Chamberlain's Struggles

Chapter 9

..."Chamberlain. ...Chamberlain. Wake up." Sil was hearing.

Chamberlain finally opened his eyes weakly. "Can you hear me?"

"Hmm-uh." He mumbled. "What... happened?"

"You fainted." Wyneth said.

Chamberlain recognized Wyneth and her home.

"What happened again?"

"I told you what was causing you some issues lately and you passed out. Chamberlain, you said you had a loved one back at the castle and you are carrying their child." Wyneth explained.

"Never thought it possible to happen." Sil was suddenly worried. He tried to sit up so fast that he felt his head spin.

"Oh." He held his head.

"Don't sit up so fast. Get up slowly."

"There could be trouble at castle if La is also carrying my baby. Emperor forbade any of us from mating and bonding, but me and La did it secretly. We never thought this could happen." Sil said.

"It's always possible when you mate. I'm not sure how far along you are or how long it's going to be, Sil, but the child is a good size for you to be at least half way through the pregnancy."

"I never knew."

"Well, it's good to know before labor comes."

Sil looked at her wide eyed. When he remembered that Gelfling in labor that he had seen, he really wasn't sure he could face that.

"Taking care of a young one can be hard on a single parent." Wyneth said.

"Skeksis have never dealt with this before. Scared." Sil admitted.

"It is a shock right now. And it's understandable to be afraid. You don't know what's going to happen."

Chamberlain closed his clothes back up. He had had to loosen his belt a lot lately too. Then he began to get up. He held his stomach. "I need to go now." He said.

Wyneth hoped it wouldn't cause him problems. "Be careful."

Sil reported back to Athya.

"So, did you get your answer?" She asked.

"My eyes are fine. Turns out my problems are part of something I've never had before. I'm... uh... having a child." Sil answered, with a hand on his stomach.

"So I take it you had a mate back home?" Athya asked.

Sil nodded. "Yes. Please not tell anyone else."

"They will find out eventually."

"Yes, just not now. Not ready for it to be known."

"Alright. But come to a decision soon."

Sil nodded and left to go do his job.

Later that day, when he was out doing his errands, Chamberlain saw one of the female Gelflings that had had a baby. He saw she had a baby on her back. He approached her. She was getting some apple like fruit from the market.

"Hello, Gelfling." The mother Gelfling heard and she turned, to see the huge messenger Skeksis behind her.

"Agh! What do you want, Skeksis?" She demanded and began backing away from him.

"Am friend. Just want to talk to you." He followed her slowly.

"About what? More of the queen's orders?"

"No. About your baby." Sil pointed to her back.

"You are not getting near my baby!" She snapped at Sil.