Rogue queen

Iroedh, a worker among the Avtini, has a passion for ancient history, yet she refuses to believe the Oracle's forecast that beings called Terrans have arrived from the sky. Her reasons are plain: the newcomers act foolishly over an emotion they call love, which no Avtini deity would ever embrace. In her world, divine favor belongs only to a Community of workers and drones built around one highly productive Queen. Queens do not abandon their hive, and the few drones who have deserted paid for it with their lives. Convinced the prophecy is mistaken, Iroedh is unprepared for the lesson that prophecies have a way of being fulfilled, and that a quiet scholar among the workers may be destined to lead.