Corpus Tamrielicum - The Imperial Library

146 2. THE ELDER SCROLLS CHAPTER 2: DAGGERFALL
"Oh, it's a terrible thing. Terrible. My father sold me as a slave because of it. Later he sold my
oldest sister. Then, when he was in debt yet again, he killed himself in one of his rare lucid
moments when he could see what was happening to him. What he was doing to his family,
himself. 'Course I was just a kid when I was sold. I didn't understand. I thought it was because
of some fault of mine that I'd been sent away, laziness or stupidity or disobedience, and that if
I'd only been a better son it wouldn't a happened. That's Auriel's way. It's intended that
children should respect their parents and learn from them, but some parents aren't deserving
of respect. Well, it was a sickness in him, so my mother says. I don't know that he should be
blamed for it, any more than if he had red plague or leprosy. I believe her, yet sometimes I
still feel it was my fault. Well, that was bad luck you might say. But Sai sent me Moraelyn
and that was a lucky day indeed.
"What other god would put it into his head to stop one human from beating on another? Any
other elf in Tamriel would have turned away in disgust or stopped to watch and laugh at the
stupid humans. Two dark elf kids against four grown Nords, and for all they knew I deserved
what I was getting. I could have been a thief or murderer. I suppose I was a thief. I'd stolen
myself, so to speak."
"Moraelyn can't say himself why he did it. He says he was spoiling for a fight that day and
seeing slavecatchers on Morrowind soil did nothing to ease his temper. That's why I say: it
was Sai. But it was Moraelyn that listened to the god.
"There's no doubt it's a grand thing to feel Sai's hand on your shoulder. It's like riding the
finest horse, like love itself. You're one with the world, and everything goes your way,
everything's on your side, instead of being the constant struggle that life really is. You don't
have to be smart or handsome or kind or witty. Things just go your way. If you do something
dumb it doesn't matter. It'll turn out to be the right thing to have done. Lucky. Some folks do
seem to be born lucky, others unlucky. I don't know why. Most everyone feels Sai's presence
sometimes, I guess. You have, haven't you?"
Edward shook his head. He'd no idea what Mats was talking about.
"Well, it's a kind of greed, I guess, this Sai's Affliction. You see, there's only so much luck to
spread around, and if a few folks got it all, there'd be none left for the rest. Like tonight, I won
that last pot, but the others had to lose it. Everyone can't win with Sai. That's not true with
other gods, not necessarily. You still don't understand, do you? Would you like to hear a story
about Sai?"
Edward nodded. Mats was a good-natured fellow, but usually quite silent. Edward had
thought him rather stupid. Mats' luck at cards seemed to have loosened his tongue, and now
Edward saw that he thought a lot more than he talked.
* * *
Long, long ago, when people were fewer and wolves more numerous than now a young
widow named Josea lived smack in the middle of what is now the province of Skyrim. She
was an ordinary sort of woman, neither plain nor pretty. She had smooth brown hair, warm
brown eyes, a short nose, a full round face, and body to match. She'd been born the only child
of peasant farmers. Her parents had been carried off by typhoid when she was seventeen.
Shortly afterwards she had married Tom, a strong young woodcutter with a cheerful