Queen Catalina Vila-Ne-Trimastere sighed, her hands clasped lightly together in front of her. “Do you not like my gift, dear daughter?” She asked, nervously brushing her long dark hair back over her shoulder, red eyes focusing on the younger woman across from her. She was the very model of polite sincerity, her intentions seeming as pure as her white silken dress.

Princess Elenhadien Queyel Dol Fairnest Celest Trimastere, Seventh of her Name, didn’t believe that for a second, of course. She knew this vile enchantress’s soft tongue hid the fangs of a viper. They had to. How else could her presence be explained? There was no way that her father would ever have married this woman if there wasn’t some trickery involved – some devious, poisonous scheme. Her own mother had scarcely been dead for two years, that was no decent amount of time to mourn!

And yet here the raven-haired temptress was, the queen’s tiara resting snugly on her head, framed neatly between her pointed ears. Somehow, Catalina had managed to carry on this charade long enough for the court to allow her father to remarry – and even more galling, Elen had been forced to attend, and even smile, as though this wasn’t the most insulting thing she had ever seen in her life. It had been a travesty. An utter humiliation – one she wouldn’t ever forget.

So no. She didn’t like her stepmother’s ‘gift’.

“It’s alright, I suppose,” she said instead, gracefully accepting the offering as she was bound to do, while leaving no doubt about what she actually thought. Her words held all the subtlety of a brick, and gave the servants who were still moving the ‘gift’ into place all the warning they needed to get the job done and get out of the Princess’s room as quickly as possible.

The Queen, though, gave no sign that she’d noticed the slight. “Oh, wonderful. I’m so glad you like it! As soon as I saw it, I couldn’t help but think of you!” She smiled sweetly. “I know such a small thing could never make up for all the kindness that you’ve shown to me since I first arrived in court, but I hope that it serves as a token of my appreciation, at the very least.”

Princess Elen’s eyes narrowed, and she only just barely managed to hold herself back from snapping at the woman. How dare she! Of all the nerve! As if she hadn’t been trying to throw this harlot out at every opportunity! And now she was being thanked for her kindness? It was like thanking a smith for failing to shoe a horse! Ugh, if only that assassination attempt had succeeded, instead of further driving this woman into her father’s arms…

But, naturally, not a word of that passed her lips. “I will certainly think of you whenever I see it,” she promised instead. “It will be very useful to have such a constant reminder here in my room, so I’ll never forget our relationship.”

The last page working on installing the gift, a youthful boy who couldn’t have been more than twenty years of age, finally slid his side into place, set it down, and then all but bolted out the door, knowing well enough that he didn’t want to be associated with any of this.

And that was it. The mirror – a long oval shaped, full length one, surrounded by a frame of intricately cast silver roses – had been firmly attached to her bedroom wall. Wonderful. Just wonderful. Still, she hadn’t lied – it would indeed server as a reminder. A constant reminder of her failure to expel this witch from her kingdom, and of her duty to make sure that she was removed from court before she could work any further influence upon it.

“Ah…” Queen Catalina’s arm looped around Elen’s shoulders, pulling her close and forcing the younger elf to use all of her firm self-control to stop herself from shuddering. “It’s like I imagined it. And it makes you look lovely, dear!”

“Yes. Thank you. Of course.” The Princess managed to force the words out between gritted teeth.

Then she had to force herself not to flinch as the Queen pressed a kiss against her forehead. “Wonderful! Oh, I do wish I could stay and spend more time with you, dear, but I’m already late for meeting with your father for lunch. Perhaps I’ll see you at dinner tonight?”

“Perhaps,” Elen commented neutrally, firmly but politely stepping out of the hug. Obviously, she would be there. The dinner table was less a place for meals and more a place for forging and maintaining precious political alliances. Only a fool would miss it – who a Princess chose to dine with was something that could carry an awful lot of weight in the correct circles, and she needed every aide that she could get while this impostor wore the Queen’s tiara.

Hopefully, at least, her acquiescing to this stupid gift giving ceremony would have served its purpose of making Catalina look weak by making her late. It would be worth putting up with all of this if she got at least that much out of it. Such were her thoughts as she politely waved the for-now Queen off, and was left alone in her room with her reflection.

Fake smile slipping off her face at last, Elenhadien turned to face the mirror one more time. It… wasn’t awful, she could admit. The glass was clear, the reflection crisp. It wasn’t as though Catalina had made the thing herself. For now, she would tolerate it, let it be the reminder that she’d decided on. And while it was here, she may as well make use of it.

