This is my first story. I apologize for any grammatical or syntactical error. English is not my native language nor I live in an English speaking postal code.
I'm an orphan, left at the doors of the Bravil's Chapel of Mara on the thirtieth day of Frost fall on the year 123 of the fourth era with no reason or explanation of my background. The priests said I appeared to be around six months old. I was named Aed after a recently diseased priest.
Bravil is known as the poorest town of Cyrodill and has no lack of orphans and the priests and priestess of Mara Goddess of Love, patron of the bountiful earth, and source of mortal compassion and understanding feel the moral obligation of caring for the orphans.
And so I spent my early years at the care of Mara's followers, where they had twenty-five orphans including me, three of them where close to my age Naahin and Nahana, who were a couple of Khajit twins, and Primo an Imperial boy.
One day, when we all where eleven, the four of us left the chapel to wander around the docks as we often did; there is only so much entertainment a kid can find in a chapel. The girls or garrlz, as Primo baptized them, left to where girls mysteriously leave, so Primo and I where left alone to do the foolish things we often do without girly wisdom,and sometimes even with it.
We were walking the boardwalk looking for any entertainment. Bravil's buildings are mostly wooden shacks with the exceptions of the Count's castle and the chapel, aren't we lucky.
"I have an awesome idea!" yelled Primo.
"Great" I said sullenly.
"Oh come on, I almost never have bad ideas!"
"No, what about when you thought it would be awesome if we took all the books on the chapel's library and sell them so we could buy swords and join the Fighter's guild."
"Well that would have worked if that snitch of a book seller hadn't told on us." he said closing his fists.
"We spend almost two months copying three times each the oblivion damned, Daughter of the Niben" I answered looking at him accusingly while rubbing my wrists at the memory of the pain caused by the hard work under the uncompassionate glare of priestess Tamira.
"Yes but I bet you there isn't an orphan with best grammar than us" he said smiling.
"Better" I said glaring at him.
"Better what?" he asked.
I sighed heavily at that. I was pretty sure he did that on purpose.
"So what was your idea?"
"Well you remember that neighborhood where priestess Tamira said people went to be forever damned by the Nine Divines?"
"Awww"
"Well, I say we go there to see what we shouldn't do to be forever damned by the Nine Divines while the garrlz are out of the way. You know so we won't do it by accident"
"Awww"
"So what do you say?" he asked smirking.
"Alright", I answered merrily.
And so we walked the docks towards almost its end were the shacks were a little bit worst. Don't get me wrong, all the houses in Bravil are of ill repute, even the Count' Castle is thought to be just a little bit better than a skooma den to the outsiders, this is Bravil after all. But the so called "Dock End" was the neighborhood of worst repute in the worst reputed city outside of Elswyr.
"Mmm, I don't see anything that would make the Divines damn us, do you?" Primo asked me disappointed.
There were eight shacks crammed together and a certain smellI I couldn't identify was everywhere, a smell which I later find out was moon sugar being cooked into skooma. There was a black hooded Argonian standing at the door of a building, he was looking at the rotten wood that was the floor of the building as if it was the most enthralling thing he had ever seen, he appeared to be guarding something, his reptilian tail occasionally tapped his leg.
"Well perhaps all that promised damnation is inside one of the shacks." I suggested.
"The Wench Stench", Primo said reading aloud a wooden sign that was barely hanging of a rusted chain over the busiest shack.
We looked at each other, shrugged and began our march towards the entrance of the shack. When we entered the building we heard laughter, heard a whistle and a drunken nord yelled "Hey Sabri I didn't realized this was a nursery, though I should have guessed with all the…" the lecher's tirade was stopped by a glass bottle breaking on his head.
"Shut up you swine" said a fat redguard with the bushiest beard I had ever seen before said redguard fell victim to a punch on his neck, and so an epic brawl began at the brothel. Brawl that we couldn't see since a beautiful Imperial woman around her early thirties lead us by the hands towards the street, they were the softest hands I had ever felt, at least compared to the rough hands that seem to accompany every priest I had ever met.
