was alone in his dungeon cell, could he begin to think.

It had all happened so fast that he had barely understood what had happened from the moment he rescued the old woman to the minute that the cell door clanged shut.

And now he was locked up -- some savior he was!

Suddenly a thought came to Jack.

"...always eat it without greed."

Jack stifled a laugh as the witch's reason for that remark suddenly became clear in his mind. Grinning broadly, Jack began to recited the rhyme:

Alexander walked in the courtyard and reviewed the castle guard.

"BUUUUURRRRRPPPPP..."

A very long, very undignified royal belch echoed through the courtyard, while the courtiers and soldiers bit back their smiles. Looking around fiercely, the King proceeded to his evening meal.

For some reason he wasn't very hungry...

Sunlight streamed into the royal bechamber as Alexander struggled to fit into his tights. Finally, with the help of two pages, the smooth silk was stretched over the full limbs.

The servants slipped away, leaving the King staring at himself in the mirror. His figure looked as handsome as ever, the striped hose tightly showing the smooth long curves of his legs in flowing vertical colors, and his torso smoothly outlined by the close fit of his shirt.

But there seemed to be TOO much tightness and close fit.

"Still, it didn't matter...," Alexander thought with a smile -- he was a slim as ever.

Throughout the day, it seemed that every man in the court was suffering from some mild discomfort. As discreetly as possible, the nobles would gently tug at their tight fitting outfits, while the coarser guards were seen undoing their belts and shifting their leggings...

"Not again!"

The royal chef looked in despair at the untouched trays of food that had been brought back from the dining hall.

"No one was hungry," a footman replied with a shrug.

"Send it to the guard's mess." the chef.

"They won't touch it either."

"IDIOT!"

A young pageboy ducked a regally thrown brush.

"How dare you let this outfit shrink!"

Alexander stood angrily in a pair of satin breeches that clung about his thighs. A slight roundness of the belly prevented the full fastening of the clasps and left the king standing half naked, his long thick cock hanging out over the untied codpiece.

A mighty belch shifted the man's attention for a moment as he turned to his mirror and looked at himself, his hand resting gently on his stomach.

Why wasn't he hungry any more?

Jack sat in front of the empty tray. He had finished a MARVELOUS meal, straight from the royal table. He had been enjoying the King's uneaten meals for a few days now and had never seen, let alone tasted, such food before.

It was better than sweating in a field!

As a guard entered to remove the tray. As he bent down to take it, Jack quietly began reciting the rhyme again.

"RIPPPP!!!"

The guard cursed as the stretched rear panel of his tights broke apart...

Upstairs, a very uncomfortable monarch entered his throne room. Alexander walked with carefully measured step now as every movement made him feel the cutting tightness of his clothes. He was truly gaining weight and only this morning discovered that not one of his shrinking shirts could fit over his rounded pot belly. He had actually had to order the pages to lace him into a corset!

Reaching the throne, the King very delicately sat himself on his throne.

But not delicately enough. Alexander grimaced as he heard the gentle snapping noise of tired silk pulling apart at the pressure from his uncorseted rump. The ruler felt so miserable that he didn't even notice the hesitance of his courtiers as they began their deep bows to His Majesty.

Bows which all ended with a universal blushing as each man, all too uncomfortable in their own tight clothing and bindings, ripped out the seams of their tights and breeches.

Like the rest of the court, Jack himself began to fill out as well. However, unlike the men who had eaten the magic loaf, it was the natural result of long rest in the cell and good food that was being constantly discarded by the king.

Soon healthy flesh began to thicken out the spare frame of bone and muscle. Jack soon found that he was several belt notches larger than when he had been thrown into the cell...

"PULL!"

King Alexander groaned as three pages pulled at the strings that tightened the corset that bound his increasing middle. he winced as the gathering stays pinched the skin of his belly and lovehandles. After fifteen minutes of straining for further narrowness, the strings were quickly tied in place.

Slowly the swelling monarch let himself get pulled into his clothes, looking distastefully at the extra panels that had been sewn in to keep the royal wardrobe useable. In fact, the royal tailor was overwhelmed by the number of extra panels he had to insert into the silk and satin outfits of the court -- many of which had only just been completed to begin with. Similarly, the royal armourer found himself under the constant demand of the soldiers to open out their chain mail and increase the width of the shielding.

