The Golden Desires (20 page)

Isabella
said her goodbye to the ancient and walked out of the temple, stopping
momentarily as she reached the outside area, to stop and listen in case the
voice spoke again, but now there was nothing.

She
turned away and made her way home, to find
Trent
waiting at the small
table, looking thoughtful. When he saw her come in he smiled at her as he stood
up and went to her, to kiss her.

"Is
all well?" he asked her and for a moment she wondered how he could know
something had been out of the ordinary a few minutes ago. When
Trent
saw the confused look on her face he continued. "With
Adrian
?
He wanted to talk to you alone."

"Oh!
Yes,
Adrian
is well. He is considering asking Kat about going
through the pairing with him."

Trent
moved with her until they were both sitting at
the table.

"And
how do you feel about that?"

Isabella
looked at him with the same surprise she had shown
Adrian
at the question.

"I
think he needs to be with someone, and Kat seems to wish strongly to be with
him. It must be a good match, do you not think?"

"I
don't know either of them, but you know them both."

"I
do not know Kat very well as she has fewer years than Adrian and I, but I trust
Adrian
in his choice. It is nice…" she started to say and then
wondered if she should.

"It
is nice … what?"
Trent
asked her, realising it was the first time he had
seen her uncertain of what to say, about anything.

"It
is nice to know that … that is, I was worried that when you and I paired, he
might not … be happy. It is good to see that he is."

Trent
watched her, thoughtful about the life he had
left behind. His previous world seemed to be a world of greed and jealousy, if
he really took a moment to think of it, but these people did not seem to have
such feelings. He was sure that if the situation of Isabella going off to be
with a different man, happened in
Trent
's world and time, the man who had previously
declared his love for her would not want to still be her friend. But yet
Adrian
had watched Isabella choose
Trent
, and he still seemed intent on being in her life
- in
their
life - as if it did not occur to him to feel hurt,
jealousy or anger. In many ways these people seemed less advanced but
Trent
could not help feeling that this observation was entirely untrue and it was
actually the opposite that was real - in their dealings with each other and
with their humanity, they were far
more
advanced than anyone he had ever
met in his own time and place.

"What
are you thinking about? Your mind looks active," he heard her asking him,
with a smile of amusement on her face.

"I
was thinking…" he said, standing up and reaching out to her to pull her
into his arms. "I was thinking that you are looking even more beautiful
this evening," he continued and pulled her into a kiss that took them to
an even more loving place for hours to come.

~~~~~

The
next morning Isabella awoke with a vision of the night fresh in her mind.

"You
cannot win against me, Isabella," the woman had said to her from a
distance. She was an older woman but in the vision Isabella could not see her
face. "You shall not become an ancient, gaining the knowledge of the
generations who came before.
I
will be the next ancient. And I will bring much
prosperity and a new way of living to our people … to
my
people."

Isabella,
upon waking, felt such unease inside of her - new emotions she was unfamiliar
with, and her heart was beating quickly. She could also feel that her belly was
warm, so sat up, reached down to look, and saw that it was glowing slightly.

"What
is it?" she heard
Trent
ask quietly, and she turned to see him lying
beside her, a worried look on his face. "Isabella, what is wrong?"

She
could hear the concern in his voice but she felt like she was momentarily
stunned. She lay back down again and pulled his hand over so that it settled on
her belly, and when she looked at him, she saw a relaxed smile had come over
his face.

"I
like this heat," he said. "I don't understand it but I like it."

Isabella
turned toward him, and saw him do the same so that they were facing each other.
She put the night vision out of her mind. She did not understand where the
voice kept coming from - or who the woman was. But she needed to keep herself
calm and relaxed, for the sake of the child growing within her - if that
was
what was inside of her, causing the warmth and glow in her belly.

"I
am so happy that you found me,
Trent
," Isabella said, and
Trent
could sense the seriousness inside of her. "I am happy that you are here
with me."

He
brought up one hand and pushed her hair aside before caressing her cheek
softly.

"You
are speaking of happiness but Isabella you do not seem happy. What is bothering
you?" he asked and waited but she said nothing. "Please tell
me."

There
was silence for a long while as the two of them looked at each other, but
finally she spoke.

"I
have been hearing a voice - a woman's voice. And the woman was in my vision of
the night last night. I know it is only a night vision…"

"Isabella,
you and I both know that there can be much, much more to dreams, so let's not
instantly expect it to be nothing. What happens in the dream?"

"I
have only had the one. In it she talked as if we - her and I - were in some
kind of competition to become ancients. She said she would not let me become
one, and that she would lead our people -
her
people, she
said."

Trent
looked at her, feeling a depth of concern come
over him. Before he had met her - before he had actually set eyes on her - he
would never have paid much attention to dreams, but Isabella having appeared
before him after he had dreamed about her, had changed his thoughts on dreams
entirely. He knew that as long as he lived, he would never again dismiss one as
being unimportant.

"How
are you feeling about it? Is it worrying you?"

"I
am not sure. When I heard her voice last evening I followed her instruction and
went into the temple, but only Elder Rhys was there and he said there was no
woman there who could be talking to me. But now she has appeared in my vision
of the night, I am not sure if she is real or not."

She
looked at him deeply and saw the protectiveness in his eyes. Seeing it made her
move closer to him and push her body up against his as closely as she could,
and he welcomed it, pulling her closer still and tightening his arms around
her. He had left behind a world of women who wanted to be independent and seemed
to want to never want to lean on any man, but he was finding that he loved this
- he loved being a man who Isabella would move close to for support and
protection. It was just another thing that made him wonder at the life he had
lived a part of before fate had brought him here.

"But
for now, we can only watch what happens next. Very few visions of the night go
on to mean anything. I will remain aware of what is happening, but I won't let
it consume me, Trent," she said and he nodded at her in agreement even though
he felt concern inside of him. "Now, are you going back to the garden
today, to continue learning there?"

He
smiled at her, giving in to her effort to change the subject.

"I
will. I find I am quite excited to be learning something new, to be honest. I
have never learned about such things in my lifetime, so it is good for
me." He was silent for a moment before continuing. "Shall we get up
and go have some breakfast? Although I do like the thought of lying here with
you all day…"

Isabella
laughed at him and tenderly pushed him away.

"No!
Gardening awaits for you, and I am sure the cook will wish for me to fetch
ingredients for them, so let us go and have our morning meal."

