Chapter 73 Kidan
KIDAN
I can’t stay long,” Kidan said warily. “I have my final class soon.”
The final class of Mastering a House Law was going to be held in Dean Faris’s massive house. It made her nervous, the switch in location. Introduction to Dranacti’s last class had been disturbing and Kidan didn’t put it past the professor to reveal something equally dark.
“He’s switched sides, Yusef,” Adjoa said, standing under the lemon tree of her front garden. Kidan blinked, unsure what she’d heard. “My vampires have been following him over the semester break. There wasn’t a single day he didn’t spend with Slen Qaros.”
Kidan’s neck prickled with alarm but she fought it aside. “No, he wants to see a different Uxlay. A safe one where Dranacti doesn’t exist.”
Adjoa’s mouth pursed. “He’s lost faith in you. He doesn’t believe your mother has left the mask for you.”
“He’s lost faith? Or have you?”
From this angle, the leader of Piran House looked much older, weary, like a soldier who’d been on a battlefield for too long.
“The others agree with me,” Adjoa continued. “The safest way to secure your position is to get rid of Yusef. His aunt will vote your way.”
“Get rid of him?” Kidan nearly growled. “I thought you were all against murder. Want to change Dranacti because it makes us kill one another?”
Adjoa narrowed her eyes. “There are other methods we can use. Murder isn’t what your mother would want.”
“He’s my friend,” Kidan said tightly, not liking her tone. She gripped her mother’s finger bones tightly in her pocket. “I’ll talk to him.”
The air went sour with the scent of citrus and danger. Adjoa said nothing, turning her shoulder to the tree. With gloved hands, she snipped rotten leaves with shears. Kidan waited for her to speak but she was done.
Bristling at the dismissal, Kidan crossed the soft grass onto the cobblestones. Working with the Dirt Diggers had sounded like a great idea in the beginning, but she wasn’t sure how long she could influence them. With each step, her mother’s bones crinkled, speaking to her.
You need to learn the truth.
When Kidan turned onto the path that led to Faris House, a figure in a large jacket did too.
Kidan and Slen froze, each surprised the other still existed.
Time slowed down around them. In the stillness, Kidan saw their language lessons, late-night study sessions in the Philosophy Tower, drinking dangerous amounts of coffee.
Their friendship appeared more fragile than ever, dissolving before their very eyes.
And for what?
To see who holds the most power.
Slen blinked first, adjusted her shoulder bag, and curled her short braids behind her ear.
After an extended silence, Slen’s gaze traveled to the northeast side of campus, in the direction of the Mot Zebeya Monastery.
“Did you find him?” she asked, her voice absent of its usual ice.
GK.
Kidan almost smiled. “Yes.”
A tiny speck of surprise passed over Slen. “Did you tell him I held his heart in my hands?”
The question broke the tension, and they fell into step, walking together. “I figured you’d tell him yourself.”
“Unlikely. He’ll probably kill me first.”
Close to Faris House, a pair of arms swung around their shoulders, Yusef’s head popping up between them. “There they are, my favorite girls. I miss seeing you two together.”
He smelled like warm coffee and toasted sandwiches. But above his smile, heaviness lingered in his eyes.
Slen was studying him with a touch of concern too.
Adjoa’s words came to Kidan. If Yusef and Slen had been spending time together, how much had he told her?
When she tried to catch his eye, Yusef avoided it, walking into the large set of russet doors. “Here’s to our last class.”
The last time they were in Faris House, the dean had told them about Lusidio.
How dangerous he was. Kidan now knew he was the first immortal creature, unkillable.
Uxlay’s protective edge appeared to dull with this knowledge.
Thirty-one Acti Houses supported Varos the Night Lion.
Kidan’s fingers trembled, tracing a square on the strap of her bag.
She took a moment, breathed deeply, and followed Slen’s footsteps.
The dean’s house welcomed them with silence, Sicions posted along every column like statues. Inside the dean’s study, three wooden chairs were set out.
Yusef took the middle seat, a trace of nerves in his eyes. Slen and Kidan sat on either side.
Professor Andreyas’s four cornrows were held together by a black clasp emblazoned with the Faris House sigil.
It always intrigued Kidan, spying that silver-eyed raven, the visible display of loyalty to Faris House.
Especially on something as intimate as hair.
If the oldest vampire in Uxlay could be bound to an aging woman, what couldn’t be?
Even now he stood near Dean Faris, a step forward from her chair, an imposing figure of protection.