"Kids, aren't we a bit too green to be in a place like this?" she asked us smiling, a pair of dimples adorning her smile.
After a couple of moments of me waiting Primo to make a farfetched excuse as he usually did when we were busted, thing that always happened, I looked at Primo who was looking at the woman with a face for which there exits only a word to describe , thunderstruck.
It was up to me then.
"We are orphans!" yes I played that card right away, as the sounds of breaking glass and smashing tables intensified.
"And a beggar told us that they gave free food here." That was good I thought; some bad beggar fooled two poor orphans.
She snorted, "Good one, look boys this place, this neighborhood" she corrected herself "is no place for you, at least not yet." She said the last thing with a knowing smile. The brawl had stopped, or at least the uproar that it caused and the woman began walking towards her workplace. "You have your story kids, go home and try not to get into any more trouble" She said before she turned towards the shack.
"Wait!" yelled Primo.
The Imperial turned towards us with a questioning look. She was wearing a blue dress that fitted her tightly on her chest but flowed loosely under her waistline, her raven black hair contrasting her pale skin made her appear almost ethereal.
"Can you tell me, us your name?" he asked almost pleading.
She smiled and said "Sabrina" before turning back towards the shacks entrance not before she gave a quick glare at the hooded Argonian, who never let his eyes leave the floor, before she walked inside the brothel.
We stood there as a couple of statues for about a minute before I remembered how to breathe, I looked at Primo who was still looking dumbfounded at the entrance of "The Wench Stench".
"Primo?" I asked.
He remained still.
I looked at the horizon, the sunset was approaching and every minute that passed fed the shadows in the street that looked more ominous by the second, and believe me when I tell you that a neighborhood that is of ill repute by day , is a neighborhood of wrong place, wrong time by night.
"Primo" I said firmly," come on."
"I'm in love" he said finding his voice.
"That's great," I said sighing "We need to get home before it gets dark." I said,
I turned towards the building where the Argonian had been standing as a plant, but he had disappeared and somehow I was beginning to doubt I had ever seen him. I grabbed Primo's arm and pulled him as if he was a stubborn mule towards the statue of the Lucky Old Lady where we always met the garrlz if we ever get separated.
Luckily Primo had gotten out of his thunderstruck state shortly after we step out of the worst reputed neighborhood in the worst reputed city in Cyrodill. Unluckily he was so excited he spent the whole walk towards the statue reinventing and retelling me everything as if I hadn't been there.
"And when we entered the place the Nord was all, Sabri check out the two young men that just got in. And I was all shut up pig don't speak so rudely to my lady and punched him so hard he fainted."
"And then his redguard friend tried to hurt us, but my lady was fast and smuggled us out before he could do anything"
"And I said, what is your name my fair lady"
While Primo continued telling his tale apparently to himself, I saw the statue of the Lucky Old Lady before someone grabbed me by the neck and the fiercest creature's fangs snarled directly at my face. I was done.
"Where have you been you idiots, we have been here for over two hours, waiting for you pair of knuckle heads."
There is nothing like surviving the worst situation you have ever gotten into, just to be shrieked, punched , shouted and kicked by two girls you consider your friends and that you have known for as long as you have memory.
"That will teach you irresponsible couple of punch bags." Said Naahana as she cracked her fingers.
I looked at Primo and the idiot was smiling.
"We are sorry, right Primo? We won't ever do it again." The twins turned to look at Primo that was smiling at the statue.
"Primo!" I yelled at him in desperation.
"Yes sorry." He said out of costume.
I sighed and sat at the feet of the Lucky Old Lady, that was fun, I thought. I kissed the palm of my right hand and caressed the statue with it. Wish me luck I said looking at the statue's eyes, I almost felt they were looking right back.
We reached the wooden doors of the chapel almost as the night ended devouring its daily meal. We went to the kitchen where Peristair one of Maras priests was cooking something, as he always was, the man practically lived there.
"Hi kids, how about a nice stew." He said smiling; he was always smiling, even when he was mad which was unnerving.
"There was the biggest rat in the pantry, almost as big as a skeever."
