Burning the Ladder
Novella 26,585 words Recommended by 2 award/anthology sources
"Ambassador Porleth Heng considered herself a blessed woman. Unlike most members of the Confederate Diplomatic Corps, who had indentured themselves to that service out of economic hardship or an ache to escape the terrible conditions on their respective home worlds, she’d been born into wealth on a paradise planet..."
Content warnings 2
deathsubstance-use
Quasar links out; the story lives on Analog, where the author gets the click.