The dean’s sharp eyes studied them one by one, hands laced. On the wide oak desk sat a veiled object, a stack of letters with Uxlay’s wax seal, and an impala figurine. Like Kidan’s mother, the dean believed creation came from the Last Sage.
It was only the three of them, but Kidan swore she heard the ghosts of all the other students whisper in warning. Urging her to get up and walk out.
“Most revolutions are started by students, so I’m not surprised you three are caught in one,” Dean Faris said. “I do apologize for the added stress this has caused you all, but the votes will be over soon.”
Something about that rang false to Kidan.
“Would you really be okay with Faris House moving to the border?” she asked, unable to stop herself. “Faris and Adane House have always remained in the middle.”
The dean didn’t react quickly to the confrontation. She took the tea, lemongrass by the scent in the air, and sipped it.
“What I will always place first is Uxlay’s safety from the outside world, protected by the universal law. If the Border Houses protest and break the universal law, what will happen to the peace we’ve protected for so long? It will turn to ash.”
Her words carried weight, hardened by knowledge that sounded like truth. For a moment, the dean’s dark gaze lingered on Slen, a silent communication that made Kidan adjust her scarf uncomfortably. Being away from Uxlay had kept her from keeping an eye on Slen.
Professor Andreyas unveiled the object on the desk slowly, careful not to touch the glass impala figurine.
It was a… bowl. Made of the deepest turquoise color, all glass, washing the professor’s mahogany skin in moonlight. Kidan felt spellbound by the smoothness of it. And she could hear a sound, like the reverberation of a clanging bell, a long hum.
“Before I can share the final lesson, you will each drink from this bowl,” the professor said.
“You’re not trying to poison us, are you, sir?” Yusef smiled, then immediately straightened at the professor’s unamused expression.
“Only those who’ve suffered at the command of laws may swallow the water of Lasi bowl,” the dean’s smooth voice spoke.
“What is a Lasi bowl?” Slen asked.
Kidan hated how she’d missed this, Slen’s inquiring voice, the two of them learning together. Would this really be their last class? When they were no longer classmates, would their friendship survive out in the wild?
“This bowl is a treasure handed down by the acti families.” The dean’s tone tightened slightly. “Before all such tools were destroyed.”
Suffered at the command of laws… that was the purpose of the Red String task. To obey your vampire companion and feel how restrictive instructions could be.
Kidan tilted her head. Was there a law active in Faris House again? Something that determined their worthiness then?
Dean Faris stood, brushed down her dark green skirt, grabbed the golden ladle inside the bowl, and poured its contents into a filigreed teacup.
“They call this bowl many names. The Sage’s Eyes.
The Golden Apple. Sheba’s Tears. But in Uxlay, we use it to gauge your preparedness for sacrifice.
Becoming a Master of a House is not only a path of gain, but of tremendous loss as well. ”
Kidan swallowed, exchanging a glance with Slen. From her frowning expression, she would likely prefer analyzing twenty complex texts to this. Kidan as well.
Yusef got to his feet. “After all we’ve been through, a toast seems easy enough.”
Slen shook her head slightly.
Yusef took the cup, toasted the dean and her companion, and downed it.
A few seconds of silence extended, then he choked, doubling over the desk.
Slen straightened. “Yusef ?”
His hands wrapped around his throat, his entire face reddening. His knees hit the floor.
“I—I can’t breathe,” he squeezed out.
Kidan’s stomach fell away from her.
“Help him!” she shouted at the professor, who watched with a stony exterior. She swung her attention to the dean, who also stared without expression. What the hell was wrong with them?
Slen was on the floor with Yusef, trying to wrangle his hands free from his throat.
“Are you quite done, Umil?” the professor said, an unimpressed line on his brow.
Kidan was confused until Yusef stopped choking all of a sudden and cracked a wide smile.
A… joke.
Kidan wanted to slap him, but Slen got there first, shoving him backward. “Idiot.”
Yusef laughed, getting up. “It tastes like water but sweet.”
“That’s not funny,” Kidan said, her heartbeat returning to normal.
“Slen Qaros,” the professor said, holding the cup.
Throwing one more furious glance at Yusef, Slen went to drink. There was no visible reaction on her face, but the professor was searching for something. How exactly would they fail this? Would their eyes turn red like a vampire who fed on ungraduated actis?
When it was Kidan’s turn, her confusion grew even more. It really did look like water. She couldn’t help but think this test was more psychological than preternatural. The water glided down her throat, a little sweet.