In the next many days, Chamberlain kept on watching the Scientist in a threatening way to make sure that he wasn't going to blab his secret. The Scientist was also watching him too, to see if Sil would give away who the perpetrator was besides him.
Sil and La knew that when around their clan mates, they couldn't be affectionate. Sil was not about to give her away. He wanted life to go on as much as it had before, but he would be careful. He had many secrets that he knew about here in the castle, and would always keep them until certain times were right. This was just another one, even if one he couldn't keep for long under wraps. The baby would come whether he liked it or not when it was ready. Right now, Sil had a hunch feeling that it wasn't ready yet. And then, there was also dealing with the baby's movements day after day.
When he was wandering the castle doing his chores, or just walking around for something to do, the baby seemed to be sleeping, as it didn't move much. But when he sat down to relax or eat, and lay down to sleep was when it started moving about, and its movements had only gotten stronger.
When he was with La, they would always take the chance to see if the baby was moving. Sil could feel it kicking or punching him. Or when it rolled inside him. The baby seemed to push into him pretty good when he ate. He tried to ignore it at the table. He knew Tek was watching him.
Now that he knew about Sil's condition, as much as Tek wouldn't have minded blackmailing him, Tek knew that Sil could do the same back to him, and worse. But with the draining of more Gelfling came the essence. As curious as he was to see a baby Skeksis, he wondered if the essence was harming it any?
The Skeksis did drink some fine wines and such, they consumed other beverages besides water. Was it harmful to the baby? Tek was sure that there had to be limitations on things like this for the baby. He couldn't help but wonder how much it would look like its parents when it was born. Maybe the baby would look like the other parent and that would draw them out. Right now, Chamberlain was not budging on telling him who the other parent was.
Out of some sort of concern for the baby, as Tek was thinking of it as an experiment already, he did pull Sil to the side one day.
"Chamberlain, if you are concerned for the baby, you must take more into consideration what you ingest." Tek suggested.
"I do, Scientist." Sil replied.
"Drinking wine is not a good idea, and who knows what drinking essence would do to it. I know from observing other creatures that ones that carry babies and when they are born, are much weaker. And we know what the essence does to us after we drink it." Tek explained.
"So, you saying I not drink wines or essence?" Sil asked.
"For the time being." Tek advised.
Sil hated that thought. He didn't mind not drinking wine, but the essence was something he needed too. "I need essence like others. I been drinking it all other times, and baby still moves in me."
"Do you want any more risks to the baby? Might not be born right if you take certain risks with drinking certain things." Tek explained. "I will examine it after it is born."
"You can to see if healthy, but it will not be personal experiment." Sil warned.
"Yes, I know. But until we know otherwise, this advice you should take if you don't want to harm it. The baby is depending on you to take care of it." Tek stated.
This was advice Sil should take under advisement. "Yes, friend Scientist. I take advice. Not want to harm it."
Chamberlain hadn't really thought he was harming his baby at all. He knew the baby had to eat and drink whatever he did at the moment. And no wonder Sil was always more hungry than he usually was before he was pregnant. He waited for Tek to advise against certain foods, but there was none. Water would be the only thing that he would drink until it was finally born.
…..
Weeks later, the Garthim army was finally ready. It had about twenty Garthim ready to go, and SkekUng was ready to command them, but they would obey any Skeksis. The Scientist had programmed that into them. They would obey no other creature.
The Skeksis were ready to gather more Gelfling for their essence. SkekUng was ready to take his place as the new General, and he commanded ten of the Garthim to follow him on his crusade to a Gelfling village to gather all they could. Some had to be left behind to be the new guards of the castle.
Many Gelfling fled. Some fought back and were killed. And ones that did survive were pushed into a cage. They would be the new quantity to be drained.
…..
Chamberlain was now at his 28th week.
He and La were still close as ever. They wanted to mate so badly for pleasure and their love for each other, but they figured that it might add more babies. They just weren't going to risk it. Though, even if they didn´t know this as a fact, there wouldn't really be anymore added since Sil was already pregnant.
Just as there were now Garthim raids out in the wilderness, Chamberlain was getting some cravings for some strange foods that he normally never would get. And he knew where the foods grew. These foods were some that the Skeksis would never have brought back to the castle. It was for a type of fruit.
He told La about it. She thought it was strange. "Well, we don't normally eat that food. Gelfling do though. But if it feels like something you're really craving, maybe you shouldn't deny it. There might be some sort of nutrition you're needing from it." she said.
"Could be." Sil agreed. "I be back soon. Must see if craving is sated."
"Be careful." La said. He nuzzled her in return.
