King Edward, Part XAnonymoushistoryghostsèÒ) ŒL Ö¶Âz Û$X)Ñ+ùýKing Edward, Chapter XùýChapter X: Josea and Lucky, Part II Mats continued his story of Lucky and Josea. *û*û* The years passed, twenty of them. More children came. Timmytook a bride. The land continued to prosper. Few died, sothere were many people now, and much of the forest wascleared for farms. Others became soldiers or sailors. Theirövoyages and battles all prospered, and they returned homeladen with booty. The gods were with them, people said, forthey were virtuous and deserving folk. Skyrim was united nowunder King Vrage the Gifted, second and noblest son of thelegendary Harald of Ysgramoor, thus Josea's king was high kingof all Skyrim. The Nords under Vrage's leadership spreadinto Morrowind and High Rock, conquering some of the sly andthievish dark elves and the weak and superstitious Bretons. Josea and Lucky had opened a store and built a fine big housefor their family. One night Josea awoke alone, and heardvoices in the hall. She left her bed and crept to see. Thevoices sounded angry! Lucky was standing there in his nightshirt; the passing yearshad changed him little. He looked no older, but he had grownleaner and paler, and somehow less substantial. Standingwith him were a tall matronly woman, dark haired, and cladin a fine blue robe, a knight in black armor, carrying ablack sword and a handsome blond man, greenclad, with abow. Two elves were there as well, one fair and one withgolden skin; one had a harp, the other a lute. Elves had notbeen seen in Skyrim in years! How did quiet simple Lucky comeöto know such grand people? "Is this how you keep your pact with us? Did we not make therules clear to you?" The woman was shouting at Lucky, who only muttered, "LadyMara, I didn't realize it had been so long. It was only fora few days ... and then a few days more. And then there werethe children and Josea needed me. I thought no harm. Thingsseemed to go well for everyone. It hasn't been so long.Tamriel did well enough without me before." Lucky spokesoftly, yet his face was set and Josea knew how stubborn hecould be. "Everyone! What of the Bretons? What of the dark elves? Andthe wood elves. Of the ice elves I say nothing. They are gone,gone altogether and forever." "Such shy folk ... I tried," Lucky faltered. "I did try. The ice elves were very hard to find,and not that friendly when I did find them." "Are all the elves to follow them, and the Bretons, andthen the other races?" "I'll go; I will go. But High Rock and Morrowind are so faröfrom here. And how can I leave my children? Surely, I amentitled to children? And my woman ..." "You could have arranged matters as I did," said the greenclad ranger. "Now it's too late for that. Matters have gonetoo far. We trusted you. It was a simple assignment. Yet weshould have watched him." This last sentence was addressedto the black knight. "I did watch him," the knight snapped, waving his sword, whichJosea now saw was actually a part of his arm. "Yet alone Icould do nothing! I'd few devotees in either High Rock orMorrowind. Once I realized I knew I had to find the rest ofyou; alone I could do little. What I could, I did. They'rehalted for now, yet the damage must be repaired, and he whocaused it must do the fixing, Tinker! It won't be easy.You'll have to avoid the Skyrim folk altogether for a coupleof hundred years, I think." "No! My Lord Ebonarm, no!" The cry was wrenched fromLucky's heart. "I cannot. I implore you. Do not ask it ofme ... leave me something of my own! Why must I always giveöit all to others? I'm tired of it! You promised me a life,and what you gave me, that endless wandering, was not alife!" The black knight Ebonarm scowled back at Lucky. "We are a gentle folk," the wood elf bard said in hismusical voice, "yet Zenithar can no longer be restrained.And if he wars against you, the other elven gods stand withhim! If the gods war, Tamriel itself may be destroyed. Youmay find daedra to stand with you; they love chaos. But Ithink you will find that not even Springseed, Ebonarm andMara will fight for you if you defy them further." "Jephre speaks truth, as ever. Let us not speak of war amongourselves, my friend. We wished your folk no ill. Wedeeply regret what has happened and will labor to repair ourfault. I regret our long absence, yet it was necessary.Raen and I were needed -- elsewhere." Mara said. "And noteven a god, or a goddess, can be everywhere at once. "As for you, Sai," she said, turning to Lucky, "One night ayear with your woman and your children I will grant you.But not in the flesh. The temptations are too strong foryou, I see. It was a mistake to let you hold the flesh solong. I apologize to the rest of you. Now, go and make youröfarewells. You are dismissed." The knight and ranger vanished, but the elves remained. Thegolden skinned one spoke to Mara, "Watch these new folk ofyours more carefully, Lady Mara. We are a patientpeople, and kindly disposed to other sentient races, yet thereare limits to our patience. Take warning." Then the elvestoo were gone. Lucky fell to his knees, clutching at Mara's robe, his face amask of anguish, "Lady, wait! I implore you. Am I never tofeel again? Never? It is more than I can bear. The rest ofyou can assume mortal form on occasion. Better I shouldhave died naturally, and gone to rest," he added bitterly. Mara considered, frowning. "Others have paid dearly forthe life you have stolen. Their spirits are not at rest; theytoo will exact payment. And yet ...very well. If you willlabor to repair the damage you have done, then you may onoccasion assume bodily form, but not as human. Wolf shapeshall be yours, in return for the kindness you showedGrellan."