Chamberlain's Struggles

Chapter 15

Byron had been away from the cave for only three days and he found the weirdest sight when he returned to the cave.

He found Wyneth in her sleeping blankets and Chamberlain lying beside her, asleep. He saw that Wyneth had a bandaged arm sticking out. He went up to Sil. He shook him awake.

"Hmm? Byron?" Sil said.

"What happened?" Byron asked.

"Garthim attack. I save her. She was hurt bad. Tried to help her as much as I could." Sil said.

"When did it happen?"

"Day you left. Been looking after her, but she been sleeping a lot." Sil said.

Byron felt her face. "She has a fever. The attack gave her something. I might be able to mix some herbs for her." He said. "What about food?"

"I would get food from nearby, not far from here. Couldn't leave her for long." Sil replied.

"I wish I had been here. But the dream she had confirmed her fear. There was nothing left at the village. It was destroyed and all of our clan was dead. I had to take care of them before returning." Byron explained.

Sil had thought they deserved it too after how they treated him.

Byron got to work on making some herbs for Wyneth's fever. Chamberlain had no idea how to deal with that stuff, he just had been taught how to cook some of the food if needed.

"Has she woken up at all since you got her back here?"

"Off and on, but her talk is so low, mumbly, can't understand her words." Sil said.

"We need to get her to eat and drink as soon as possible." Byron said. "The sooner the fever is broken, the better." He continued mixing the herbs.

When he did get them done, he wanted to see how bad the wounds were. The bandages were due for a change anyway.

"Worst wound was the leg." Sil said.

"We need to get some herbs into her bloodstream. It might help fight the fever." Byron said. He put some herbs onto a pad and applied it to her leg wound. Then bound it back up again.

Wyneth had showed signs of discomfort while he did that.

The arms were then looked at and the old bandages taken off. They weren't as bad.

"If the Garthim came here, then we are going to have to be on our guard too." Byron said.

"Will keep on lookout for them."

"Would you have any idea why they are doing this? Wiping out whole villages?"

"Skeksis think Gelfling is useful to them or an enemy. Some get captured to serve at castle. Some might die if they don't."

"You don't see us as enemies, do you?" Byron asked.

"No. You and her are only Gelflings that are my friends." Sil replied. "You saved me. I saved her while you were gone."

"Thanks. She is like a mother to me. She was the only one among my clan that understood me." The Gelfling boy said.

Chamberlain had seen how Wyneth had treated Byron and she did indeed treat him like a son. But now, it was up to them to save her life.

Byron was worried, but they could only wait for the herbs to do their work. He also soaked a wash cloth in some cool water and put it on her forehead. After he was done taking care of her for now, he began to make up some steamed veggies for him and Sil.

Chamberlain needed as much nutrition as he could get. He was hungry right now. He hadn't eaten since last night. He was just waiting on the food. But then, something happened.

Something tightened in Sil's stomach. It made him cry out and clutch it. It made him lay down onto his left side as well.

"Agh!" Sil cried in pain.

Byron heard it and turned. He put the pan down and went over to his friend. "What's wrong?"

"Hurts...!" Sil said.

"Remember what Wyneth said about breathing? Try breathing." Byron encouraged.

It hurt too much to think about it. The pain had just taken him by surprise. But he tried the breathing as told to do. It did seem to help until the pain passed.

Chamberlain let out a big breath of air. "That hurt!" He said, rubbing his belly as he sat up. Then he felt a some good strong kicking. He winced.

"What happened?" Byron asked.

"Pain. Don't know."

"Did you have any before now?"

"No. Hope baby is not coming right now. I think still too early." Sil said. "And need Wyneth to be able to help me."

"Yeah, she's the one who delivers babies. I know nothing of that." Byron said.

As it turned out, it was just a strong practice contraction.

Later on, Wyneth woke up for the first time, being more coherent. She asked what happened.

"Garthim attack hurt you. You got sick after." Sil said.

Byron felt her forehead. "Your fever broke finally. Here, have some water." He held a wineskin to her mouth and she was so thirsty. Then she laid back.

"Thank you, Sil. I do remember. You did save my life from the Garthim. How long was I sick?" She asked.

"Three days. Byron came home and used herbs to heal you."

"Thanks, Byron. It's good to have you back. What did you find at our village?"

"They're all gone, Wyneth. This is our home now." Byron said.

"We'd be dead too then if we were there. You might have tried to save us, Sil if you were there, but you wouldn't be able to save them all."

"The Mounders could have taken them." Byron said.

"Maybe."

"Garthim fear nothing. And yes, would try to save you two anyway." Sil said.

Chamberlain thought of these two as his friends, but he wondered if the Garthim raids would make them turn on him too. He could only do so much. And being pregnant, he had to think of his child too. He really needed Wyneth's help in order to have it when the time was truly right.
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Wyneth continued to get better from there. Her injuries kept her cave bound for several days so the wounds wouldn't reopen. Sil and Byron did her jobs outside the cave.

Even though Sil was still doing duties out of the cave, his jobs were always shorter now because of the baby. He now experienced practice contractions a couple times a day, and they weren't pleasant, but Wyneth encouraged him to do the practice breathing.

He wondered if he would recognize when he had true labor going on. He knew he couldn't be carrying this baby for much longer.

He had made it to his 7th month and the days were going quickly by.

Sil began experiencing more discomfort in his lower back and from the bones in his pelvis. Obviously, his body recognized his condition and just beginning to get ready for the ending of it. His breasts began to feel tender and weird too.

Chamberlain knew he still needed some names thought of for the child, or children. He thought one would be plenty to start out with, but he would take care of no matter how many he had.