King Edward , Book X Summary . This book is part of a twelve - part series on King Edward , as follows : Content . Chapter 10 : Josea and Lucky , Part II Mats continued his story of Lucky and Josea . The years passed , twenty of them . More children came . Timmy took a bride . The land continued to prosper . Few died , so there were many people now , and much of the forest was cleared for farms . Others became soldiers or sailors . Their voyages and battles all prospered , and they returned home laden with booty . The gods were with them , people said , for they were virtuous and deserving folk . Skyrim was united now under King Vrage the Gifted , second and noblest son of the legendary Harald of Ysgramoor , thus Josea ' s king was high king of all Skyrim . The Nords under Vrage ' s leadership spread into Morrowind and High Rock , conquering some of the sly and thievish dark elves and the weak and superstitious Breton s . Josea and Lucky had opened a store and built a fine big house for their family . One night Josea awoke alone , and heard voices in the hall . She left her bed and crept to see . The voices sounded angry ! Lucky was standing there in his nightshirt ; the passing years had changed him little . He looked no older , but he had grown leaner and paler , and somehow less substantial . Standing with him were a tall matronly woman , dark haired , and clad in a fine blue robe , a knight in black armor , carrying a black sword and a handsome blond man , greenclad , with a bow . Two elves were there as well , one fair and one with golden skin ; one had a harp , the other a lute . Elves had not been seen in Skyrim in years ! How did quiet simple Lucky come to know such grand people ? " Is this how you keep your pact with us ? Did we not make the rules clear to you ? " The woman was shouting at Lucky , who only muttered , " Lady Mara , I didn ' t realize it had been so long . It was only for a few days , and then a few days more . And then there were the children and Josea needed me . I thought no harm . Things seemed to go well for everyone . It hasn ' t been so long . Tamriel did well enough without me before . " Lucky spoke softly , yet his face was set and Josea knew how stubborn he could be . " Everyone ! What of the Bretons ? What of the dark elves ? And the 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 , and then the other races ? " " I ' ll go ; I will go . But High Rock and Morrowind are so far from here . And how can I leave my children ? Surely , I am entitled to children ? And my woman . . . " " You could have arranged matters as I did , " said the green clad ranger . " Now it ' s too late for that . Matters have gone too far . We trusted you . It was a simple assignment . Yet we should have watched him . " This last sentence was addressed to the black knight . " I did watch him , " the knight snapped , waving his sword , which Josea now saw was actually a part of his arm . " Yet alone I could do nothing ! I ' d few devotees in either High Rock or Morrowind . Once I realized I knew I had to find the rest of you ; alone I could do little . What I could , I did . They ' re halted for now , yet the damage must be repaired , and he who caused it must do the fixing , Tinker ! It won ' t be easy . You ' ll have to avoid the Skyrim folk altogether for a couple of hundred years , I think . " " No ! My Lord Ebonarm , no ! " The cry was wrenched from Lucky ' s heart . " I cannot . I implore you . Do not ask it of me . . . leave me something of my own ! Why must I always give it all to others ? I ' m tired of it ! You promised me a life , and what you gave me , that endless wandering , was not a life ! " The black knight Ebonarm scowled back at Lucky . " We are a gentle folk , " the wood elf bard said in his musical voice , " yet Zenithar can no longer be restrained . And if he wars against you , the other elven gods stand with him ! If the gods war , Tamriel itself may be destroyed . You may find daedra to stand with you ; they love chaos . But I think you will find that not even Springseed , Ebonarm and Mara will fight for you if you defy them further . " " Jephre speaks truth , as ever . Let us not speak of war among ourselves , my friend . We wished your folk no ill . We deeply regret what has happened and will labor to repair our fault . I regret our long absence , yet it was necessary . Raen and I were needed . . . elsewhere . " Mara said . " And not even a god , or a goddess , can be everywhere at once . " " As for you , Sai , " she said , turning to Lucky , " One night a year with your woman and your children I will grant you . But not in the flesh . The temptations are too strong for you , I see . It was a mistake to let you hold the flesh so long . I apologize to the rest of you . Now , go and make your farewells . You are dismissed . " The knight and ranger vanished , but the elves remained . The golden skinned one spoke to Mara , " Watch these new folk of yours more carefully , Lady Mara . We are a patient people , and kindly disposed to other sentient races , yet there are limits to our patience . Take warning . " Then the elves too were gone . Lucky fell to his knees , clutching at Mara ' s robe , his face a mask of anguish , " Lady , wait ! I implore you . Am I never to feel again ? Never ? It is more than I can bear . The rest of you can assume mortal form on occasion . Better I should have died naturally , and gone to rest , " he added bitterly . Mara considered , frowning . " Others have paid dearly for the life you have stolen . Their spirits are not at rest ; they too will exact payment . And yet . . . very well . If you will labor to repair the damage you have done , then you may on occasion assume bodily form , but not as human . Wolf shape shall be yours , in return for the kindness you showed Grellan . " And she was gone , leaving Lucky standing alone , barefoot . Josea ran to him and clasped him . . . oh , how thin and cold he was ! " 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 . I was killed in my first battle , even as the battle was won . I ever brought luck to others , never to myself , never . Ebonarm appeared to me , said I had an interesting talent and offered me immortality if I would agree to spread my luck about . " " He said the gods were overworked , seeing to events , and constantly quarreling over what should happen . He thought that I could balance things out naturally with my inborn talent . I was young . I ' d barely lived . I didn ' t want to die , so I agreed , and Ebonarm said that I could keep my body for 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 for many years . Then I met you , and found myself trapped by your 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 like ripples , strongest in the center , weak along the edges until there ' s none at all in Morrowind and High Rock and the Wilderness to the south , and the folk are dead or chained in slavery . Also I ' ve brought luck only to the Nords among whom I ' ve lived , so that the wood elves have fled and the ice elves have died . Now I must go , and bring Luck back to them 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 you one night each year , though you will not see me . Yet you will feel my presence , dearest . Oh , and I could never speak of love or marriage . . . but know I love you , as no man or god loved woman . " Then he kissed her one last time , and was gone . Mats stopped talking at last . The fire had burned down to ashes . 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 to leave a bit of food and a bowl of milk out on winter nights . ' For the Wolf , ' she said . And we Nord s hold it very unlucky to attack a wolf unless it attacks you . It just might be Sai ! " My grandmother said she got the tale from her great - grandmother , and her great was Josea herself . So she said . Or maybe it was her great - great - grandmother . I get lost there . Anyway it happened during the reign of King Vrage the Gifted , like I said , when the Nords invaded Morrowind and High Rock . It took Sai a hundred and fifty years to get things set right again , and he needed a lot of help . From Moraelyn ' s brothers and father , among others . The dark elves and Breton s have been lucky to get their lands back , you see , and it ' s been hard times for Skyrim folk , although once your luck builds up the way theirs did , it takes a long time to really run out altogether . And Sai didn ' t make the same mistake again . He ' s been spreading luck around ever since . Otherwise folk get arrogant and start thinking they ' re entitled to more than others . Yet he ' s kept his promise . You see , I ' m his descendant and once a year I feel his presence . That was tonight . " " I thought being a god means you can do just as you please , " Edward said . " Well , they can , you see . Sai did , for awhile , but he and his fellow gods weren ' t pleased with the results . There ' s rules to being a god , it seems , just as there are rules to being a man or a boy . " " Who makes the rules then ? " Edward demanded . Mats laughed . " Best save that question up for the Archmagister . It ' s much too deep for me ! Well , I don ' t know about you , but I ' m going to have a drink . I ' m parched after so much talking and then rouse Mith , so I can sleep myself . " " Mats , I was taught that Moraelyn ' s father and brothers were just raiders and that the Nords were the real owners of the lands they took . That the dark elves come up out of the ground and raid for meanness and profit . " " Moraelyn ' s father , Kronin , and his brothers , Cruethys and Ephen , took to raiding after the Nords drove them out of Ebonheart . Guerilla warfare isn ' t pretty , but neither is losing your homeland . Human memories of that time are faded hand - me - downs , but there ' s a fair number of dark elves who lived through it still around . Moraelyn ' s aunt Yoriss for one , she who rules in Kragenmoor . Oh , there ' s some dark elves still , along the borderland in Blacklight , who are just thieves and kidnappers , no question . They have holds up in the mountain caverns and raid farms and villages in east Skyrim . But Moraelyn ' s folk have naught to do with them , leastways not since they regained their own lands in Morrowind . Moraelyn hates the raiding . He ' d stop it if he could . " Mats sighed . " Why can ' t he ? " Mats yawned widely . " That ' s a matter of politics and power , boy . You ask him about it , and you ' ll likely get more answer than you want , for once . Me , I ' m off to bed . Good night . "