#gamok

Gamok’s anxiety only increased over the following weeks. He’d try to see Mommy, but the guards at the door would usher him away, saying that she was sick but offering no further explanation than that. Father, some maids carrying a tray of food, and the medic were the only ones who got into the room.

For the first time, Gamok resorted to using his ‘ability’ to figure out what was going on. He’d focus on his mental bubble whenever he sensed things from people every time he asked, but he couldn’t make out much.

…gg..

…grav…

…aby…

He wouldn’t understand what was going on until a few weeks later, when Father, surprisingly, let him go explore the Karajor. Gamok was excited. He’s been asking to see his father’s flagship for as long as he can remember.

The palace’s atmosphere was completely different when he and Workko returned a few hours later. Gamok instinctively headed straight to his parents’ chambers, wanting to tell Mommy about his trip to the Karajor; he was turning around the corner when a maid passed by him, carrying stained silk sheets, but she scurried away before he could ask. Alarmed, Gamok rushed toward the doors. They were open.

Gamok timidly peeked in. Father and the palace medics were around the bed, the former stroking Mommy’s head and whispering comforting words, looking down at something she was holding.

“Mommy?” Gamok called out.

“Go to your room, boy,” growled Father.

“Grigon,” Mommy said. Her voice sounded tired, but still firm, before she turned to Gamok, smiling a bit. “Come in, sweetie.” 

As Gamok got closer, he noticed Mommy looked… pale and sweaty. When one medic gingerly placed him on the bed, he inspected what Mommy held. It was round and purplish, and she was cradling like it was the greatest treasure in the world. 

An egg.

“Gamok, this is your little brother or sister.” 

....

As the weeks went by, Gamok noticed a significant change in the palace atmosphere. Until that point, Gamok had never seen Father smile. Or if he did, it must’ve been when he wasn’t around. Now, he was constantly in a good mood, constantly radiating a warm, excited aura. Mommy felt even warmer than before every time she peeked down at the egg cradled in the silk bassinet she’d made with her own silk.

“Can I see the egg?” Gamok asked now and then. 

Mommy always lifted him in her gauntlets and let him take a peek.

Father would frown and tell him to go away.

His parents weren’t the only ones whose mood changed. Throughout the palace, servants and soldiers alike were talking about the new egg, and the implications it brought; Gamok overheard someone mention that she’d pray to Shaak’vi that this egg hatched, for this might be Father and Mommy’s last chance at being parents. What did she mean by that? He is their child; they are his parents.

“Hey, now that Lord Grigon and Lady Asthra are finally having a child of their own, do you think they’ll get rid of–?”

“Quiet, you! He’s listening!” 

Three months later, the egg’s shell was thinning and softening up, and a tiny shape could be made out beneath the light. From this point on, Father and Mommy’s joy and excitement increased; the former, in particular, would spend hours with the egg, narrating battle anecdotes excitedly to the little embryo. 

“And that, my son, is how you blow up an enemy fleet in record time.” Father finished, lovingly staring at the egg in the bassinet. 

My son… How come Father has never called him that?

“Did I hatch from an egg too?” asked Gamok curiously. 

“Yeah, you did,” said Father without looking at him. 

“Did you tell me stories in the egg too?” 

“He did, sweetie, you just don’t remember,” said Mommy, then threw Father a frown, but he simply rolled his eyes. 

...

The palace atmosphere changed a third time when the egg finally hatched—but not in the way Gamok expected. Suddenly, the fluttering eagerness and hope were replaced by a heavy disappointment; everyone spoke in hushed whispers, and he overheard the word ‘runt’ a few times, though he couldn’t understand what it meant. 

Father changed too, but his aura was… confusing. He was disappointed, but also… hurting. He was sad, but there was an underlying warmth that remained in the depths. Gamok didn’t know what to make of it. 

“Mommy?” Gamok called out into his parents’ room shortly after Father walked out. 

She was out of her carapace, on the bed, looking down at the silky crib where the egg had incubated; unlike Father, the warm aura was far stronger, if intermingled with the bitter sadness and fear. She smiled at him. 

“Hi, sweetie.” Mommy gestured for him to get closer and lifted him up in her nubs toward the cradle. “Meet your little brother.”

Gamok leaned his head closer to the crib. There, swaddled in Mommy’s silk, was a tiny purple larva, sound asleep.

“What’s his name?” asked Gamok.

“Glordon. His name starts with ‘G’, just like yours and Grigon’s.” 

That’s when Gamok noticed his father wasn’t around. Before the egg hatched, Father spent most of the time near the cradle, telling it stories or talking to it, but now… he was barely in the room. 

“Where is Father?” 

Briefly, Mommy’s aura turned sour. “He’s… busy.” 

“Doesn’t he like the baby anymore?” 

“It’s not that, sweetie. He’s just… worried.” 

“Why?” asked Gamok. Glordon coughed a few times, but didn’t cry, simply going back to sleep. “Is something wrong with Glordon?” 

Mommy hesitated. “Glordon hatched before time, and he’s… smaller than usual because of that. He’ll be prone to getting sick because of it.” Her aura soured again, though she tried to keep her expression. “Your father knows that, and it upsets him; that’s why he’s… working most of the time.” 

Gamok tilted his head when Glordon coughed again. “I think he’s cold. Could I warm him up?”

As Mommy placed him next to the crib, Gamok carefully climbed on it and curled up around Glordon; the little larva finally stirred, but instead of crying, he snuggled into the newfound warmth, his little ears twitching. Mommy smiled.

“He likes you already.” She said. 

Gamok stared at little Glordon for a while, making sure he was comfortable as he, too, joined him into sleep.