Jack murmured softly as he looked out the cell window and watched the procession of feet that meant that King Alexander was heading to the castle gate to receive public petitions. An opportunity the ruler often used to humiliate the petitioners.

"He's getting fat!"

"What a belly on that guard!"

The local townsmen whispered in fascination as they watched the king and his court assemble at the gate.

King Alexander ignored the stares and the feeling of mounting pressure that ran through his body. Haughtily, he reached for the first petition, held by a trembling hand...

"SPROINGGGG!!!!"

A corset string snapped with a loud report.

Desperately, the monarch held his sides -- to little effect. Like bread dough rising out of a small covered pot, his belly flab began to swell out of the constraints of the loosened binding stays, pushing away the covering clothes.

The crowd outside the gate was suddenly treated to the sight of the royal navel and midrif.

They watched in puzzled silence as other loud snapping noises were heard. Soon all the men of the regal procession were clutching at the bulking bellies that had broken through the girdles, stays and tight clothes.

All at once the King and his followers turned and rushed back into the castle, their ears ringing with the laughter of the populace (who doubled their laughter at the sight of the crowd of tushes that flashed out of the retreating tights).

A waddling soldier closed the front gate, puffing and grunting as he moved both the considerable heft of the gate and his paunch.

"You have had a time of it, lad."

Jack looked up from his cot where he had been resting. The crone was standing before him with a very satisfied smile.

"It will soon be time for you to take your place as King Alexander's ruler."

"I have been wondering about that -- how can a nobody like me rule a king?"

"Through his heart. A kind, sweet man like you can win over anyone, especially a monarch who prefers masculine charms."

"You mean -- love?"

"What else? It seems to be your desire too. Of course you have made some changes to him already..."

Jack smiled.

"If I know you, you will find him even more to your liking now."

Jack began to blush.

"And the way your prison food has filled you out, I don't think his Majesty will think that you are such a 'Spindle- shanks' anymore. Still, we had better clean you up a bit..."

Watching the old woman wave her hand, Jack suddenly felt different. He looked down at himself and saw that the dingy peasant clothes he had been wearing (and beginning to outgrow) had been replaced by the clean linens and fine fabrics of a prince.

"Look at yourself, a perfect consort!"

With those words the witch conjured up a full length mirror. Jack was astounded at what he saw. This was no hollow cheeked, skinny figure, but a smooth faced, shapely stout man with chestnut colored hair curling around the surprised face.

"Now you will soon be brought up to Alexander. Be bold, my dear and remember, you are in control. Now good fortune!"

With those kind words, the mirror and its deliverer disappeared from the room.

Two hulking soldiers puffed their way up the stairs, the prisoner in between them. Jack smiled as he watched the sway of their bellies under the chain mail of their uniform.

Glancing at their thick bare legs and the slight hints of flesh- tone beneath the lacings of the armour, Jack knew that the chain mail was probably all they had to wear now.

As he was led into the throne room, Jack quietly murmured the rhyme a few times. Even before he entered, Jack could hear the belches of men who's never-empty bellies had just been stuffed with even more food.

Still, even knowing what he had been doing, Jack gave a gasp as he arrived before the court.

All the men he had seen on that first day were there...

But there was SO MUCH MORE of them!!!

The gathering of the handsome, slim-faced courtiers had become a of group of chubby-cheeked, double-chinned men who could barely fit in the tight suits that gave the room a carnival feeling with their gaudy colors made up of panels inserted by the harried clothiers who had run low on matching cloth. Indeed the cloth insertions emphasized the heft that was threatening burst each and every seam. Heavy arms rested on protruding paunches that jutted out above straining belts.

The royal guardsmen were standing at attention throughout the room. Their plump faces poked through their helmets, the chinstraps dangling undone for lack of leather to cross the flesh that had been added to their necks and chins.

They had the same bare-legged, overstuffed look of the men who had accompanied Jack, but some of them sported guts that had broken through the chain mail and sagged down. A few of the smarter big paunched men rested their fleshy fronts on top of the chairs and tables that were closest to their posts.

