Chapter 73 Kidan #2
“Good,” the dean said after a moment. “You may continue. I have other things to attend to.”
Dean Faris left. The professor began instructing them to head to the Philosophy Tower but Kidan wasn’t listening.
It was that sound again, a soft, familiar hum.
Like a woman singing.
Her attention fell to the bowl. Was the glass causing some sort of vibration?
Kidan was amazed by the architecture of it, almost oval, but not quite.
Her Object Deconstruction textbook said all objects spoke to one another, glass was once sand, and sand was once earth and earth held traces of metal.
She lifted her finger to trace the unnaturally smooth glass, across the chaos of symbols visible on the bottom, trying to draw out the shapes.
Professor Andreyas materialized before her, catching her hand. She jumped a step back, but he held firm.
“We are finished here.” His ancient eyes were assessing her closely, lingering on her hand.
His grip was terrifyingly strong. A chill skittered down her spine. She could feel both Slen and Yusef had frozen too.
“Do not touch objects carelessly, Kidan.” His black eyes held a pinprick of red.
It was the first time he’d used her first name. And oddly, he did not sound cold but full of warning, like a father telling a child not to venture into the dark forest.
His grasp was near painful, and she tugged until he let go.
“Meet me at the tower,” he said in dismissal. “All of you.”
Kidan tried to shake off his intense gaze and walked away, ignoring the Lasi bowl and its song.
Back in their gloomy tower, a severe look possessed their professor’s ancient features. “Here is our final education. Lesson three on mastering laws. A house law cannot be changed without being broken.”
Kidan wrote those words down, read them again, and frowned. She waited for further explanation.
“You should all remember what I said about the house and its master being one. It is the master that manifests their will—their one law—throughout the house.”
They nodded.
“You should also remember the Last Sage created the houses to teach and discipline humans, so as to not abuse this incredible power. As such, a law always applies to his master first. He is first bound by the very thing he casts upon others.”
Anticipation strangled her with each word. Kidan sensed a bigger reveal coming.
“If a master of the house breaks their own house law, two things happen: One, it becomes permanent in the outside world.”
“Permanent?” Kidan interrupted without thought. “But a given law only works inside the house.”
Professor Andreyas’s eyes remained guarded. “Yes, until a law is broken by its master, at which point it becomes permanent outside the house.”
Kidan’s eyes bulged. All this time they’d been under the impression laws were confined to their own houses. Slen had leaned forward as well, surprised.
Yusef shook his head, a frown fixed on his face.
“Hold on, sir. If my law is… ‘Anyone who tells a lie in my house, will lose their ability to speak—’” His face grew animated as he tried to explain his thinking.
“Kidan comes over to my house, lies, and loses her ability to talk, that’ll only happen in Umil House.
If she leaves my house, she can speak freely. ”
Though she didn’t like being used as an example for lying, Kidan appreciated the clarity it was giving her.
Yusef focused on the professor, voice straining a little. “But if I, as the master of Umil House, lie, which means I’ve broken my own law… you’re saying I’ll lose my ability to speak forever?”
The room dipped in temperature, plunging into a blood-freezing cold.
“Yes,” Professor Andreyas confirmed, bringing the scythe down on their necks.
Kidan made a choked little noise.
“Just when I thought everything was getting easier,” Yusef swore, running a hand through his hair. Slen was flipping her notes back and forth like this was something she had missed in her readings.
“This is why a Border House master is so desperate to be in the middle of Uxlay. To set a law that’s permanent in the outside world.” Yusef laughed more to himself than anyone else, a sound full of misery. “Did you know?”
It took Kidan a second to realize he was asking Slen, his gaze hard and searching.
Slen’s fingers left her pages. “No.”
The implications of such power… changed everything. The Border Houses—the 13th—would never let Kidan keep her middle position.
And Dean Faris…
“I asked Dean Faris back then about this.” Kidan spoke aloud, working through the fog in her mind. “She told me laws only work inside a house.”
The professor settled back against his desk.
“Only those that have been tested by the Lasi bowl earn the privilege of knowing this. This lesson is as precious as the knowledge found in Ye Abyssi Tarik, and those who know it understand the consequences of sharing it. Actis have kept this secret from vampires for as long as I can remember. It is why, even today, I’m one of the few dranaics that know the true extent of a house’s ability. ”
Which meant Susenyos… didn’t know. Mahlet had never shared this with him.
