Seeing Albaterra from space was like looking into a magical snow globe. Strangely-shaped continents of envy-green and smatterings of dusty gold were surrounded by vivid swaths of aqua. Pale violet clouds in puffs and flourishes teased the planet’s surface from top to bottom like an abstract pattern. The whole orb had a gentle glow to it that reminded me of a soft nightlight or a pregnant mother’s skin, and the backdrop of black space was densely pinpricked with white stars. It was nothing short of ethereal.

As gorgeous as the scene was, it was a pale imitation of Albaterra on the ground. Disembarking from the ship was like stepping out of reality and into a dream. The sky was a visceral hue of turquoise, potent in color but somehow also as clear as glass, and it seemed to swallow me up on all sides rather than serve as an overhead canopy. Its smooth surface was punctuated with uncountable dove-white stars and the same lavender swirls I’d seen from space, and a massive sun the same color as Dane’s eyes smiled at me from the west. Mountains unlike any I’d ever seen walled us in from all directions, snow-capped and jagged in silhouette but smooth in texture. There was snow beneath my feet, but stepping on it felt more like stepping on baking powder than on Earth snow.

Everything was so bright, so rich and sharp. Colors were not just colors; they were like living sensations. Even the air I breathed seemed to have its own color, a crystalline hue of purity that made me feel as though I didn’t have to inhale as deeply to fill my lungs with oxygen. A piney scent flitted over my nostrils and reminded me of the first day of winter and, though the temperature was low, I was awash with warmth in my core.

It was the definition of beauty.

“Wow,” I whispered, dragging my eyes slowly over the landscape before me.

I’d wanted to watch Albaterra grow nearer from the docking bay as we moved in for the landing, but Dane had insisted I return to the interior of the ship and strap myself into a launch chair. I’d realized why in short order. Taking off from Earth had been jarring, but barreling through Albaterra’s atmosphere was like plunging headfirst through a wall of boulders. The ship had shuddered and rocked violently, the pressure in the craft spiked and ebbed at haphazard rates, and, at one point, our gravity equalizers faltered. Once we’d landed, however, Dane had made sure I was the first to be unstrapped and brought out of the ship.

Now, standing in the midst of what Dane told me was the kingdom of Montemba, I had never felt so peaceful.

“Do you like it?” Dane was standing beside me, his arm pressed against mine and his eyes glued intently to my face.

“Like it?” I turned to him in awe. “I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.”

His face relaxed instantly, and a very small smile spread over his lips. “I have,” he murmured.

I flushed with pleasure and glanced back at the scene before me. It was a truly exquisite sight to behold.

The sounds of thumping footsteps alerted me to the arrival of other disembarking crewmembers behind us. Dane twisted around to look at them, but I remained rooted to the spot. In my peripheral vision, I saw Lokos draw up to us. He seemed calmer, his mouth slack and his jaw unclenched. It was the first time I had ever seen him look anything other than fierce. I imagined he’d been homesick and, after getting my first real view of Albaterra, I could understand why.

“What are we going to do with the humans?” he asked Dane, sounding surprisingly uninterested in the answer. I could see his chest heaving in great breaths, absorbing every bit of Montemba he could. It was like watching someone on the fringe of starvation sit down to a feast. “Dungeons?”

“No. We will house them in the empty warrior dormitories,” Dane answered firmly. Lokos flicked a startled look at his Elder, but Dane didn’t flinch. “I think we need only resort to the dungeons if they prove a danger to our people.”

I was taken aback by this. When our astronauts had returned from the resource mission, they’d told stories of being kept in dungeons after their ship was bombed and they crashed on Albaterra. Either they were overdramatizing, or Dane didn’t do things the way other Elders did. Suddenly, a thought occurred to me, and I spun to face the two A’li-uud.

“Aren’t there humans here?” I asked.

They glanced at each other, and then back at me. “Of course,” Dane said, brandishing a hand at the ship, from which both soldiers and aliens were filing out.

“No, not them. Women.” I was growing more excited by the second. “Didn’t you say one of the astronauts stayed back when the Epitome collected the Paragon survivors? And didn’t your brother come back to Albaterra with a woman?”

Dane and Lokos exchanged looks again. Lokos seemed indifferent to the inquiry, but Dane stiffened beneath my eager gaze. “Yes,” he said through thin lips. “There are two human females here.”

“Can I meet them?” I demanded excitedly.

“I think it is best you settle in before anything else,” he replied. “You are in a foreign land, and you will soon meet with the Council.”

“I—what?” This news stunned me, and strands of unanticipated fear knotted in my stomach. I stared at him. “What do you mean, I’ll meet with the Council?”

Lokos muttered something to Dane in A’li-uud and excused himself with a slight nod to me. I ignored him and gaped wide-eyed at Dane, waiting for his answer. He lifted a pale brow. “You are Ambassador of Alien Relations, are you not?” he asked.

“Yes, but—”

“Am I misunderstanding the nature of your position?”

“No, I…” With a sinking feeling in my gut where the knot had formed, I realized he was right. I’d certainly never expected to meet with a group of alien leaders when I’d accepted the position, but unlikelihood did not release me from the responsibilities of my title. “No. I have to meet with them.”

“Then you will need to prepare,” he said firmly.

General Morgan stumped up to us with Lokos on his tail. I was thrilled to see his nose was pushed over to one side and thick purple circles were beginning to form beneath his eyes. He ignored me completely and glared at Dane. “What are we doing? I didn’t come all the way from Earth to sightsee.”

“We will be housing you and your men in our warrior dormitories,” Dane told him. “I believe you will find them to your satisfaction.”

“I don’t give a damn where I’m staying. I want to meet this Council of yours.”

Lokos’ foot swung out of nowhere and crashed into the back of Morgan’s knees, sending him flying to the ground. He caught himself with his hands before his already-damaged face met the snow and leaped back up, whirling around to face Lokos. His broad shoulders heaved up and down with fury.

“Why the hell did you do that for?” he yelled, incensed.

“You will speak with respect when you address an Elder,” Lokos hissed. Somehow, though his eyes were white, they seemed black with rage equal to the General’s.

I stepped forward, and the three males looked at me. I, however, fixated only on Morgan.

“I will be meeting with the Council,” I informed him, tilting my chin upward and squaring my shoulders.

He made a throaty noise of disdain, and his mouth curled in an ugly grin. “You?” he snickered. “You don’t know the first thing about military operations or defense.”

“Luckily, we’re here to discuss neither,” I said haughtily. “We came to present our request for peace and establish mutually beneficial terms for the treaty as outlined by the Board. As the Ambassador of Alien Relations, it is my job to relate the Board’s proposal to said aliens. You and your soldiers are here merely as a precaution against a double-cross on either side, as well as to return the ship back to Earth.”

Morgan sneered at me. “We’ll see,” he snapped. He stumped away toward a small herd of soldiers gathered near the ship’s exit ramp. Lokos gave Dane a meaningful look and followed after the General.

“He is going to be a problem,” Dane mused absently.

I sniffed and tossed my head. “I can handle him,” I scoffed. “I already did once.”

Dane raised a brow at me, the left corner of his mouth turning upward in amusement, and I giggled. Deep down, though, I had a feeling he was right.