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Spring of Storm and Shadow: Interlude #4
Soon, I Will Join Him Padrig ap Bedwyn folds the note over and over in his hand. He debates whether he should take the note to his father, whose health is ever in decline. The older man would want to hear the news but Padrig wonders if such a thing would be too much for him to bear. He decides it is better to let such a decision alone until he sees how is father is faring today. Decision made, Padrig stands up from his chair and walks out of his room. A few minutes later ,he is in the bed chamber of Bedwyn. Kerrick has come and gone for the morning as evidenced by the fresh water and sheets. Bedwyn, once known as `the Fat', is a shell of his former self. He is thin and frail now, his hair gone totally gray and his skin loose upon his bones. By all rights he should have been dead months ago, but the mercy of death yet eludes the ex-llwyr. Though his body has deteriorated, strangely, his thoughts and speech have become more lucid over the past year. The former llwyr stares out the open window but a faint smile comes upon his lips when he hears his son. "Forgive me for not standing. My bones are painful this morning." Padrig smiles back at the strength of the powerful voice, now so undaunted as it had been before his father's ordeal. He also notices that while the window is open and he should be shivering from the cold storm, that in fact the breeze coming through is a warm one. "Is that warmth I detect in the air?" Padrig walks over to the window. "Yes. A farmer passed by earlier and had a nice chat with Kerrick and myself. He said the ground looks good for planting this year and the harvest should be the best in twenty years. A shame I will not be here to see it." Padrig is used to his father's predictions regarding his own death and no longer becomes upset at hearing the talk. "At least you got to feel the first spring breeze before you go. I did not even notice the change in the weather this morning." "Because you spend your days pining over lost love. Get out and smell the land once in a while. Beory knows I did not do enough of that in my day." Bedwyn manages to sit up slightly in bed and looks intensely at his son. Padrig is aware of the movement but he is lost in thought, staring out at the rain that was so recently snow and enjoying the warm air. He is debating whether he should ruin his father's day with the news when the old man speaks up again. "I had a dream last night and ole Eliseg was in it. He was telling me we would be together soon and there I would see friends. Gruffyth and Bronwen and Ffagan and others. I would see them and we'd share a seidr." Bedwyn sighs deeply. "Did you ever share a seidr with Eliseg? I didn't. He was a nuisance but I had to respect him because he was a druid. Yet now he calls me 'friend' in my dreams. Odd isn't it?" Padrig can only nod. "Yes it is, Father. Very odd." "Before spring is done you should have a seidr with Arth. Court the good will of Melgorn is my advice." Bedwyn coughs into his hand. Padrig turns to look at his father. "They would make good trading partners and allies." Bedwyn smiles. "Truth. Yet they will make better friends. Even a llwyr needs friends, Padrig. You have that ability where I did not. Just because it is our way to bash heads with one another does not mean we should or we have to." His words to not seem like those of the father he know, at least not to Padrig's ears, but it seems that the promise of an imminent death has tempered the old warrior in more ways than one. Padrig does not mind. Silence hangs between them but there is no discomfort in it. All that has needed to be said has been said and father and son can be content to share a quiet moment together, one of their last. Finally, Bedwyn breaks the moment. "You might want to smarten the place up. Give Kerrick something to do. I have a feeling we will be having visitors soon. Yes very soon now. We should be prepared." 
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