Magician's Gambit

panic, Relg had been suffering the horrors of a theological crisis. He sat on the ground with his face turned away from the fire and his shoulders slumped in an attitude of absolute despair.
    "I'm unworthy," he said, his voice on the verge of a sob. "When UL spoke in the silence of my heart, I felt that I had been exalted above all other men, but now I am lower than dirt."
    In his anguish he began to beat the sides of his head with his fists.
    "Stop that!" Garion said sharply. "You'll hurt yourself. What's this all about?"
    "UL told me that I was to reveal the child to Ulgo. I took his words to mean that I had found special grace in his eyes."
    "What child are we talking about?"
    "The child. The new Gorim. It's UL's way to guide and protect his people. When an old Gorim's work is done, UL places a special mark upon the eyes of the child who is to succeed him. When UL told me that I had been chosen to bring the child to Ulgo, I revealed his words to others, and, they revered me and asked me to speak to them in the words of UL. I saw sin and corruption all around me and I denounced it, and the people listened to me - but the words were mine, not UL's. In my pride, I presumed to speak for UL. I ignored my own sins to accuse the sins of others." Relg's voice was harsh with fanatic self accusation. "I am filth," he declared, "an abomination. UL should have raised his hand against me and destroyed me."
    "That's forbidden," Garion told him without thinking.
    "Who has the power to forbid anything to UL?"
    "I don't know. All I know is that unmaking is forbidden - even to the Gods. It's the very first thing we learn."
    Relg looked up sharply, and Garion knew instantly that he had made a dreadful mistake. "You know the secrets of the Gods?" the fanatic demanded incredulously.
    "The fact that they're Gods doesn't have anything to do with it," Garion replied. "The rule applies to everybody."
    Relg's eyes burned with a sudden hope. He drew himself up onto his knees and bowed forward until his face was in the dirt. "Forgive me my sin," he intoned.
    "What?"
    "I have exalted myself when I was unworthy."
    "You made a mistake - that's all. Just don't do it anymore. Please get up, Relg."
    "I'm wicked and impure."
    "You?"
    "I've had impure thoughts about women."
    Garion flushed with embarrassment. "We all have those kinds of thoughts once in a while," he said with a nervous cough.
    "My thoughts are wicked - wicked," Relg groaned with guilt. "I burn with them."
    "I'm sure that UL understands. Please get up, Relg. You don't have to do this."
    "I have prayed with my mouth when my mind and heart were not in my prayers."
    "Relg-"
    "I have sought out hidden caves for the joy of finding them rather than to consecrate them to UL. I have this defiled the gift given me by my God."
    "Please, Relg-"
    Relg began to beat his head on the ground. "Once I found a cave where the echoes of UL's voice lingered. I did not reveal it to others, but kept the sound of UL's voice for myself."
    Garion began to become alarmed. The fanatic Relg was working himself into a frenzy.
    "Punish me, Belgarion," Relg pleaded. "Lay a hard penance on me for my iniquity."
    Garion's mind was very clear as he answered. He knew exactly what he had to say. "I can't do that, Relg," he said gravely. "I can't punish you - any more than I can forgive you. If you've done things you shouldn't have, that's between you and UL. If you think you need to be punished, you'll have to do it yourself. I can't. I won't."
    Relg lifted his stricken face out of the dirt and stared at Garion. Then with a strangled cry he lurched to his feet and fled wailing into the darkness.
    "Garion!" Aunt Pol's voice rang with that familiar note.
    "I didn't do anything," he protested almost automatically.
    "What did you say to him?" Belgarath demanded.
    "He said that he'd committed all kinds of sins," Garion explained. "He wanted me to punish him and forgive him."
    "So?"
    "I couldn't do that, Grandfather."
    "What's so hard about it?"
    Garion stared at him.
    "All you had to do was lie to him a little. Is that so difficult?"
    "Lie? About something like that?" Garion was horrified at the thought.
    "I need him, Garion, and he can't function if he's incapacitated by some kind of religious hysteria. Use your head, boy."
    "I can't do it, Grandfather," Garion repeated stubbornly. "It's too important to him for me to cheat him about it."
    "You'd better go find him, father," Aunt Pol said.
    Belgarath scowled at Garion. "You