Douan asked slowly i deliberately, moving toward Merwan Ma with each word.
"God-Voice?"
"What do you know of the chalice? ?
Merwan Ma began stammering the typical responses concerning the rituals and supposed powers of the sacred chalice, and Yakim Douan let him ramble for some time. Each remark seemed more of an excuse, a front, than anything from the man's heart, though, and so the perceptive Douan began to under-stand the truth of it, that Merwan Ma knew about the hematite in the chalice.
The Chezru Chieftain sent his spirit into that gemstone, used the portal that was the stone to let him fly free suddenly of his physical body. He didn't slow as he came free, but soared straight for the unsuspecting Mer-wan Ma, his spirit rushing right into the man, laying bare his soul for Yakim Douan to see.
And he knew then, in that instant, that Merwan Ma did indeed know of the hematite, and that it was the presence of that gemstone, along with Yakim Douan's clutching of the chalice, that had prompted the horrified look upon his face.
Confronted by the spirit of the God-Voice, the poor Shepherd fell back, toppling over to a seated position on the floor, one arm up over his face de-fensively, as if warding the man away.
Yakim Douan was already in retreat anyway, rushing back to his body, afraid to give too much away here to the curious Shepherd. He went back into his own body and blinked his physical eyes.
"What is it, my son?" he asked innocently.
Merwan Ma gradually relaxed, but only somewhat. He pulled himself to his feet and tried to act as if all was normal. But Yakim Douan saw the truth tor what it was. Merwan Ma knew, and was afraid because he knew.
'I must clean these once more," the young man stuttered.
'Go, then," Yakim Douan replied cheerily. ?But out to the Chezhou-Lei nrst. Your duties here can wait."
Merwan Ma paused a moment and stared at his master, but then answered, *es, God-Voice," bowed repeatedly, and shrank back out of the room.
Yakim Douan growled in frustration at his own carelessness. He replaced >e chalice and wiped the blood from the floor, then moved out of the room oack to his own private quarters, cursing with every step.
Merwan Ma knew, and he could not tolerate that. He would miss th young Shepherd greatly.
Chezhou-Lei Shauntil stood at rigid attention before the Chezru Chief tain, the God-Voice, and now - given the disaster at the Mountains of Fire the failure and honorable suicide of the Kaliit - the only real authority ]efr in the proud warrior's existence.
"You understand the statement of your mission?" Yakim Douan asked "To instate Merwan Ma as governor of Dharyan," the warrior recited ?To drive the To-gai-ru from the city and reclaim it for you, then to pursue the rebels onto the steppes, under the leadership of Yatol Tohen Bardoh destroying them utterly and returning to you the head of this foul woman the Dragon of To-gai."
"You understand the truth of your mission?"
"As stated," the warrior replied, and he squared his shoulders and puffed out his massive, muscled chest.
"Except that it is Carwan Pestle who is to serve as governor until a Yatol can be put in place."
"Because?"
"Merwan Ma will die in a battle."
Yakim Douan nodded and turned away, bitter about issuing such a com-mand against the Shepherd who had become his friend over the last years. He had known for a long time that perhaps he had become too close to Merwan Ma, and now the incident at the chalice had sealed the young man's fate, Yakim Douan simply could not take the chance that Merwan Ma had learned too much, for the mere existence of the hematite would damn him in the eyes of many of the Yatols. Their religion was unbending on this point, that the gemstones were the tools of the demons, were the perverse religious articles favored by the heathen Abellicans in the north.
Merwan Ma knew of the hematite in the chalice, and could easily guess at Douan's connection with it. That revelation, should the Shepherd ever make it, might lead some to guess the truth of Transcendence. And that, of course, the Chezru Chieftain could never suffer to pass.
Still, it bothered him more than a little to so order the death of Merwan Ma. At least he was allowing the man to die honorably. Yes, he would hold a great celebration of the life of Merwan Ma when the tragic news returned to Jacintha.