Page 210 of Eternal Ruin
“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.
