The Gelfling drainings would only be done every few days. After the first draining, the machine that had been used on the first Gelfling had broken off, since that had been the first time it was used, and being as it was a non tested prototype, it had not handled the thing too well. The Scientist had been constantly busy to get the repairs done so there could be more essence when the time called for it, plus the Emperor ordered it done forth-with.
Once the machine was finally repaired, more soldiers were unsuspectingly lured into the lab and drained of their essence too. It wasn't until then that the castle Gelflings suspected anything. But it began to get odd, and odder that their kin were starting to go missing and no one knew where they were.
The Skeksis made up lies that they had left the castle, sent out on errands. But the missing ones were never to be seen again. This was something the Skeksis had all agreed on together to tell the other Gelfling around the castle; or they would say that certain ones had reached the end of their service day and had left for personal or unknown reasons.
Those days, the Chamberlain encouraged his lover to try some essence that he had saved for her. She was a bit reluctant to do it, but she did want to please him too. And for the effects she had heard it had on whoever would drink it, it seemed like something worth to try.
Sil had a vial in his hand for her to try. La took the vial from Sil's good hand and plucked off the lid, then gave it a questioning look and stared back at her lover. He smiled, nodding with approval. She sighed, and put her head back as she rose the vial to her mouth and downed a drink.
Wow! It tasted amazing! La finished off the bottle of essence in a couple of gulps. She began to feel some effects going through her body immediately. A lot of her aches and pains began to disappear! She felt young again.
"This is amazing, Chamberlain. I had never thought I would feel this young again. I didn´t imagine it could make all the pains go away, it´s incredible." she smiled at him. "Thank you."
"I knew you would want to feel better. Even my hand feels better." he replied to her.
They both shared more loving moments from the invigorating, dazzling effects.
La could even take the bandages off Sil's hand later.
….
The secret kept up for several weeks. More Gelfling from other tribes were brought in to serve as new soldiers and guards. An entire month had already passed since the time of that first draining.
Sil and La were still as close as ever, but Sil had begun to grow strange and was behaving quite unusually. His appetite had dwindled. He began to not feel well at all.
With the General being the Emperor's current second in command, it actually seemed fine for the Chamberlain to not have to be pushed with as big responsibilities as he did before, but he still had things to do around the castle, like every other Skeksis.
Chamberlain had begun to feel overly tired and rather dizzy. He had more headaches, along with odd stomach problems. He, like all Skeksis, seemed to be always hungry, but at this time, his hunger seemed to take a back seat most of the time. He would eat with the others at the evening meal and go for the Crystal ceremony every morning, but after eating, he would feel off and nauseated.
This had begun to tick him off, enough to make him go to the Gourmand's office, the kitchen.
"Gourmand, what do you keep putting on my food?!" Sil demanded angrily.
"Nothing, Chamberlain. I always plan the same food for everyone!. Also, it´s not me, but the Podlings who serve it to us." Gourmand defended himself.
Being a smart and clever one like himself, Sil looked over at the Podlings, who were scrambling about, trying to do their chores and helping with the next meal.
"Were you trying to imply I´m trying to poison you or something?" Ayuk asked suspiciously.
"Would think not. But something strange is going on, somehow..." Sil looked suspiciously at the Podlings. He was watching their moves.
He walked over to the Podlings and demanded their attention. "Podlings, you best not be putting anything bad on Skeksis' food. There will be bad consequences for anyone found doing so." Sil warned them.
The Podlings were scared and talked quickly in their native tongue. The Skeksis couldn't understand them, but went about their business.
"You probably talked them out of it." Ayuk said.
"If I did, will find out tonight, and other nights for sure." Sil replied.
At that evening's meal, Chamberlain was eyeing the Podlings as they brought his food to him. The others who had already gotten their dishes and bowls were already diving into them. La included. Nothing seemed to be bothering her as she ate. His belly was growling for dinner at the moment, but he was highly suspicious. However, after a few more gurgles, he couldn't help himself and he too, dove into the food. It was some of his favorites.
La watched Sil from the corner of her eyes as he ate his dinner. He had already confessed to her privately that he hadn't felt too well these past few days. He had become nauseated for some reason. He was having constant headaches. Due to that, he wasn't having all the meals of the day either.
Chamberlain managed to eat all of his food, but it wasn't until shortly after all the Skeksis disbanded from the table for the evening that he began to get nauseous again. He sat back down, holding his belly. He whimpered in discomfort.
"Chamberlain?" The Illustrator stated.
Sil looked up at his lover, whimpering again.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Not feel good. Belly hurts again." he replied.
"Did you talk to the Gourmand?" she demanded with a worried stare.
"Yes. He says nothing. Unless Podlings doing something to my food." Sil panted, in evident distress. "Need to lay down..."
"Let me help you." La said, and fussily helped him to his feet. She helped him up some stairs on the way to his room. He was grateful for the help, but on the way there, he suddenly had a different urge.
"Stop!" He urged. They were close to a window, and he suddenly clamped his hands on his beak and ran for it. He leaned over the edge and La could hear some gagging sounds. She quickly went over to make sure he was okay, since he was trembling so badly that she feared he would maybe get unbalanced and fall out.
Sil spent some horribly long minutes losing his dinner through the window, but he kept on his feet, and wasn´t in real danger of falling through it. Fortunately, after a while, it was over. Chamberlain was panting hard when he was done.
"Are you alright?" La asked, wide eyed.