Kidan’s pulse quickened, her fingers drawing the four edges of a square.
If Susenyos had become the master of the Adane House and broken the law, he wouldn’t have just been human inside the house but permanently and everywhere—outside the house.
Her mother’s bones curled like a snake in her pocket, almost poisonous.
Kidan hadn’t known her mother at all. How deeply she’d calculated, weaving mystery within mystery.
Susenyos hadn’t valued humans, so Mahlet had made sure he’d receive the mask artifact only if he truly became one. Inside and out.
Was her mother just cruel or was she making sure no soul could touch the artifact without paying a heavy price?
“You said two things happen, sir,” Slen said, pulling her back to the present. “What else happens when a master breaks a law?”
Kidan swallowed thickly and listened.
Again, that near smile that possessed the professor whenever they pleased him with their inquiries. “The master of the house cannot set a new law to rectify what he broke. Using Umil’s example, it will mean he will be unable to speak forever.”
Blood drained from all of their faces.
“That’s… that’s not fair!” Yusef burst out like it’d happened to him.
“Is it not?” Professor Andreyas cocked his head.
“What did I say in the beginning? The house was given to humans to teach them discipline and honor. It is a power to be used carefully and respectfully. If a master is careless enough to set and break laws without consequences, he will plunge the world into mutiny.”
The professor was not wrong and yet…
Being unable to fix what you broke was a terrifying thought. Now Kidan understood why only the Founding Houses were burdened with heavy responsibility.
If you ever set a law you couldn’t risk breaking, you’d be ruined.
You had to make sure to never set a harsh law because when it came time to change it, you would be the first to be caught in its crosshairs.
The professor spoke in a low, dark tone. “If you cannot live with the consequences of your law being broken, you should never have set it in the first place.”
No higher consequences existed than the Adane House law.
“Sir…” Kidan’s vision wavered but she blinked, trying to focus. “What if a law targets another person specifically? To use the previous example, what if I set a law in Adane House saying ‘If Slen Qaros lies, she will lose her ability to speak.’”
Slen muttered something under her breath about this horrible example. The professor regarded her with a frown, but Kidan needed to know.
Because Adane House currently had a law targeting a specific person: Susenyos Sagad.
How did it apply to her if she became a master of the house?
A drum settled beneath her heart.
“Setting a specific house law on an individual is a high crime, and it is for that reason we have not discussed it. What makes you ask?” The professor’s piercing gaze settled on her.
Kidan tried for a smile. “Curiosity?”
If Professor Andreyas saw through the lie, he didn’t mention it. His angular face tilted. “It does not matter if the law specifies a person, it will always apply to the master first at the moment of Absorption.”
Blood pumped urgently in Kidan’s forehead. She was having a hard time forming words, but the professor wasn’t short of them.
“The moment the house deems you as the master, you inherit whatever law was set by your parents. Absorption is the moment the law becomes visible on your skin. It will then be your job to break it and face the repercussions. Or, keep it intact.”
Fuck.
Kidan didn’t hear the rest of the conversation or the end of the lesson, her heart was pounding too loud. Slen shot her a questioning glance. Her palms were slick with sweat, and she wiped them on her thighs.
No. This can’t be happening.
“If you don’t remember anything I’ve said, remember this: It is more important to know how a law breaks than to know how to set one.
Its consequences will be catastrophic otherwise.
Once the house completely aligns itself with you—mind and body—the law written upon the house will become written upon your skin.
At this point, you must be careful. Every angle of your actions must abide by the house law. ”
“Imprisoned”—that was the word the professor had used once.
A Sage is a soul imprisoned with many laws. A house master is a soul imprisoned with one law.
Once their class ended, Kidan stared numbly at the blackboard. She drew a square on the wooden desk, eyes haunted.
If she wanted to master her house, she’d have to absorb the Adane House law. At that moment, it would apply to her: If Kidan Adane endangers Adane House, the house shall in turn steal something of equal value to her.
If she had any more energy to yell and scream, she would. Instead, her well was empty. It hurt to think of all she’d been through just to suffer more.
The Last Sage… creator of the houses, laws, and the Three Binds.
She hoped he was rotting in hell.
A hand waved in front of her face. She blinked, barely seeing Yusef in the empty classroom.
“You look like you need a drink,” he said with a grimace. “It’s a good thing I do too. Come on.”