It seemed like a long and lonely night. Chamberlain was used to sleeping in the castle, alongside his mate. This night, he was alone out in the woods. It had been a long time since he had had to sleep in the woods, and there were such things as some dangerous animals out here.

He tried so hard to sleep. He got a little sleep, but sometimes, sounds of the night made him snap awake. He was using one of the curtains as an additional blanket for extra warmth. It did get a little more chilling at night. Most of his robes covered his body enough to keep him warm, but his legs needed some extra warmth. He didn't exactly have many blankets to cover himself with.

Chamberlain had had no idea what had happened at the castle that night. Perhaps he was lucky that he was away from the castle.

Moonlight shone down from the canopy of trees. It was a beautiful night. It was a nice night to be an active animal.

….

It wasn't until it was so close to morning that Sil finally managed to really, really fall asleep when his tiredness fully hit him after worrying about any dangerous wild animals most of the night. Quite a few creatures feared the Skeksis, but there were still some who didn't. Luckily, Sil survived the night alone.

He slept until a little more after sunrise, and some sunlight woke him up. He was still sleepy, but he began to get woke up enough. Sil knew he needed to get back to the castle. He got himself out of the carriage and looked around for water to drink. His mouth was so dry. But there was nothing around him immediately.

Sil started on his walk back to the castle. Hopefully, he would reach home before sunset. Without the faster transport, it would take a long time to get home again.

As the morning wore on, hunger and thirst began to really kick in. His stomach had settled down once again overnight, after much needed rest. Eventually, Sil came to a hillside and he saw overhead, the village of the Stonewood Gelfling clan. Surely, he could get some food and water there. He made his way to the village. It looked empty.

It had only been half the morning, and Sil was tired already. He hoped to be welcomed with open arms like usual. He called out. "Gelfling! Gelfling of Stone-in-Wood!"

Some Gelflings opened up their doors to see who was calling upon them.

"A Lord of Crystal walks among you. Bring water! Bring food! Come out and fetch! Now!" Sil demanded. He was still a bit ticked off from last night's excursion. He just wanted his orders followed.

The Gelflings just closed their doors on him, not listening to his orders.

This puzzled SkekSil. "What is this? I give orders. Do as told!" Then something came out of nowhere. "OW!" Sil smelled what had been thrown at him. "Who threw peachberry?!" he demanded. "Who shows such disrespect?"

He turned around and saw a Gelfling slam his door shut. This angered Sil.

"I see you! I see you! Stonewood warriors, go! I command! Find culprit! Punish! Make pay!" Chamberlain pointed and still thought most Gelflings were still loyal to the Skeksis like in the past. It wasn't so anymore.

He was hit again with more peachberries from the other direction. "Ah! You dare blaspheme?!" And he was hit some more. "Snarking woibles!" He yelled, and then was hit in the face. "My face! How could you? I protect Gelfling. You owe me!"

"We owe you nothing!" A Gelfling yelled back.

Sil whimpered. Then he heard it. "We know what you did! Drainer!" The villagers called him Drainer.

"Stop! Stop please!" Sil tried to protect his head. More and more peachberries and a few rocks were thrown at him.

"Get out, Drainer!" the Gelfling screamed at him.

"So mean!" Sil cried out. He began to try to get out of there before he was done in. Gelflings all over the countryside were turning against him, not just Rian and the ones in the castle. This was way out of control.

"You're not a lord at all!"

Sil screamed in anger and pain and couldn't get out of there fast enough. His clothes had been pelted with peachberries. He would have to continue on his way without going to anymore Gelfling villages.

At one point, he did come to a pond where he was able to quench his thirst. Eating would have to wait, unless he could catch something himself, but he knew he had to get back to the castle to bring back the report that Gelflings were turning against Skeksis, if at least, one clan that needed to be punished for what they did.

It took him the rest of the day, staying on the carriage path to get back to the castle on foot. Sil was never picked up. His feet were tired and sore from all the walking. He had had a lot of energy lately, but it was fast wearing out.

Sil had to find the other Skeksis and warn them about what was happening, but when he got to the higher towers, he saw messes everywhere, and no guards looking out. All the other Skeksis had seemed to have vanished.

