“You did what!?” Atr choked out horrified.

“My champion, the embodiment of my will in the world.” Kao said slowly, her eyes shining with mischief, “With the power to defy gods… if he works hard enough.”

“You promised no prophets…” Atr began.

“Prophets speak your will.” Clo cut in. “This is different, and much, much worse. She definitely breached the intent… but she upheld every word.” The last few words were almost a growl.

“You have loosed a piece of divine power on the world. What if he does something terrible? Since he is yours, none of us can even directly intervene!” Atr was shaking in rage at the thought of a mortal able to directly defy them. “Worse yet, your very nature means you cannot control a mortal, OR DID YOU FORGET!”

Kao slapped her head with her palm, “I completely forgot about that.” Kao did not wait to turn around before smiling.

“Wait.” Clo said following the thread back through the cloth. “Why would he be willing to give himself to you?”

“He remembered.” Kao started turning back to her sisters, “But you already knew that. Did you really think anyone would just follow along with what you wanted after that?”

Atr clenched her fists.

“You are doing it again, Atr. You always squeeze your fists when you get angry.” Kao laughed tauntingly. “I fixed your mistake. I locked the memories from before away. You are welcome, for me cleaning up that mess, by the way. Now no rules are being broken. But he will always remember your threat.” Kao winked at Atr before slipping away down the hall.

The three’s worst fears were confirmed. They suspected something strange when the hunters found the empire’s scouts, but a mortal that knew the plan, even if only slightly was a threat. Now Kao had made that problem orders of magnitude worse by giving him her blessing.

A bit of divine power was now wandering loose without any restraint. Worse the boy who had it hated them. Kao’s powers could not give much immediately, and even less after they forced the rules on her. But that power could grow, worse with a bit of the divine it might do so limitlessly. It could not be left unchecked.

Lac and Clo started at the loom. The effect of what Kao did was ugly, but minor compared to the entire work. The changes were in an important place, but the circumstances were set, and the war’s outcome would not change easily.

Clo turned from the fabric to see Atr still glowering at the doorway. “Quit being useless and come over here.”

Atr grumbled something, but acquiesced.

When she reached the loom Clo continued. “We need to see what changes to expect. We will no longer be able to see its future, but you may be able to see that of the ones around it.”

Atr stared at the tapestry, intently. “The area around it is blurry, but the rest of the tapestry seems fine. The plan appears to be intact, but the pattern is a bit hazy in a few places. “

Atr looked back to Clo, “This haziness is probably a result of her being able to talk to it. We should have pushed for harder rules when we kicked her out…”

Clo stopped Atr with a sharp gesture, “Stop. We were pushing it when we stopped her having a prophet. Not to mention kicking her out of the room. For now, let her play with her toy. It will keep her busy and give us time to make the changes. You know her blessings take time. If it looks like it is getting too strong, we just have an accident happen. It is already weak and there are a lot of things out there that could kill the annoyance that are not directly our doing.”

Atr nodded then they both looked at Lac, “You need to hurry and pick a prophet. We need to ensure things stay on course. Your prophet will be our guarantee that this goes as planned.