Carefully, the blonde Princess stepped up to the glass, and looked herself over. Her hair shimmered like sunlight all the way down to her hips, long and straight without a single crook or curl, just as she liked it. Her dress framed her slim figure perfectly, white woven with silver, trailing like robes when she moved, but still preserving her dignity fully when she stood. Her green eyes flashed with a steely conviction that convinced even herself that she would complete her self-assigned mission. And, of course, her skin was blemish and smudge free from the tips of her sandaled toes to the arch of her pointed ears. Yes. This was a good reflection. Looking like this, she could take on the world.

Though, as she turned away and headed for her desk to begin to compose a letter, she failed to notice how a sickly green light ran around the edge of the frame for just an instant…

…

The next morning, Elen awoke from her dreams relaxed and refreshed. She couldn’t quite remember what she’d been dreaming about, but she had the vaguest notion that it had involved exiling Catalina to the distant black wastes, beyond even the Orc lands, so her good mood didn’t need much explaining. Of course, she had a busy day ahead working to undermine the Queen, so she didn’t allow herself much time to relax and enjoy the feeling.

Slipping out of bed, she stepped over to her wardrobe to begin picking out an outfit, only to pause half way, her eyes caught by the mirror. Ah, yes – she’d almost forgotten Catalina’s ‘gift’. Snorting in reminded exasperation, the Princess grabbed a dress, and pulled it over to stand before her reflection, holding the garment against herself to check how it would look.

It was, obviously, gorgeous, but she needed a moment to decide on whether or not it fit the right tone – the generals were in the city today, and she had a meeting with them scheduled in the courtyard at noon. Ostensibly nothing more than a chance encounter, she had actually arranged it to make sure that she still had the military’s support if a succession crisis came. Naturally, as the next in line for the throne, and the only heir to the royal bloodline if something befell her father, she doubted there would be any argument, but the Queen had somehow inspired loyalty from the most unlikely of fellows before – Elen wasn’t going to chance it happening again here.

After a close inspection, the Princess decided that the dress would, in fact, fit her needs nicely, and smiled. She began to turn to change out of her night clothes, but just as she was about to step away, she paused. Blinking, she turned back to the mirror, peering into her reflection, specifically at her mouth, lifting a finger to pull her lip down slightly. Were… Were teeth looking oddly… long, today? Sharp, even? She could swear there was something unusual about her canines…

Oh, but no, she was being silly. She shook her head. Everything was perfectly normal here. Rolling her eyes at herself, she walked off to get changed – and again missed that hint of green light flashing behind her.

…

The day after her fruitful meeting with the generals, Princess Elenhadien woke to a disaster – a bad hair day. She could see it from her bed as she sat up – her normally perfect and smooth hair arrayed around her head like a bird had landed on her and built a nest overnight. She barely managed to suppress her scream by grabbing her pillow and shoving it over her mouth – elven reflexes saving the day, or at least stopping a bad situation from growing worse.

Then she flew out of the bed, rushing for her dresser and snatching up every enchanted comb she had in supply. She couldn’t have this, she couldn’t look like such a mess on today of all days! Today was the day she was meeting and greeting the head guild masters of the nation! Men and women from all over the land, the titans of industry and magic, would be arriving at the castle in less than an hour – and she would not be meeting them while looking like she’d stuck her head down a trombone. These people needed to have faith in the stability of the royal line – especially after her father had made such a critical mistake marrying that worm…

Gripped by a mild panic, the Princess dragged a stool in front of the mirror and sat down to start taking care of this. But… Why was she worried, again? Didn’t her hair always look like this when she woke up? It was an embarrassing secret, yes – no matter what she tried, she always, always rose from slumber with the most frightful cases of bedhead… But, why was her heart hammering? Why was she running around the room like a mad woman? She’d smoothed these wild locks countless times before – it would only take half an hour or so. She had plenty of time.

Relaxing slightly, Elen let out a deeply held breath, and started straightening her hair more carefully. Perhaps she’d had a nightmare or something – that would explain her panic. She wondered, briefly, what could have disturbed her sleep so much… But soon focused on her task. She had a full day ahead of her, after all, and no time to dwell on such pointless questions.

…

She was still furious with herself when she woke up, hands clenching her silk bedsheets tightly as she realised that yesterday hadn’t been a mere dream.

How could she have miscalculated so badly? How? It didn’t seem like her. To confuse the head of the magical college, one of their biggest allies in funding the development of the capital, with the secretary of farmland affairs? Sure, they looked similar, but so did everyone at these stuffy events! This was the kind of insult that could start a feud that would last generations! She had dismissed him early because she thought she had more important people to meet! Just the mere memory of her blunder made her want to crawl under her bed and die…

And to make matters worse, oh, to make them even worse, who was it who had come running to her rescue? Her, of course, her royal highness Queen Catalina Vila-Ne-Trimastere in all her splendour. She’d somehow managed to catch the old git just as he was about to leave, and had called him down to another, secret meeting away from all the other guild masters – and she’d even made up the excuse that it had been Elenhadien’s idea, with her faux pas being just the cover so that she could arrange a meeting in private.