"Where is everyone?" he asked. "Look at mess. No guards? No watch after whole clan revolts? Heedless ingrates!" Sil growled grumpily. Nothing had gone according to his plan this time. He was glad to at least be back home.

It was then that he ran into the Gourmand, going to the bathroom, not paying him any mind at the moment.

"What's going on here? Have all gone mad?" Sil asked as he approached and saw what he was doing. He yelped in disgust and turned away with his hand blocking his eyes so he wouldn't see anything private.

"Chamberlain! Have you not heard?" The Gourmand turned to him finally. "Oh, excuse me."

Sil finally started moving to the hall as the Gourmand went on. "The General murdered the All-Maudra."

"The General?" Sil asked. "At the Emperor's command?"

"No! No! No command at all. And then, the castle guards rose against us. We crushed them!" the Gourmand cackled.

Chamberlain listened intently. He had to get all the facts. And it seemed he wasn't the only one who had come into contact with Gelfling problems.

"It's been a long time since I have experienced the thrill of armed combat." Ayuk said.

"Emperor must be very angry at General." Sil wondered. "Perhaps I will rejoin at Sire's side. Yes?"

"Come, see for yourself." Ayuk urged Sil inside.

The rest of the Skeksis clan were in the dining hall, even the Scientist. They were having the time of their lives. There was plenty of food, Podlings playing music, and the Skeksis were all enjoying some more essence.

All the Skeksis were having fun consuming the essence and it tasted so good. They all had more energy at the moment.

When the Gourmand first brought him in, Chamberlain was in shock. This was a party he had missed out on, but he still had the news to deliver. His mate too was at the table, enjoying herself in essence. Sil knew the excitement of what the essence brought on. He had had his out in the wilderness.

"Essence everywhere." Sil said. The Gourmand cackled beside him.

"As I was saying, essence goes much better with roasted snoutling." SkekOk said.

"You're probably wondering how we came by all this essence. Ah… it's a delightful tale. After the guards were defeated, we started draining them! Now we feast on essence!" The Gourmand cackled.

Chamberlain still couldn't believe what he was seeing at the moment. Sure, he was all for draining the Gelflings, but didn't expect it quite like this. At least not when there was trouble brewing.

"Don't worry. We kept the Podlings." Ayuk assured Sil there were still some servants.

The Podlings serving dinner then put some crazy animals on the table and it was every Skeksis to catch what they could for themselves. It was insane. The Emperor stuffed some food into his mouth and coughed out the feathers.

That was when Sil couldn't take it anymore. "Stop! Stop! Stop the music! I bring news! Terrible news! Stop all merrymaking! Stop!" he ordered.

The musicians stopped playing and the other Skeksis finally paid attention. Sil approached the front of the table.

"Chamberlain, I see you standing here, but no Rian. What do you have to say before I punish you for your continued failure?" the Emperor demanded.

"As you celebrate, Gelfling of Stone-in-Wood rebel. An entire clan has taken up arms against Skeksis." The other Skeksis were surprised to hear that. "I was drawn into heated battle. I face grave danger. I fought my way out at own personal risk to bring you this report."

The others had their doubts about what Sil had to say. Like he was making it up.

"Stone-in-the-Wood you say?" the Emperor questioned.

"Yes. Yes! Because of General's blundering violence!"

"Bah!" General sneered. The Emperor glanced at him.

"SkekVar murdered All-Maudra against Emperor's wishes. Caused all of this! Order is upended!" Sil exclaimed.

The others all began to laugh at him, to his dismay. The only exception was SkekLa. She hated to see him humiliated again. She hadn't minded the essence to relieve some of her body aches, but this part was ridiculous.

As Sil looked at his clan, it was like they didn't believe him or something. Why wouldn't they believe him?

"The General has set us free. Never again will the Skeksis have to pretend to care for these useless Gelfling." SkekSo declared.

Sil pondered. Maybe this did have an upside, since the Gelflings were turning on them more and more.

"We will take what is ours without games or pretense." General added.

"We will rule forever!" the Emperor decreed.