ö And she was gone, leaving Lucky standing alone, barefoot.Josea ran to him and clasped him ... oh, how thin and cold hewas! "What is it, dearest? Who were they? What does it mean? Oh,don't leave us!" "I must," he said, shivering. "I have stayed far too long.My dearest, I am Luck itself. I was born with the talent,though mortal as yourself. My lord took me for a soldier. Iwas killed in my first battle, even as the battle was won. Ie'er brought luck to others, ne'er to myself, never. Ebonarmappeared to me, said I had an interesting talent and offeredme immortality if I would agree to spread my luck about. "He said the gods were overworked, seeing to events, andconstantly quarreling over what should happen. He thoughtthat I could balance things out naturally with my inborntalent. I was young. I'd barely lived. I didn't want todie, so I agreed, and Ebonarm said that I could keep my bodyfor a time. I wouldn't age or die, but I would fade slowly,as you have seen. I am nearly eighty now. I did as he bade forömany years. Then I met you, and found myself trapped byyour need, I think. I was your Luck, you see, what you needed.And truth is, I needed you, too, my dear love. "Yet while I've stayed here, my luck has spread likeripples, strongest in the center, weak along the edges untilthere's none at all in Morrowind and High Rock and theWilderness to the south, and the folk are dead or chained inslavery. Also I've brought luck only to the Nords amongwhom I've lived, so that the wood elves have fled and theice elves have died. Now I must go, and bring Luck back tothem and redress the balance, as it should have been." He went to the children's rooms and kissed them as they slept,while his tears fell on them. Then he said, "I'll be with youone night each year, though you will not see me. Yet you willfeel my presence, dearest. Oh, and I could never speak oflove or marriage ... but know I love you, as no man or godloved woman." Then he kissed her one last time, and was gone. *û*û* Mats stopped talking at last. The fire had burned down toashes. Edward drew a long breath. "That's some story," Edward said. "Is it true?" "Are you calling my grandmother a liar? I know she used toöleave a bit of food and a bowl of milk out on winter nights.'For the Wolf,' she said. And we Nords hold it very unluckyto attack a wolf unless it attacks you. It just might be Sai! "My grandmother said she got the tale from hergreat-grandmother, and her great was Josea herself. So shesaid. Or maybe it was her great-great-grandmother. I get lostthere. Anyway it happened during the reign of King Vrage theGifted, like I said, when the Nords invaded Morrowind andHigh Rock. It took Sai a hundred and fifty years to get thingsset right again, and he needed a lot of help. FromMoraelyn's brothers and father, among others. The dark elvesand Bretons have been lucky to get their lands back, you see,and it's been hard times for Skyrim folk, although once yourluck builds up the way theirs did, it takes a long time toreally run out altogether. And Sai didn't make the samemistake again. He's been spreading luck around ever since.Otherwise folk get arrogant and start thinking they'reentitled to more than others. Yet he's kept his promise. Yousee, I'm his descendant and once a year I feel his presence.öThat was tonight." "I thought being a god means you can do just as youplease," Edward said. "Well, they can, you see. Sai did, for awhile, but he andhis fellow gods weren't pleased with the results. There'srules to being a god, it seems, just as there are rules tobeing a man or a boy." "Who makes the rules then?" Edward demanded. Mats laughed. "Best save that question up for theArchmagister. It's much too deep for me! Well, I don't knowabout you, but I'm going to have a drink -- I'm parched afterso much talking -- and then rouse Mith, so I can sleepmyself." "Mats, I was taught that Moraelyn's father and brotherswere just raiders and that the Nords were the real owners ofthe lands they took. That the dark elves come up out of theground and raid for meanness and profit." "Moraelyn's father, Kronin, and his brothers, Cruethys andEphen, took to raiding after the Nords drove them out ofEbonheart. Guerilla warfare isn't pretty, but neither islosing your homeland. Human memories of that time are fadedhand-me-downs, but there's a fair number of dark elves wholived through it still around. Moraelyn's aunt Yoriss foröone, she who rules in Kragenmoor. Oh, there's some dark elvesstill, along the borderland in Blacklight, who are justthieves and kidnappers, no question. They have holds up inthe mountain caverns and raid farms and villages in eastSkyrim. But Moraelyn's folk have naught to do with them,leastways not since they regained their own lands inMorrowind. Moraelyn hates the raiding. He'd stop it if hecould." Mats sighed. "Why can't he?" Mats yawned widely. "That's a matter of politics andpower, boy. You ask him about it, and you'll likely get moreanswer than you want, for once. Me, I'm off to bed. Goodnight." ö ö