How had this happened? How did she owe Catalina such an unforgivably large debt? The Queen had just hugged her when it was over, and said that it was an understandable mistake. She’d even joked that she had to write the guild masters’ names down on the inside of her palm to remember them all! And just like that, her unforgivable mistake had been turned into a funny anecdote to tell at parties someday.

Urgh!

She swung out and punched a plump pillow so hard that it burst, scattering feathers all over the bed.

That did make her draw up short, at least. She looked down, staring at her arms for a moment, and then slipped out from under her sheets. A little confused, she found herself walking towards the mirror, examining her reflection once again. Didn’t her arms look… bigger, than normal? She’d never thrown a punch that strong before, she was sure. Where had these, ah… these muscles come from?

Well, it was a bit of a joke to call them muscles, really, wasn’t it? Sure, she’d always had a bit of a muscular build, but that was just what happened when you led such an active lifestyle. Elen had never seen the point of walking when she could stride, or flying when you could climb. She was well known in the palace for never missing her morning exercise routine, and maybe that had left her a little stronger than your average elven Princess, but…

Oh! In fact, she was almost about to be late! Her stressing out over yesterday had clearly taken its toll, and now she’d have to hurry to get changed into a proper set of workout clothes before she missed her chance to lap the palace entirely. Hopefully a good jog would help her move on from all these dark feelings…

…

Princess Elenhadien blearily woke up, raised her head, saw her messy dark hair in the mirror, and promptly fell back into bed. Ngh. She really didn’t feel like getting up today. For once, she didn’t have a million things to do. Queen Catalina wasn’t even in the city today, so undermining her was… Was… Mph. She couldn’t think of the word right now. She was too tired.

Why had she even woken up in the first place? It was early – even earlier than her morning jog. It was weird, she was usually a pretty deep sleeper… Oh, whatever. She rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.

Nrk!

Only for the reason she had woken up in the first place to bubble up again. The Princess winced, and then pulled herself into a sitting position, looking down at her chest. Then, eyes still bleary, she stumbled over towards the mirror, and cupped her breasts for her reflection.

Had they always been this… big? Surely not, right? She’d always been a rather lithe girl, and while a bigger bust certainly wasn’t something she’d complain about, she’d thought she’d passed the point where she could expect any further growth. Yet, these were certainly bigger handfuls than she remembered. She’d been, what, a B cup? And these felt like full Ds…

… But, wait, no, that was right. Ah, she really must have been still asleep. Yes, her breasts were D cups, verging on double Ds, in fact. She’d been quite fortunate, honestly – most elves didn’t grow that big, it was something you saw more often in the less… civilized races. But perhaps there was still a little magic left in the royal bloodline – a fact that had made the need for a royal tailor all the more pressing when she came of age.

The Princess took a deep breath and sighed. Well, she was up now. May as well make the most of it. She peered at her reflection once again – this time looking at everything that wasn’t her chest. Her dirty blonde hair could certainly use some straightening – naturally – in fact, maybe it even wanted cutting. Growing it this long wasn’t really working – length made it harder to tame, and her dark roots clashed horribly with her light tips. She might schedule that for later today.

Looking down a little, she lifted a hand to press around her lips and see if her teeth were going to behave today. It was always a risk that they wouldn’t, unfortunately. Maybe it was supposed to be some kind of balancing of the scales for having been given such an amazing rack. See, she’d been born with exceptionally sharp and long canines, and while her parents had apparently thought that they were adorable, they were an absolute disaster for PR when they stuck out over her upper or lower lip. It was something she was really embarrassed about – which was why, when she’d developed a bit of an overbite during dinner the previous night, she’d quickly made an excuse to leave. She really didn’t want to deal with that kind of thing at such an important table.

… Of course doing that meant she’d have to work even harder this evening to make a good impression and earn back any favour she’d lost. She couldn’t afford to slip any further right now – not with Catalina still hanging over her.

Well, she decided as she turned to go get dressed, she’d just have to make an even bigger effort tonight than usual.

…

The Princess opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling over her bed. For a long moment, she waited, checking to make sure that she was actually awake, and not dreaming. Then, she took a deep breath, and…

… Nope. Still pissed.