Others cheered. But Sil still tried to question his leader. "But… but Emperor..."

"The Chamberlain here may have inadvertently provided us with our next meal. The Stonewoods' defiance may be all the justification we need to clear them out of their village and into our larders!" SkekVar declared.

"We must have more essence!" the Emperor decreed.

"More essence! More! More!" The others cheered.

Chamberlain looked at his clan. This was just so shocking to take in.

Then, the Emperor started sniffing the air, something having caught his attention. The Gourmand was right behind Sil and he began smelling him too.

"What is that I smell on you, Chamberlain?" SkekSo asked.

Sil started sniffing too. Then, Ayuk said it as he figured it out what the smell was, "Oh, peachberry! SkekSil stinks of it!" he backed off.

"Yuck!"

"To the baths with you, Chamberlain." the Emperor ordered.

"You stink!" General mocked him.

"Disgusting!" SkekOk muttered. All the Skeksis hated that smell.

Even La didn't like that smell. But this was the proof that SkekSil had that he had been in battle with the Stonewood Gelfling clan. Chamberlain reluctantly turned and left the kitchen. Yeah, he knew he needed a bath and his robes needed cleaning too. But they didn't need to embarrass him like that. His mate sadly watched him go. She would plan to join him later, and bring him some food.

…..

In the bath area, Chamberlain shed all his robes. There were some Podlings in there to take them to be cleaned. After two days being away from the castle, and his long walk back, the warm water felt good on his joints and feet. He cleaned himself the way he always did. No other Skeksis came to join him, not even his mate.

When he was done washing, he ordered, "Podling, bring me new gown."

A Podling in there said something in reply and went to fetch a gown at least. Another gave him a cloth to use to dry off with. His hair would dry on its own. The one that was ordered to get the gown came back with one. He laid it down close by for when Sil was ready for it.

While rubbing his body down, Sil's stomach let out a good growl. He hadn't any food since yesterday morning. No wonder he was so famished. He would have to get some dinner before bed. And yet, his energy was on a complete blink and all three suns had gone down by now. The castle was getting dark, but there were spots of firelight here and there.

Soon, Sil had his new gown on. Since it was nighttime, it didn't matter much. He went back to the dining hall, and all the food was gone by now and the others had all disbanded for the night. Even the leftover smaller snacks were gone now.

He whimpered in sadness. Having just a little bit of food was not too much to ask for after everything he had faced that day.

SkekUng and SkekNa had left the castle for other missions while he was gone.

He tiredly left the dining hall and headed to his bed chamber. He got into his bed. He knew he would be sleeping good tonight.

"Lord Chamberlain?" He heard his name. He turned to it. His mate.

"SkekLa. You not have to be part of humiliation." Sil said sadly. His hormones taking over.

"I wasn't. I took part in essence consuming, but not at embarrassing you. I promise." She came up to him with a smile. "I missed you. Sorry you went through what you went through out there. Did you get any food while you were out there?" she asked.

"No. No food or water." he replied.

"Here. Saved some of mine for you, just in case. You look like you need it." La said as she handed a piece of meat out for him.

A growl from his belly urged him to take it. "Thank you, SkekLa. Means a lot." He ate it with pleasure. At least it was something, even if it seemed like nothing more than a snack to tide him over till morning.

"Sorry, didn't have any essence left." she said.

"It's okay. Had some essence that got back from Rian." Sil replied. "Hunter caught Rian. I stop his kill. I try to... bring Rian back. Rian... got away. Carriage... ruined." His voice began to nod off as his eyes struggled to remain open. "Walk back."

"That is a long walk. No wonder you're exhausted. Rest, my mate. You need it." La said. She made sure no other Skeksis were around. She helped him settle into bed. She kissed him goodnight. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow. He let out a big sigh.

La couldn't help but smile at him. He looked cute when he was sleeping, at least at this time. He had had a long and bad day. He deserved some rest. She left him to his sleep. He was also so tired because he didn't get much of it last night.

After all that walking and being pregnant, in my story here, Sil would surely be exhausted. Sure, exercise is good for the pregnant person, and there can be too much of a good thing too, at times.