• The Prouds 148

Chapter Twenty-One

Years went by, and King Matthew grew up, as did
Commander Reid. The leader who achieved many of the
king’s aspirations then got ill and was confined to bed. His
condition became much worse, so he asked the king’s
permission to come and visit him.
“Hello, Reid,” said the king as he entered the
commander’s room. “How are you?”
Reid, whose hair had turned grey, said with shaking
faint voice, “I am very ill, My Lord, and I wanted to see
you.”
Then he apologized, “Please, forgive me. I tried to
come to you instead of having you come to me, but my
illness did not let me.”
The king looked carefully at him. He looked at the
signs of serious illness on his face and body and
remembered his father’s illness that was similar. That made
him afraid of seeing his father die again and made him
realize that the Commander’s life was at risk.
He said, “I have heard of your illness, great
Commander, and thought it was a casual thing.”
Then, with his eyes full of tears, he added, “But, I
did not realize how sick you were, otherwise I would have
come to visit you as soon as I have heard about your
illness.”