"No! Lost all my dinner out window!" Sil snapped. "Something is going on!"
"Something is happening, but it's not me, beloved Chamberlain. No need to snap at me, I´m trying to help you. Let's get you to bed to rest it off." La suggested.
"Hmm. Yes. Rest is good right now." he agreed and calmed down. He went with her to his own room. Tonight would not be a good night for spending time together in a romantic way.
That day would only kick off more and more days like it for a long while.
….
Chamberlain continued questioning the Gourmand from time to time, and then even talked with the Slave Master about his food and scraps, asking if anything had been added to them. They would always snap at him that they were doing nothing unusual to the food.
Eventually, they had had enough, and they told the Emperor and the Scientist about it.
When Sil joined the others in the throne room mid-afternoon, the Emperor noticed him. "Welcome, SkekSil."
Sil had just lost his lunch again. He was panting hard.
"It has come to my attention that you are bothering SkekAyuk and SkekNa about the food they serve you." the Emperor stated.
"He has been unwell." SkekLa spoke up.
"Is this true, Chamberlain?" the Emperor asked.
Sil panted some more. "Yes. Not well. But don't know what causes it." A powerful jolt of nausea went through him. He whimpered, placing a hand on his belly.
"None of us have gotten sick from any of the food. Maybe the problem lies with you." The General mocked him.
Sil bared his teeth at him. "I am well, just not like before." He tried to defend himself.
"I saw SkekSil lose his dinner last night as I was passing through one of the hallways. He threw up out the window." the Historian stated.
"Scientist, I demand that you examine the Chamberlain and find out what's wrong." the Emperor ordered.
"Yes, Emperor. Be glad to." Tek bowed respectively. "Come along, SkekSil. We'll get this over with." He wanted to jump in right away.
Chamberlain had gotten along with the Scientist in a respectful way most of the time, unless the occasions when he was blackmailing him. He worried about Tek getting back at him by blackmailing him instead, at this given time.
"Go on, Chamberlain." Emperor ordered.
"Yes, my Emperor." Sil went a little hesitantly. He was a little nervous about what his exam might entail.
La was still worried about him. She tried to follow, but was held back by the Emperor´s stern voice. "Not you, Illustrator. I want that portrait of me finished by this evening." the lead Skeksis said.
"Yes, my Lord." she said, feeling bad that she couldn't be there for her mate in his time of need.
….
The Scientist had a separate office for Skeksis patients in his lab area. He had Sil lay down on the table.
"You heard our Emperor, Chamberlain. Take off your front robes." Tek demanded.
"Perhaps sickness will go away on its own. Hm?" said Sil, trying to dodge the situation.
"Do it. I will not ask again!" Tek said, annoyed at being forced to cope with this kind of thing.
Sil reluctantly took off his front robes. He laid them on the floor next to the table. He still kept the gown at the base of his body.
"Pull it up." came the order.
Chamberlain was uncomfortable with this exam already, but it was to be carried out without question. He pulled his gown up to reveal his vulnerable underside.
The Scientist saw it didn't look any different than anyone else´s.
It was when he placed his hands on Sil's stomach that he recoiled. Tek began to press down.
Sil bared his teeth, wincing. Trying not to fight.
Tek pressed and pressed, but was finding nothing.
Sil finally had to call it. "Ow! Stop! Hurts too much!" He rubbed his aching belly.
"I didn't feel anything out of the ordinary. Probably just some sickness going on that you are unaware of." Tek suggested. "I can give you herbs for it."
"Good. Need now, and soon." Sil groaned in pain. He was feeling nauseated again after all the squeezing.
"You can get up and put your robes back on. Unless you know of any unusual foods you might be eating?" Tek suggested.
"I eat no more than what you eat. I know of all the foods we eat. Nothing bad." Sil said.
The Scientist went on to go get that anti-nausea medicine for him. Chamberlain redressed while waiting. It figured that even Tek couldn't find anything wrong with him. All the Skeksis got sick sometimes. Maybe this was a passing thing. Maybe he was right.
Tek soon returned to give Sil the herbs and he gobbled them up immediately. "Now, go straight to bed, Chamberlain. Those herbs will make you sleepy near right away. My best soothing medicine." he said.
"Yes. Rest is best for now." Sil agreed. He dizzily made his way out of the lab.
Chamberlain went straight to his own room, where he got into bed and was asleep within seconds.
Tek went back to the throne room, where he was asked to report after his exam on Sil. "Did you find anything?" the Emperor asked.
"Nothing, Sire. Probably just one of those rare stomach issues. Not sure how he caught it. Might have just eaten some bad food no one else tried." Tek explained.
"It better be all it is. The rest of you, better not be getting sick." Emperor said to all present Skeksis. "If anyone does, then I'll know for sure."
The rest all stated they felt fine. Chamberlain was the only one with the problem.
"Better him than us." the General mocked Sil, even though he wasn't in the room at the moment.
La heard that and felt a rush of boiling anger toward him. How dare he say that! But she didn't say anything, since she wouldn't stand a chance against the General and his strength. She could only feel a silent grudge against Var, hoping the Scientist was right about her lover's condition, and wished he would get over it soon.
As soon as she was able to, she went to check on her love. She found him in his room, sound asleep. That was good. He was getting a much needed rest. She hoped him sleeping it off might help him get rid of that ailment too. She went about her own duties for the night once she was sure Sil was alright.
