not speaking as Chezru Douan has told us?"
"Do you believe that there will be such a child, a clear-cut God-Voice speaking the tenets as fluently as our present Chezru Chieftain?"
Thei'a'hu settled back even farther at the continuing blunt, bordering on heretical, declarations of Yatol Bohl. That was it, was it not? Either they be-lieved that such a creature would be born into their midst, literally as Douan had said, or they did not. And if they did not, then perhaps uld do well to find a child whose mother would favor Bohl and friend, if such a child is found, then perhaps we should abandon selection and fall in line with the others," Bohl went on. ?And if not, hen what have we lost?" If we find a bright child to elevate, there remains the problem of Chezru an's choice of Shepherd Merwan Ma as tutor and mentor the ? Yatol Thei'a'hu reminded. ?Merwan Ma above all others will help shape the next Chezru, and he is likely of similar mind and heart as Douan, else he would not have been chosen. That heart is not sympathetic for Eh'thu, I am sure."
"Merwan Ma is insignificant," Yatol Bohl insisted. ?He will be a minor player in the future of Yatol."
"Not according to Chezru Douan." ?Who will be dead and buried," the other reminded. Yatol Thei'a'hu narrowed his sleepy eyes at the obvious threat, for Bohl's tone made it quite clear that he believed he could have Merwan Ma elimi-nated, if the need arose, and that he would not hesitate to do so.
Yakim Douan watched it all with a considerable amount of amusement - for he, too, was in that quiet room in the luxurious northern quarter of Jacintha. Not physically. Physically, Yakim Douan was in Chom Deiru, the Chezru palace in Jacintha, in his meditation room, where none would dare disturb his private communion with Yatol. Little did they know/that^his true communion on that day, as on many, was with a certain hematite, \ magical soul stone. Using that magic, Yakim walked out of his body, his spirit silently making its way along the streets, following troublesome Yatol Bohl to his temporary quarters in the city.
How convenient that Bohl had chosen that very day, the same d^y as the speech of Transcendence, to further his nefarious plotting with Yatol Thei'a'hu.
It saddened Yakim Douan to learn that Thei'a'hu was in on Bohl's grow-ing conspiracy. He had always been rather fond of the man, and though he knew that Thei'a'hu harbored some resentment about the loss of his north-ern reaches, Yakim hadn't imagined that his decision had put the man so far into Bohl's dangerous court.
Bohl's last statement, though, hinting at eliminating Merwan Ma, had not surprised Yakim Douan in the least. He understood Bohl well, had over the centuries seen many men of similar impatience and weakened faith. Indeed, Yakim Douan was one of them!
How could he not sympathize with Bohl? The man, who obviously isn t sold on the specific concept of Yatol Paradise, was merely being 'ragmatic, much as the disillusioned Yakim Douan had acted pragmatically those centuries before when he had discovered his own secret to immortal-ity, one that made logical sense to him.
If he had a body about him at that moment, Yakim Douan would have is-sued a revealing sigh. In looking at Bohl, so much a younger version of his own first incarnation, Yakim Douan considered, and not for the first time not even for the hundredth time, that he had the power to offer true im-mortality to others, a select few, perhaps, friends and lovers who could coast through the centuries beside him. His was not necessarily a lonely ex-istence, for in each incarnation as God-Voice, he was able to surround him-self with friends, and certainly the Chezru Chieftain had little trouble in finding the carnal companionship of many, many women.
But what might it be like to walk the centuries with another? With Bohl perhaps, or Merwan Ma?
It was a passing thought, as always. For taking such a course would surely invite great risk. A companion who knew the truth of the hematite and Transcendence might speak out to a friend, or might allow himself to fall in love and wish to take yet another on the century-walking journey. Or even worse, a companion might harbor ambitions to become the God-Voice, threatening a position that Yakim Douan did not wish to relinquish.
For who but a pragmatic, not overly spiritual man might Yakim Douan convince to follow