~~~~~

As
they sat down in the dining area,
Adrian
appeared and sat down beside Isabella, who turned
to him and smiled.

"
Adrian
!
Is all well?" she asked him, not being specific to the question she was
asking, but he knew her well enough to decipher the meaning, and he laughed in
response.

"Yes,
Isabella, everything is well. I will tell you all about…" he started to
say before another voice appeared and spoke over him.

"You
will tell her all about what?" the voice said and it startled Isabella as
she realised it was so similar to the voice she had heard the night before, and
in her last vision in the night.

The
sharpness of the tone startled Adrian and Trent also, but
Adrian
smiled at her before he spoke.

"Oh
I tell Isabella all sorts of things, Kat. She is my confidant. She knows far
too many secrets for me to let her slip away from me,"
Adrian
said with a light hearted teasing in his voice but Isabella could see that Kat
not only was not happy with that explanation, but also extremely
unhappy
.

"Well
that will change soon. You won't need her anymore once we are paired," Kat
went on to say, now surprising everyone within listening distance. It was so
unlike the people of the village - there was something in her tone that
Trent
in particular noticed, having become so used to such tones in his world. His
world of jealousy and greed.

Adrian
found himself extremely uneasy, sitting between
his closest friend of all of these years, and the woman he had only the night
before talked about pairing with. Kat had always been easy going and …
nice
.
But what he was hearing coming from her lips now was not nice at all.

Isabella,
however, being the straightforward person that she was, immediately determined
to bring any issue out into the open.

"Kat,
why do you say such a thing?" she asked, the question having been on the
minds of Adrian and Trent both, even though both were too polite to have voiced
it.

"He
will be mine then, Isabella. You will not be needed anymore. You have
Trent
.
You do not need to talk to
Adrian
anymore. When he needs to talk, he shall talk to
me."

Isabella
went to say something more but suddenly felt
Trent
's hand move over
hers and squeeze it, bringing her attention back to him instead. She saw the
look he gave her - the look that said 'let it go'. She knew it was only a
suggestion but conceded that perhaps it was not the way to go, and the person
who would most suffer from any such conversation would be
Adrian
.

She
kept her focus on
Trent
as
Adrian
begun a new conversation with him, keeping his
attention from Kat.

"How
was the garden yesterday,
Trent
? Do you think you will keep learning about food
growth?"
Adrian
asked to cover up an unidentifiable feeling in
his gut.
Trent
instantly reacted in the way he knew
Adrian
wished for him to.

"I
very much enjoyed what little I learned yesterday so I am eager to get back
there today and start learning and doing more," he said and moved his eyes
from Adrian back to Isabella, seeing that she had eaten all that had been on
her plate. "Speaking of which, I shall go there now. Are you finished,
Isabella?" he asked her and she nodded. "I can wait while you talk to
the cook, and perhaps if you need something from the garden, we can walk down
there together."

Isabella
nodded and turned back to
Adrian
, seeing a different look on his face - one she
had never seen before, even though they had been friends for so many years. She
put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed it as she stood up.

"Have
a good day,
Adrian
," she said to him, smiling, and then moved
her vision over to the woman sitting next to him. "Kat," she said,
giving her a slight nod before turning and moving away with
Trent
.

As
Trent and Isabella washed, dried and put away their dishes, they both remained
silent, each in their own thoughts.

"Cook
Mary, do you wish for me to get anything for you?" Isabella called out to
the cheerful woman in the kitchen area.