Was, being the key word on that sentence; I politely declined the offer for a nice rat stew. I wished everyone a good night, grabbed a piece of bread and an apple and left for the chapel's undergrounds where the bedrooms were.
I threw myself at the bed and the bounce made me hit my forehead at the bed's headboard. I laid there looking at the ceiling while I ate the apple. Sabrina, her name filled my mind with the suddenness of a lightning. Weird I thought. I blew the candle fire of my bedside's lamp and tried to fall asleep before the rest of my roommates rushed the place.
I woke up nest morning with Peristair's call for breakfast, I looked at Primo's bed and noticed it was empty, I shrugged and quickly ran towards the kitchen before the rest of the chapel's populace could get and they finished anything eatable.
When I got there the only ones there where Naahin, priest Peristair; but he was always there and priestess Tamira, who was a Dunmer and whose red eyes could read the secrets of my soul, or so I felt every time she looked at me after a mischief.
Good morning I said as politely as I could, which caused the priestess to squint her red eyes. I sat at Naahin's left and smiled at her, she smiled back and gave me a plate.
I thanked her and sliced me a piece of cheese, cut a piece of bread and filled a wooden glass with fresh cow's milk, as the huge wooden table quickly filled.
I took a bite and when the table was almost full Naahin checked where priestess Tamira attention was and saw her talking with Peristair about a recent crime wave on Imperial City.
"So what happened yesterday?" Naahin whispered to me.
"I thought that Primo would have told you what happened yesterday so many times you would have thrown him into a well just for a bit of peace and quiet." I said whispering and chuckling lightly.
"Oh, he did, we locked him in the pantry though." Naahin answered.
"Thrown him into a well," whispered Nahana that arrived shortly after me and was now sitting to my left," you know Aed you say this kind of things sometimes and I worry about your mental sanity" she said shaking her head in disapproval.
"Funny" I said.
"So" Naahin said.
"Well, Primo had this idea" I began.
"Hmph" sounded Nahana.
"What?" I asked her.
"You always blame Primo, but I don't think he ever forces you into these little adventures; does he?"
"Perhaps, but you get sometimes get caught in those little adventures and you end up blame him too, so kettle calling the pot black I say."
"So" intervened Naahin, "are you telling us or what?"
"Well, Primo had this idea"
Nahana chuckled at that for which Naahin glared at her
I told them my version of the story as we finished eating, while I cautiously hid some cheese and bread for Primo and kept it inside a pocket in my breeches.
"We thanked Peristair and the divines for the meal." we said in chorus.
I saw Naahin pickpocketing Peristair for the pantry's key, which was locked after the "Primo you pig incident of 129" of which I was declared a knowing accomplice, while Nahana asked him for a glass of milk for Primo.
We carefully sneaked towards the pantry when the kitchen was almost empty except for Peristair and Naahin unlocked the pantry. Primo was snoring in the middle of it so I shook him lightly.
"Giant Rats" he yelped.
Naahin and Nahana laughed, I merely chuckled…I did!
"That wasn't funny gurrlz."Primo complained.
"Come on" I said patting his back" we have a couple of hours before our lesson"
There are no schools in Tamriel children are either educated by their family or by a tutor hired by their family as well. So the lessons orphan's received at Mara's Benefactories were as closer as you could get to a school system. There was in fact an attempt by the empire to use it as a model for a school system, but that was before the Oblivion Crisis, before the Empire lost its emperor and the unrest that followed.
We headed to the chapel's garden and sat on the shadow of a statue dedicated to Mara. A woman crying in front an unknown soldier's corpse, under the sculpture there was a message that read "every soldier has a mother" supposedly it depicted her compassion." I am no soldier", I thought bitterly.
"I'm so hungry" Primo complained.
The twins and I laughed and the three of us emptied our pockets, after that we again looked at each other and laughed even harder. Primo was soon eating his three pieces of cheese, three pieces of bread and had emptied his glass of milk. We spend the rest of our spare time with Primo retelling his adventure, now sans me. While the twins threatened to throw him into a well.
Thank you for reading.
I will update this at the earliest.