“Hragh!” She screamed, picking up a pillow with one hand and smashing it so hard against a bedpost that the post cracked, the pillow case popping and scattering feathers all over the room.

Those idiots – those idiots! How dare they? How dare they say such things, to her face no less? If they loved Catalina so much why didn’t they just marry her already, huh? Oh wait, they couldn’t, because her stupid dad already had!

There was a panicked knock at the door. “My lady? Your Highness, is everything alright in-”

“DO I SOUND LIKE I WANT TO BE DISTURBED RIGHT NOW?” Elen roared, furiously stomping over to the door and almost ripping it off of its hinges. On the other side, a brown-haired maid found herself cowering beneath an enraged Princess, desperately praying that her life wasn’t about to end.

“N-n-no your Highness, s-sorry your Highness!”

A sharp, long nail jabbed into the maid’s chest, almost as piercing as Elenhadien’s glare. “I will say this one time,” the Princess snarled, “and one time only. No one. No one. Is to bother me in my room. In fact, no one is allowed to even enter my room! I’m sick to death with all of you! Until I come and tell you otherwise, this entire palace wing is off limits! Understand?”

“Y-yes your Highness!” The poor maid was in tears, but Elen’s temper was much too far gone to care.

“Good.” The door slammed shut so hard it almost knocked the frame out of the surrounding wall, and the Princess was left alone in silence once more – if you didn’t count the sound of running footsteps fleeing down the corridor, at least.

Elen took a deep breath, releasing it with a slow sigh and popping her shoulders. Gods, that had felt good. Just letting all these stupid masks fall and being honest with her feelings… The sight of that maid trembling in fear of her had really made her heart beat. Yes, she felt surprisingly good after that.

Grunting, she looked around, and mildly regretted ordering the help away just after she’d made such a mess of her room… But oh well. No undoing it now. What kind of message would that send? Instead, she found herself shambling back over to the mirror, looking to assess if she really looked as scary as she’d felt during her little tirade.

… If anything, she looked scarier. Wow, had she always loomed like this? She knew she wasn’t a small girl, but damn, she could give an adventurer a run for their money. Her arms were thick with muscle, especially near the shoulders, while her abs were so defined you could use them to sharpen steel. A good thing, too – her F cup breasts absolutely needed all the support they could get. Even her personal tailor had trouble making proper garments for her with these babies – Elves just weren’t supposed to grow this big! Or tall, for that matter. Yeah, she was a big girl, even if there wasn’t an ounce of fat on her. Just the way she liked it.

Her hair probably hadn’t helped her image, either. It was a scraggly mess, as usual, hanging down over her eyes and casting sinister shadows everywhere – shadows almost as dark as her hair was. And it was shorter too, wasn’t it? Right, she’d had her hair cut yesterday… Yeah, it looked much better this way. In fact, why should she even bother to straighten it? She liked the wild look it gave her…

“Heh…” She couldn’t help but smile, her teeth poking out over her lips. “Me am big scary. You do what me say or else.”

Silly. Now, if she was done admiring her reflection, she figured she could get a few more hours of sleep in, given no one else was going to be disturbing her today…

…

During the middle of the night, El found herself fumbling through her room in the dark, trying to pick her way towards the bathroom. It wasn’t actually that difficult – despite there being no moon to shine in through her window tonight, she found her eyes had adjusted to the dark really well. But she was still sleepy, and accidentally kicked a chair into kindling as she stumbled into it.

Eh, whatever.

On her way back to bed, she noticed the mirror again, her eyes catching on the jiggling bounce of her G cup tits as she made her way past it. She couldn’t help but snort at the image – in the darkness, her skin looked almost green… Wait, was it the darkness? Or was it…

“… Bah. Me too tired to deal with this shit,” she mumbled, then fell face first onto her bed, and started to snore.

…

“Hey. Who you?” El stared with narrowed eyes at the intruder in her room. Somehow – she didn’t bother trying to work out how – there was a big, hulking figure standing opposite her by the far wall. A woman… An orc, in fact – yeah, that’s what she was, it took her a moment to remember the name… A big tower of muscles wrapped in green skin, with big ol’ boobies that El couldn’t even begin to guess the cup size of. She had dark hair, red eyes, sharp teeth, big, thick ears, and for some reason kinda looked like she was wearing a torn night dress that looked about five sizes too small for her…

… Oh, no, wait, El was being dumb. The intruder was dressed in furs, a small top that just barely wrapped around her tits, and a tight leather skirt hanging around her hips with a skull belt. She even had a big ol’ war axe strapped to her back – yeah, this bitch was definitely an orc! She looked exactly like one – and she looked real stupid besides.

