"Liz Williams - Ikiryoh" - читать интересную книгу автора (Williams Liz)

you, and is grateful."

She had me sent here, in the purge after Than Geng's death. I was lucky she did not have me
killed. Why then is she asking me to guard her own child?—the kappa wondered, but did not say.

"And this child is the goddess I-Nami's?― she queried, just to make sure.

"She is ikiryoh,― the tiger-woman said. Faced with such truculent conversational circularity, the
kappa asked no more questions.

In the days that followed it was impossible not to see that the child was disturbed. Silent for much of the
time, the ikiryoh was prone to fits, unlike anything the kappa had seen: back-arching episodes in which
the child would shout fragmented streams of invective, curses relating to disease and disfigurement, the
worst words of all. At other times, she would crouch shuddering in a corner of the temple, eyes wide
with horror, staring at nothing. The kappa had learned that attempts at reassurance only made matters
worse, resulting in bites and scratches that left little impression upon the kappa's thick skin, but a
substantial impression upon her mind. Now, she left the child alone when the fits came and only watched
from a dismayed distance, to make sure no lasting harm befell her.

The sun had sunk down behind the creeper trees, but the air was still warm, heavy and humid following
the afternoon downpour. Mosquitoes hummed across the water and the kappa's long tongue flickered
out to spear them before they could alight on the child's delicate skin. The kappa rose and her reflection
shimmered in the green water, a squat toad-being. Obediently, the child rose, too, and reached out to
clasp the kappa's webbed hand awkwardly in her own. Together, they climbed the steps to the
water-temple.

Next morning, the child was inconsolable. Ignoring the bed of matting and soft woven blankets, she lay
on the floor with her face turned to the wall, her mouth open in a soundless wail. The kappa watched,
concerned. Experience had taught her not to interfere, but the child remained in this position for so long,
quite rigid, that at last the kappa grew alarmed and switched on the antiscribe to speak to the palace.

It was not the tiger-woman who answered, but the other one, the modified person. The kappa told her
what was happening.

"You have no reason to concern yourself,― the woman said, serene. “This is to be expected."

"But the child is in grave distress. If there's something that can be done—― The kappa wrung her
thick fingers.

"There is nothing. It is normal. She is ikiryoh."

"But what should I do?"

"Ignore it.― The woman glanced over her shoulder at a sudden commotion. The kappa heard
explosions.

"Dear heaven. What's happening?"

The woman looked at her as though the kappa were mad. “Just firecrackers. It's the first day of the
new moon."