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

praise of the goddess.

Goddess, indeed, the kappa thought. She is only a woman, grown in a bag like everyone else. These
deified elevations did little good in the end: at first, after each new coup, the folk all believed, not so much
from credulity as weariness, the hope that now things might finally become better. But each time it was
the same: the woman behind the mask would begin to show through, the feet turn to clay, and the masses
would grow angry as yet another ruler succumbed to self-indulgence, or apathy, or cruelty. Than Geng
had been one of the former sort, and had at least retained the status quo. The kappa knew little about
I-Nami, what manner of ruler she had become. She knew better than to ask, because that might betray
her as someone who doubted, and for some rulers, that was enough.

Certainly, the people were putting on a good show. Still clasping the ikiryoh's hand, the kappa stepped
down from the back of the truck and into the crowd.

"Hold tight,― she told the child. “Don't let go. I don't want to lose you among all these people."

They watched as a long dragon pranced by, followed by lions made from red-and-gold sparkles.
Slippered feet showed beneath. As the sky darkened into aquamarine, fireworks were let off, exploding
like stars against the deep-water color of the heavens. The kappa and the child walked past stalls selling
all manner of things: candy and circuit components and dried fruit and flowers. The kappa bought a small,
sticky box of candy for the child, who ate it in pleasurable silence. It was good, the kappa thought, to see
her behaving so normally, like an ordinary little girl. She pulled gently at the ikiryoh's hand.

"Is everything all right?"

The child nodded, then frowned. “What's that?"

The firecracker explosions were doubling in intensity. There was a sudden cacophony of sound. A
squadron of tiger-women raced around the corner, wearing ceremonial harness, heads adorned with tall
golden hats. They carried pikes, with which they pretended to attack the crowd. The child let out a short,
sharp shriek.

"Hush,― the kappa said, her heart sinking. “See? It's only a game."

The child shrank back against her skirts, hand hovering near her mouth. “I don't like them. They are
so big."

"It means the goddess is coming,― a young woman standing next to the kappa said. She sounded
superior: a city girl enlightening the ignorant peasants. “The procession has already begun up in the
main square—from there, it will come down here and into Nang Ong."

"Do you hear that?― the kappa said, tightening her grip a little on the child's hand. “You're going to
see the goddess.― She bent to whisper into the child's ear. “Do you remember her?"

"The goddess?― the child whispered. “What is that?"

The kappa frowned. The tiger-woman had specifically said that the child had come from I-Nami. Maybe
the ikiryoh simply did not remember. But it raised further questions about her upbringing and age.
“You will soon see,― the kappa said, feeling inadequate.