The Return Journey

As his mother ambled back along the lane towards their home, she reached out and took Felix's arm. Felix raised his head, at last.
"There you are then! What do I always say to you?" Felix's mother moved herself closer.
"It will all turn out fer the best," mimicked Felix. His mother beamed.
"Course it will, and don't go tellin' yerself any different. Poor old Drevil, eh? He thought you were going to be his," she gave Felix a nudge.
"Yes," Felix pondered. "He seemed really upset, you know, more than he ought to have been really. He actually had tears in his eyes. I didn't even think he liked me, well anyone really."
"He's had a rough time of it, that one," mused his mother. "Must've brought back a few memories, I dare say, poor soul." Felix suddenly stopped walking. His mother's words had his full attention.
"What are you talking about? What happened to him?"
"Well," she began, slowly, "you remember that old story about a boy who..." She stopped herself mid sentence, not wanting to say the wrong thing. "That boy, Porth, who disappeared?" Felix nodded before he spoke.
"You mean the one who...failed?"
"Well, he was going to be Drevil's apprentice too. It was Drevil's task that Porth failed back then, too. But, worse than that, Porth was Drevil's own son. Drevil's wife never forgave him until the day she died. That poor man has suffered so much"
Felix gasped at the news. A thousand questions flooded into his brain, yet none came to his lips. This was more than a coincidence, wasn't it?