A'Vanti sets down her fork, her expression goes distant. Not closed off, exactly. More like she's reaching for memories stored in a distant place.
"You know that I was an architect," she says. "I was newly graduated. Full of ideas and ambition and absolutely certain I was going to change the world."
The image forms easily in my mind, a younger A'Vanti, bright-eyed and eager, armed with blueprints and determination.
"What kind of buildings did you design?"
"My specialty was environmental integration. Creating structures that worked with the desert rather than against it. Ceraste's climate is harsh, but it is also beautiful, and I believed our architecture should reflect that beauty." She pauses, and a smile curves her lips. "My first commissioned project was a community center in a settlement called Brishar. It was a modest building; nothing grand. But to me, it felt like the most important structure in the world."
I lean forward, drawn in. "Tell me about it."
"I had been there once before, as a girl, for my caste-choosing ceremony. The springs beneath the volcano are where many young Cerasteans go to choose their path. I fell in love with the settlement then, and when the commission came up years later, I fought to be the one assigned to it. I spent months on the design. Every detail had to be perfect. The way the light would filter through the windows at different times of day. The ventilation systems that would keep the interior cool without requiring excessive energy. The gathering spaces where families could come together." Her voice gains color as she speaks, growing more animated. "When construction finally began, I visited the site every day. I watched the foundation go in, then the walls, then the roof. I could not stay away."
"And when it was finished?"
The smile on her face is radiant, and I ache at the sight of it.
"It was the happiest day of my life," she says plainly. "Standing there, watching people walk through the doors forthe first time. Children running through the courtyard. Elders settling into the shade gardens I had designed specifically for them. Everything I had imagined had been made real." She shakes her head. "I do not have words for what that felt like. To create something that would shelter and serve my people. To see my vision become tangible."
"That sounds incredible."
"It was." Her expression flickers, shadows creeping in at the edges. "The building was well-received. Better than I had dared hope. So well-received that I was selected for an honor I had never imagined. You can't imagine how cocky that made me."
"What kind of honor?"
"An outreach program to Ostium." She says the word carefully, like it might cut her tongue. "A delegation of young professionals chosen to study Osti architecture and building practices. We were meant to forge connections, learn new techniques, and bring knowledge back to strengthen our own methods." A pause. "There were twelve of us. Oh, we were all so excited for the opportunity."
My stomach tightens. I already know where this is going.
"I know now that it was a trap," A'Vanti continues, her voice growing quieter. "We thought we were guests. We thought we were learning. Instead, we became…" She trails off, her jaw tightening.
"Prisoners," I finish for her.
"Yes." The word is barely a whisper. "We became subjects of the queen. Her experiments. And her cruelty." She looks down at her hands, folded on the table. "Of the original twelve, I am the only one who survived."
The grief in her voice is immense. Bottomless.
"A'Vanti…"
"There were other survivors, of course. From different sectors, different capture events. But I did not know thembefore. We were mostly kept isolated, rarely allowed to interact. When we were finally freed…" She shakes her head. "We were strangers bound by shared trauma. Nothing more."
I reach across the table and take her hand. She lets me, her fingers curling around mine.
"I'm so sorry."
"I know." She meets my gaze, and I see the pain there, so vast and deep. But I also see strength. Resilience. The phoenix, still rising. "Some days, the weight of it threatens to crush me. But other days, I wonder if I survived for a reason. I want to believe that I am here for a purpose. And perhaps that purpose is to rebuild. To ensure that what my people built is not lost forever."
An idea forms in my mind. Maybe stupid. Probably impulsive. Definitely worth asking.
"The community center," I say slowly. "The one you designed. Is it… is it still standing?"
A'Vanti blinks, caught off guard by the question. "I do not know. We haven't surveyed Brishar yet. It is a smaller settlement, about an hour's flight to the east. The drones have not mapped that region yet."
"So it could still be there."
"It could." Hope and fear warred in her expression. "Or it could be ruins."
"Do you want to find out?"