The court of lithe male beauty had become FAT.

And Jack found it a very sexy sight.

Already aroused by the sight of the of the swelling court, when he arrived before King Alexander, Jack felt his cock filling out the generous proportions of his codpiece.

The man who had eaten the most of the magic meal was now fatter and more glorious than anyone else in the room. The crown and mane of gold hair topped the very attractive face that had become cherub-like with its dimpling flesh. The neck that had led into the trim torso had vanished, swallowed up by the meaty, broad shoulders. Alexander was wearing a fine linen shirt as usual, but it was fully unlaced and cut open down the front to allow for the wide chest that looked like two thick pillows above the fat filled sack of a belly. The thighs had become very thick and were spread out to let the gut rest between them. The stripes that had once showed the litheness of the legs now showed up every bit of the fat that swelled them out. The generous ass and hips could barely fit in between the steep arms of the throne.

His Majesty was the fattest, handsomest man Jack had ever seen.

In his turn, King Alexander looked over the man before him. This was a man who might have fit into his own court (if not his bedchamber). The sturdy limbs and well developed figure clad in the rich fabric of a well born man.

Those fine eyes and that kissable mouth... This was not the gawky fool that he had thrown into prison!

Alexander could feel the stitching that did up his abundantly filled codpiece give way.

"You are the prisoner?"

"The same Your Majesty," Jack replied with a deep bow of the type that had not graced the throne room for a long time.

It took a while for the King to stop staring.

Finally, holding his big belly in his hand, the monarch spoke, "Are you the reason for this?"

"It seems so, Your Majesty, but Your Majesty should remember that he and his court had eaten something that did not belong to them."

"It was our right to do so."

"Then it was not my fault if any spells took hold."

"Guards!" Alexander called in some reluctance, for in his heart he did not want to lose sight of the man standing before him.

With a laugh, Jack speedily recited the rhyme several times.

As he watched the result, Jack could barely control himself...

The large paunches softly rumble as they began to grow. The guards who had moved forwards to seize Jack stopped in belching horror as the metal of their chain mail gave way, leaving them fully naked in all their obesity.

Thread by thread, the tightly stretched fabric covering the generous middles of the nobles split apart allowing, first a bit of navel, then more and more of the belly to show out. Jack laughed as the sound of ripping fabric, soft at first, but louder and harsher as the growing bellyfat pressed out of their constrictions, echoed through the room. Soon, only a few shreds here and there on the wide paunches were left to show any sign of the shirts.

Turning before his king, Jack watched as the swelling thighs of royalty cracked apart the arms of the throne. He gazed admiringly at the gut that drooped lower and lower.

Walking up to the swelling man, Jack reached below the round load of flab and felt the thick, hot cock that had reduced the codpiece of the royal tights to rags. Both men gasped at the pleasurable contact.

"I want you."

Both men smiled as they heard each other utter those words. Lips met and mouths blended, as the two men joined together in love. The King's hard heart and cold vanity were shaken by the changes in himself and warmed by the delight of the man he has kissing. Anything could happen to him so long as he could be happy with this beautiful man who had enchanted him. Jack felt the thick, soft pressure of the massive Monarch's belly against him and thought happily about his destiny as this fat, gorgeous man's consort.

All through the room, fat men stood stunned at the sight of the prisoner and their ruler making love. The only sounds were the happy moans of King Alexander and Jack as they approached climax, and the tearing of fabric as the bread and beer finished its work in their bellies...

The country is a much happier one now. Indeed the haunted, starving look that had once been common had been replaced by that of the chubby, well-fed man who is proud of his country, the chubby, well loved King Alexander and the wise prince-consort, Jack.

To this day the royal couple can be seen at their well- fattened court, seated in the sturdy double throne that can support the monarch's vast bulk, which to the pleasure of Jack and himself is fatter than ever. The men rule well and with care and are more in love with each other than ever.

Once in a while, Jack can be heard from the royal bedchamber reciting with King Alexander:

Those who listen, smile and loosen their capacious belts as they make way for the fatness that helped their monarch replace his vanity and cruelty with love, happiness and chubbiness.