"The same, thank you," she managed, the words feeling like sand in her mouth.
"Two black coffees," Ruvon repeated, a smile transforming his usually serious expression. "I'll be right back."
As he walked away, Drova looked at her with an amused expression on her skinny face. "He likes you."
"I know," Arezoo muttered, watching Cyra chase Rohan around the slide.
"He seems nice enough. A bit too timid for my taste, but nice."
Arezoo looked around to make sure the children weren't listening, then lowered her voice to barely above a whisper. "I want nothing to do with Doomers, even former ones. I've suffered enough at their hands."
The words came out harsher than she'd intended, carrying all the fear and anger she'd been holding bottled up inside.
Drova was quiet for a moment, her enormous dark eyes thoughtful. "What happened to you and your family was horrible. No one expects you to forget that, but you should consider that Ruvon being born into the Brotherhood doesn't automatically make him a monster. It just means he was born in the wrong place and probably suffered a lot."
"How can you say that?" Arezoo wrapped her arms around herself. "They're all monsters. They're raised to be that way. Once the lines of decency and morality are crossed, there is no coming back from that."
"It's true," Drova conceded. "They're raised in hatred, taught to see others as less than human, and conditioned to violence from birth. Most never escape that programming. But some do."
Arezoo shook her head. "If they escape the organization, it's only to do their own evil deeds, like the fake doctor who hurt us."
Drova's eyes softened. "Kalugal and his men escaped because they managed to break through the brainwashing. Kalugal is a compeller, so he must have freed those whom he believed were different. The fact that Ruvon escaped, that he abandoned that life and everything he'd been taught to believe, is actually a much stronger indicator of his character than where he came from."
"You don't know what they did to us," Arezoo whispered, tears threatening.
"No, I don't," Drova said softly. "And I'm not saying you have to do anything you're not comfortable with. You don't owe him or anyone else your time or attention. Your feelings are valid. Your caution is understandable."
"But?"
"But maybe consider that these men were victims too. Born into a system they didn't choose, brainwashed from birth, never given a chance to be anything else, but they still managed to break free."
As the children's laughter rang out across the playground, it was a bright counterpoint to the heavy conversation. Arezoowatched them play, thinking about innocence and choice, about the circumstances of birth versus the decisions people made.
"I still don't want anything to do with him," she said finally.
"That's your choice," Drova said. "Just remember that this community is small. You'll be running into Kalugal's men regularly. Finding a way to coexist with them will make your life easier."
"Coexisting doesn't mean I have to be friendly."
"No, it doesn't," Drova agreed. "But it might mean accepting coffee when it's offered in kindness, if only to keep the peace."
Before Arezoo could argue further, Cyra ran over and tugged on her shirt. "I'm thirsty!"
"Me too!" Rohan added, appearing at her other side.
Thankful for the interruption, Arezoo dug into her bag for the water bottles she'd brought, and as she distributed them, she tried to push thoughts of Ruvon and former Doomers from her mind.
Still, Drova's words lingered.
The uncomfortable truths, or rather claims, were unsettling. The world had been simpler when she could divide people into clear categories of good and evil, victim and perpetrator, friend and enemy. This new reality, where former enemies walked the same paths and brought coffee as peace offerings, necessitated a kind of nuance she wasn't ready for.
It required the suspension of disbelief and the acceptance that redemption was possible even for monsters.
Once upon a time, Arezoo might have believed it, but not anymore.
