positive that their faith was not misplaced, that the selected child was indeed the God-Voice, then men like Bohl could become very valuable allies to the next incarnation.
When I was chosen, I knew as much about the truth of Yatol as I do ' he told them all. ?I could recite the Verses of Propriety as well as I bow..." He gave a little laugh. ?No, better, for then my physical body not begun to fail me, my memory did not lapse as it sometimes does now.
The gathering of ten Yatols all chuckled at the Chezru Chieftain's un-characteristic comedy - all except for Yatol Bohl, who sat staring hard at Douan, obviously taking a careful measure of the man.
Yakim resisted the temptation to call him on that look, and merely smiled disarmingly in response.
"You are human, reasoning beings, and so you hold your doubts," he said, and there came a chorus of denials, to which Yakim merely looked away and held up his hands. ?It is the expected response, my children, for you cannot make logical sense of faith. Who here has seen the paradise of the afterlife?" He paused and let the gathered Yatols all look to each other questioningly. ?Nay, you cannot see the spirit or hear the spirit. For you in your current state of existence, only the empty and lifeless corpse remains and logic would tell you, then, that death is the end of consciousness.
"I know better, and I tell you that this Transcendence will show you, too, that there is more to this existence than what our physical senses can show us. When you look upon the reincarnated God-Voice, when you hear him speak the words of Truth, you will know and you will be content.
"Fear not for those doubts you now harbor," Yakim went on, trying to hold that fierce edge of passion in his voice, trying not to lapse into the simple recitation of this, a speech he had spoken many times over the cen-turies. ?Fear not that you will be disappointed, and fear not that your doubts somehow mark you as less than true to Yatol. You are supposed to question and supposed to doubt! Else, how will you be certain that you have selected the correct child? Question and doubt everything! When you find the new God-Voice, your questions will catch in your throats and your doubts will vanish so completely that you will be befuddled as to how you ever held them. And then you will know true peace, my children, for then you will understand the truth of your faith. To witness a miracle is to ease the fear of dying itself. Look upon those few living Yatols who remem-ber the last Transcendence! See the contentment in their old eyes, my chil-dren, and take heart that you, too, will know that supreme comfort."
It was true enough. Only three Yatols remained alive who remembered the last Transcendence, when Yakim Douan had been identified as the next God-Voice of Yatol, and those three were considered among the happiest of all the Yatol priests. Happy because they had seen a miracle and knew that heaven awaited them. Happy because they understood the value of their lives in service to Yatol.
Happy because Yakim Douan had ultimately deceived them.
When the gathering dispersed a short while later, most of the Yatols left the audience chamber grinning and speaking excitedly about the coming Transcendence. Two notable exceptions caught Yakim Douan's eye and attention as he watched the departing flock. Merwan Ma sat at the side of the stage, in the shadows, staring at him with a long look upon his face. The man was deeply troubled by Yakim's expected and hoped-for death, the Chieftain knew, and was deeply troubled by his own inability to ac-reality, to brush aside his logical fears of mortality and logical sad- at losing a man he considered as mentor and friend. nosture and his fears did not bother Yakim Douan, though, for he hat Merwan Ma would rejoice when the God-Voice was discovered.
Chezru Chieftain decided then and there that when they found him, of his first spoken revelations would be to tell poor Merwan Ma that on Douan was still with him, looking over him and taking pride that his udent was performing his ultimately important duties so very well. The second exception to the common joy troubled Yakim Douan much ore though, for Yatol Bohl left the chamber neither smiling nor chatting itedly. His face was stern and locked into