Sil got a carriage ready, and he went out to the location where he knew where these certain foods were. Some were berries, and others were some little creatures that were on plants. They didn't go anywhere, but were alive. This would become a near daily habit in the early evening when most of the daily chores were done. La would sometimes watch the carriage take off.
The Emperor even once caught an unknown carriage leaving. There were no Garthim accompanying it. He confronted the Illustrator on it.
"SkekLa, where was that carriage off to? I saw you watching it take off." SkekSo asked.
"Oh, I was just watching it take off, Sire. Just that, watching." she replied nervously.
"Who was in it?" he demanded.
"Um, Chamberlain. He was going out to uh… find something. He had heard of something out there and was determined to find out of certain news." She tried to make something up.
"What sort of news?" So demanded.
"I do not know right now, my Emperor. When he finds out, he will surely tell you. I will remind him when he gets back if I see him first." she said, trying to keep So calm and not threaten her.
"Very well." he replied and went on his way.
La let loose a sigh of relief. That was close.
The Emperor still hadn't been told about the baby coming yet. That's what made it so nerve wracking when he was around. Sil knew more about what to say to him than La did.
….
Sil ate his fill of his cravings and then went back to the castle. He knew it was nearing dinnertime and he would get more food into him for himself and the baby. He would not be out here at night. It was a day trip only.
Of course, La would confront him when he got back to the castle that he had to explain to the Emperor where he had gone. He had been seen.
Sil knew he was on the spot. What could he come up with? They both headed to the dining hall. All the Skeksis were heading to their usual seats at the table for their dinner.
As Chamberlain got into his seat, So asked him, "Where did you go, Chamberlain?"
"Oh, I was hearing news of new creatures to have for food. Checking them out, yes." Sil replied.
"Any good ones?" the Gourmand demanded.
"Yes. Must bring soon." Sil replied.
"Very well." So was agreeable.
Sil sighed. It was a relief. He could feel the baby was already acting up inside him. It was already demanding more food from him. He growled lowly to himself. The baby had to take plenty of food out of him, almost leaving him with nothing. He was glad when his food was put in front of him on the table. He immediately dove into it.
He had also been feeling weird in his breasts too of late. They were feeling more tender at the moment. They were beginning to get ready to do the need of nursing later. His pelvis was also aching more too. The bones seemed to be shifting for the impending birth, but not much yet.
He was to soon have another exam by the Scientist in the coming days. As much as La wanted to attend the exams too, Sil told her he didn't want her singled out as the culprit to aid Sil in this surprise pregnancy. He felt a little more personal about it the way Tek examined him anyway.
Chamberlain laid on the exam table with his lower robes pulled up reluctantly and Tek pushing on his belly, ever so gently. Tek could feel movement under his hands. "Still alive in there I can feel." he said.
"Me too. Moves are strong." Sil rubbed his belly after the Scientist removed his hands.
"When are you going to tell the Emperor of this baby?" Tek demanded. "You can't hide this secret forever no matter how hard you try."
"I know. Still not ready. When ready, I tell. Remember deal, Scientist. I not forget." Sil glared.
"I remember."
"Good. But how soon does it seem for baby to come?" Sil asked.
"I do not know, Chamberlain. This has never happened before. It should probably be very soon. Just watch out for belly pains. If they get nice and strong, good sign of impending birth." Tek advised. "Of any other signs, I do not know. The signs you exhibit will be good signs we can watch out for with further pregnancies, should any others happen in the future."
"I know Emperor is against competition for throne, but look at numbers. This baby will be good add to Skeksis kind." Sil declared. "I not giving him up."
"You just have to convince the Emperor of that." Tek said.
"Yes." Sil agreed and left because Tek was done with the exam.
….
After the Garthim Master had gotten back with more Gelflings, the Scientist was all too happy to start draining them. None of their cries for mercy quelled him to stop.
Even though every vial for every Skeksis that was in the castle was filled right now with essence, Tek made sure to hide the Chamberlain's away in case he would have second plans to have essence even when he had been told he couldn't have it.
Sil had to reluctantly tell La that for the baby's sake, that he couldn't have essence or any kind of wine for the rest of his pregnancy. He knew he would get weaker, but, was the baby's life worth it? To them both, of course it was.
"I agree with the Scientist on this. If he told you so, you don't want to take any chances to harm the baby." La declared.
"Hmm. So hard to not want essence though. Still need it too." Sil said sadly.
"Hopefully, the baby comes soon and once it does, you will have all the essence you want again." She tried to cheer him up. She placed one of her hands on his belly. He smiled as he placed one on hers and the other on his belly. It was almost hard to believe that they were a family.