El snorted at her own insult joke – and then growled when the intruder did the same. “Me say who you!” She yelled, striding forward, and getting even angrier when her action was copied.

“Fine then!” She snarled. “Me punch the answers out of you instead!” And she charged!

… Only to crash head first into the mirror, landing in a heap right in front of her refection, which very kindly did the same.

“Oh…” Realisation slowly dawned as the orc clambered back to her feet. “Me see. Is just shiny glass trick. You no person – you me! Wow, me feel dumb!” She laughed.

“Oh my, I suppose you must, yes…” Said another voice, speaking out of the shadows.

“Huh? Who there?” El spun around, brandishing her massive fists once again. “Me am warning you, am big strong orc!”

“You are,” the voice agreed – a hooded figure stepping out of the darkness beside an open window. “Through and through, aren’t you? But I’m afraid, dear…” The figure raised a hand, fingers held together. “That orcs don’t have very good magic resistance.”

The fingers snapped, and El froze in place, before straightening up. Her arms hugged tight at her sides, her massive frame nearly brushing her head against the ceiling as she stood at full height – a dazed smile settling over her face as her eyes turned purple.

“Oh, sweetie…” The hooded figure pulled back their cloak, revealing the unmistakable face of Catalina Vila-Ne-Trimastere, distress written across her features as clear as day. “I’m so sorry to have to do this to you, but I just don’t have any choice. There are so many reforms I have to make for this country – and the only way I can gather enough power to do that is if there’s no one standing between my children and the throne…”

She stepped forward, quickly rushing to the entranced orc’s side and looking her over – looking to see that everything had worked out as planned, and that the transformation hadn’t caused any problems. “You were so kind to me ever since I arrived – Once we became friends, I truly didn’t think I’d be able to go through with my plan. But… But I realised, someone as good as you are, with a heart as big as yours… You’d, you’d want me to do this. For the good of our kingdom. I know you would. So… I, ah… I must say you turned out very well. I knew the curse would be more powerful the more intelligent the victim, but… Oh Elenhadien, you always do exceed expectations…”

The Queen looked like she was about to cry, but she held herself together, if only barely. Instead, she walked over towards the mirror and waved a hand over its surface – the image in the glass changing from a reflection of the room, into a picture of an open plain, with what looked like some kind of camp off in the distance. If El had still been able – in multiple different ways – she would have recognised the territory she was being shown as the Orc Lands, a place that she had once thought as one of the most barbarous and uncultured cesspits in the entire world. Now, though, it sounded an awful lot like paradise… Or it would have, had she not been enchanted.

“Here, Elen… Once you step through this portal, you’ll be able to find others like you now. Go and find the biggest, strongest orc warriors that you can, until you find one that can tame you, and make you his own. Then you can settle down with him, and be happy for the rest of your days. It’s the kindest fate I can arrange for you… And I know you’ll enjoy it, won’t you?”

Compelled to answer by her enchantment, El spoke clearly the words upon her mind. “Mmm… Fuck lots~”

Catalina’s lip quivered, but she forced a smile. “Yes dear. Fuck lots. Now… Of you go. Go on now. Step through the portal.”

Smiling, El turned, and did just that – walking straight through the glass as though it were now liquid, and vanishing to the other side. A moment later, and the image shimmered away, leaving just Catalina alone in the former Princess’s former room. Alone, with her reflection.

It was several days before anyone dared approach the angry Princess’s rooms – and thus, several days before anyone discovered her disappearance. There was no trace of where she could have gone, and given her state before she’d vanished, way to tell if the state of her room was because of an attacker, or because of her own rage.

Ultimately, due to lack of any clues, it was concluded that she’d simply run away – her strange behaviour leading up to her disappearance cited as clues that she was planning something along those lines. In her honour, the first child between the elven King and his new wife, Queen Catalina, was named Princess Elenhadien Queyel Dol Fairnest Celest Trimastere, Eighth of her Name. And despite the sad beginnings, a golden age dawned on the land of elves.

Strangely, it was after that point that some people noticed the good Queen’s odd fixation of attaining peace with the land of Orcs – a goal that she pushed towards for many years, and which eventually bore fruit. She never explained why it was so important to her, but occasionally, when visited by an Orcish delegation from those lands afar, which contained a powerful war leader and his prime consort, an infamously strong orc barbarian woman who went by the name of El (and no small number of their many, many children)… By the smile on Catalina’s face, those observant people could tell that whatever her goal, she clearly believed that it had all been worth it in the end.

And of Princess Elenhadien Queyel Dol Fairnest Celest Trimastere the Seventh, nothing was ever heard of, ever again.