The way Olivia and his mother acted around Olrich left Orn unsure how to interact with his cousin. A couple dinners with Olrich, made Orn not want to interact with him at all. The priest was, to be kind, a pompous windbag.

Orn began to dread the evening meal where his cousin would find a way to fill every second with his droning voice. Orn’s limited contact with Olrich ended when his cousin found out he had never really learned about the faith. Something Olrich sought to fix in the few days leading up to Orn’s pathday. This left Orn listening to his cousin drone on about his faith.

“Tomorrow is your pathday, so we will be brief tonight. Recap what we covered.” Olrich leaned back in his char a slight redness showing in his cheeks.

“There are four important goddesses. First is the mother who sleeps and dreams of the future. …” Orn repeated the small amount he learned from the first lecture. His main takeaway was the fact his cousin could talk for hours without managing to stop for breath or be interesting.

Olrich nodded listening to Orn’s description. “Good, now to the daughters.”

“The eldest and most powerful daughter is Atr. She controls fate and the “pattern” of the great loom.” Orn repeated a bit from Olrich’s thankfully shorter lecture the second day.

“Good, good. Now Clo.” Olrich said smiling slightly as he motioned Orn to talk about the third goddess.

“She is the middle daughter who works the loom and keeps the peace. She also gives people their paths.” The priest had rambled something to that end when he was teaching. Orn’s main takeaway from that night was the priest cut this lecture short, as the as the wine hit him early and hard.

“A bit simple, but passable.” Olrich gestured for Orn to continue.

“The third daughter is Lac. She holds the shuttle.” Orn was not sure what to add since Olrich had been vague about the details. She did something with fabrics. The volume of wine Olrich drank that night made the lecture mercifully short, but hard to understand.

“Not as good as the others but her power is too complex for a child at any rate.” Olrich stood slowly, “You need not worry on trying to remember, or explain more of her nature.”

Orn was sure that meant Olrich did not know, but felt that saying so would cause trouble, or worse, more education. Out of fear of the later, Orn kept his mouth firmly shut. Instead, he watched the man put a bit of his weight on the chair’s back for balance. The wine he saw Olrich guzzling after dinner was catching up to him. The priest was already red faced, but Orn was not about to complain. If it meant the fat man left early, the cellar could be emptied.

“I’m sure that after my wonderful teachings, you will be given a great path. Just remember what I taught you. You need not fear her. Now, say a prayer for those who were not so blessed when you go to sleep.”

Olrich slowly let go of the chair back he had been using to stabilize himself and turned toward the door. But Orn’s mind was racing, “Her? Is there someone I should worry about?”

“Just Kao, …” Olrich replied absent mindedly, then froze. Even with the wine muddling his brain he realized in he had mentioned something he should not have. Frantically he tried to smooth over his mistake, “Nothing you need worry about.”