Destiny's Kingdom: Legend of the Chosen by Daniel Huber, Jennifer Selzer Page A

continue attempting to convince himself that things would go back to normal? How could he tell Trina what it was that he was going through? As he neared the corner of the castle, he stopped and leaned against the stone wall, looking over the valley that spread out before him. Getting lost for a moment in the sight that was familiar, but always so welcome, he found himself in a calm enough state of mind to round the corner and join Trina for breakfast.  
    She smiled at him as he walked through the garden, up the winding, hedgerow-lined path toward the ivy-covered gazebo. He would probably marry her in that gazebo someday, he had often thought, in the place where they regularly took their morning meal. They had even talked about it once, when she was ten and Quade was just thirteen. In the whimsy of her childhood mind, Trina had said she wanted them to be on horseback. That way, the horses could get married, too. He laughed to himself at the memory as he looked at her now, reaching to pour tea in a mug for him, her willowy features graceful in the clean light of morning.
    "Hey," she said, not looking up, "are you hungry? We've got some good stuff this morning. Pastries and melon and grapes still warm from the vine."
    Hunger, Quade thought. Yes, focus on hunger. Hunger is good, hunger is normal, is natural, can be explained. "Starving is more like it. I can't even remember the last time I ate."
    "So feast well, then." Trina settled back into her chair and Quade sat across from her, choosing a pastry and reaching for his mug of tea. He knew that Trina had already added the sugar for him. She always did.
    "That took longer than usual. A lot to report this time?"
    "Sort of," Quade replied. "Some strange stuff going on out near the Kosch system… " Quade stopped himself before he went on too far and started to tell her about the destroyed nexus point and the lost ship that he found, fearing that the emissaries might show up, and just when he'd started to calm down again. "Thanach was telling me about some unexplainable things that have been going on out there."
    "Oh, yes. Thanach." Trina's voice changed tone completely, became all at once agitated and sarcastic. "What life is he on now? His third?"
    "Fourth actually," Quade said. The Venrey were a safe topic that he knew would be where his comment would lead them. "He was missing that nasty scar on his arm that he had the last time I met with him."
    "Shame he didn't get back to his precious orb to save that memory before he died again," Trina said, her voice heavy and caustic. "Shame to be missing such an impressive battle scar." She bit into a slice of ripe melon, looking at Quade, her eyes flat and emotionless, reflecting her regard for the Venrey. "One step closer to ending his worthless existence. Good."
    Quade laughed. It was their usual debate, whenever he came back from a contract with the Venrey. "Come on, Trina. I know you hate them but we need them. Soulless is somewhat accurate, but worthless…I'd have to disagree. Their recklessness got us some valuable information this last run. Uncharted territory that could be really useful. They may be soulless, but they're very good at what they do."
    "I know," she conceded, looking away. "That doesn't change how I feel about them, though." She scowled. "And it surely doesn't help that they keep going around and naming stuff after themselves."  
    Trina wasn't alone in her feelings and Quade thought about how even Aushlin had reacted to the name of the most recent system that Thanach had found. Most people throughout the galaxy held a vehement dislike for the Venrey, and many thought that their very method of survival was an affront against nature. It wasn't even necessarily the cloning that they hated, or the mysterious and powerful magic they used to save their memories and continue on into their next lives, but it was their general manner of living, that their one single goal centered around hunting and claiming territory.