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door for a few minutes and then shuddered. Her mother and Leveque. Fuck.

Chapter Four
    The Planet Harp
    R hodry Devlin de Mendoza stood in perfect stillness and surveyed the field, his eyes always moving, never resting for more than the space of a single breath. This wasn’t where he’d have preferred to be tonight, but Cristobal had given him little choice.
    His gaze slid to the big double doors leading to the main entrance hall, where the guests had been arriving all evening, from both Harp and the Earth ship. His focus sharpened at a flash of brilliant white, which turned out to be yet another high ranking fleet officer, with rows of colorful bits of ribbon on his chest, and the occasional flash of gold. This one had a blond woman on his arm. But she was a civilian, and she wasn’t Amanda Sumner.
    He cursed softly and looked deliberately away. He told himself he was only looking for her because of the unique threat she posed to Harp. He didn’t completely accept the idea that she could tap into the voice of Harp’s trees, yet if it was even a possibility, they had to keep an eye on her. She obviously hadn’t reported it to her superiors yet, but the more she learned, the more likely that she would. So, it was in all their interest to keep her away from the forest.
    Which was why his only interest in her was official.
    He found himself scanning the open doors again, and forced his attention to the growing crowd on the ballroom floor instead.
    “Who is she, Rhodi lad?”
    Rhodry gave his cousin Aidan a dark look. “Who’s who?”
    Aidan laughed. “Whatever fair lady you’ve set your heart on. Or is it only your balls that are set on her?”
    “Could you be more crude? Besides, I haven’t had time to meet a lady, fair or otherwise.”
    “That’s not what I heard. I heard you and Fionn were giving a certain blond Earther a tour of our very fine forest.”
    “Trying to keep her out of it, more accurately.”
    Aidan laughed, his blue eyes dancing with wicked amusement. Rhodry smiled in spite of himself. Cristobal hadn’t been happy to see his cousin at his side when he’d arrived in the city. He hadn’t seemed all that surprised either.
    The truth was that he’d mostly grown up in the Devlin household of his father’s family, and every one of his numerous Devlin cousins was like a brother to him. Except for Aidan. Aidan was more. They were night and day in looks—Aidan’s blue eyes to Rhodi’s gold, his blond hair to Rhodry’s midnight black. They’d been born only minutes apart and raised together, sharing a cradle and a wet nurse. They’d been inseparable from their first breath, and it was a fact of the Devlin household when they were children that where you found one, you’d find the other.
    “I’m thinking I might stay on in the city a bit,” Aidan was saying. “Some of these ladies are fairly fine.”
    “If you can stand the perfume.”
    Aidan laughed again. “Take them outside in the fresh air, and it’s not so bad.”
    Rhodry grunted. This was yet another way they were opposites. Aidan had the Devlin charm and an eye for the ladies, which the ladies returned in full measure. He, on the other hand, had spent too many of his earliest years under the tutelage of his de Mendoza grandfather, who’d insisted a clan chief must exhibit a seriousness bordering on dour. He’d also convinced his young grandson that everyone—man or woman—would want something from him. So, while Rhodry garnered his share of feminine attention, he rarely returned the favor. It was too easy to see the ambition in their eyes, to wonder if they were after the clan chief, instead of the man.
    A new flash of white drew his gaze to the entrance again, and this time it stayed there. Amanda had finally arrived. She wore the same blindingly white uniform as the others, although it looked good on her, with the jacket cut to fit her very feminine curves, while still remaining properly military. Had he given it any