Page 2 of Eternal Ruin
South of the Arat Towers, Adane House appeared like a depreciating, exhausted creature. She didn’t feel the itch to burn it down like her childhood home. It certainly harbored more evil than Mama Anoet’s little house and racked her with nightmarish visions. Yet there were some days, rare days, when the sun concealed the old wooden panels and made it look timeless. This house had stood in Uxlay for generations, passed down through her ancestors as the only tangible thing she knew, and it only felt right that it would outlive her.
Besides, Kidan hoped if she was civil to the house, it would let her master it.
Etete opened the front door with a smile. She looked as though she’d been baking, flour stains on her dark elbows, her Afro hair a short crown around her. At once, the tension in Kidan’s shoulders eased. The heady scent of fresh bread welcomed her in.
Kidan swallowed roughly, her stomach tightening. She gazed at the narrow staircase leading upstairs. “Is she here?”
Etete seemed to understand immediately that Kidan was talking about June. “No, she’s still with the dean.”
Kidan sighed in relief, and the tight coil of dread in her stomach loosened. Right after June showed up, Dean Faris had called her to the office, no doubt to have her explain where the hell she’d been and what her intentions were. Kidan wanted to know too, but she couldn’t think about June until she took care of Samson. It would be in her sister’s best interest if some of Kidan’s anger was unleashed before they spoke.
Pushing the thoughts aside, Kidan wrapped her fingers around the doorknob and tried to twist it like before.
Come on, a little strength.
It didn’t move, let alone bend.
She worked her jaw, trying a few more times before giving up. So much for being nice to the house. She would have to try again later. Now there was work to do.
She crossed the hallway and shoved a chair into the middle of the lounge. There was tape in Susenyos’s desk drawer, and Kidan ripped some with her teeth before standing on the chair. She taped the balloons to the ceiling, placing them equidistant from each other.
Etete’s soft movements interrupted her work. “You should wait for Dranaic Susenyos.”
“He may not come back,” Kidan said, continuing her work. She could feel the burn of Etete’s worried stare. And the house glowed with the shimmering blue wave of her own sadness. She ignored it.
All that was left to do was wait for Samson’s return. At the thought, fire licked across Kidan’s feet, the lounge magnifying her newfound rage. Yes, she needed to harness that instead.
“This came for you,” Etete said. There was a black envelope in the cook’s hands.
Kidan stepped down from the chair and took it slowly. Susenyos always loved his letters, and for a moment her heart raced at the thought that it could be from him. She still carried the last letter he’d written her. But this envelope had unfamiliar symbols printed on it—a five-petaled white flower, a fanged panther, a soaring eagle, a lone oryx, and a blue gemstone. They decorated the bottom of a tall, eerie tower. A dull pang spread through her. With a spike of sudden alarm, Kidan realized shewaswaiting for him. She should be glad his arrogant, demanding presence wasn’t here. In fact, she was glad. Relieved even. Blowing out an irritated breath, she ripped the seal open.
Congratulations on your graduation from Dranacti. We are thrilled you are progressing so well.
Once again, we cordially invite you to the Arcane Tower to begin your courting. Whether you sway to the Abyss, or favor the soaring Eagle, prefer the Panther over the mightyOryx, or simply marvel at the Blue Stone, the tower opens its doors to you.
Courting begins on the seventh of each month.
We await your response.
Warmly,
The Arcane Societies
Kidan frowned, flipping the letter this way and that, searching for an answer. “What is this?”
“A marriage invitation,” Etete said. “They’re asking you to come find a husband. Uxlay’s long-held tradition.”
A marriage…Her eyes widened. She was only nineteen,marriagewas the last thing on her mind.
This had to be some kind of joke.
Etete chuckled, smiling at Kidan the way a grandmother might, warm and patient. Kidan looked away, clearing her throat. She didn’t like to be reminded of the family she’d never had. But that was exactly what this envelope did. The idea of marriage brought her parents unbearably close, their intertwined hands, their promise to love Kidan and June until the day they abandoned them.
Only to be dead before their children’s sixth birthday. It might be irrational, but if their parents had truly loved Kidan and June, something as simple as death shouldn’t have kept them away. It wouldn’t keep Kidan away.
Inhaling deeply, Kidan pushed away the memories of them to a dark corner in her mind before the house could latch on. There was no point in revisiting that part of her life.
“It says ‘once again.’” Kidan frowned. “But it’s the first time I received this letter.”
