"I see."
After a long time of silence, she found the courage to speak further, and ask what she wished to know.
"Have you given more thought to what the ancient said to you? About moving into our time permanently?" she asked and he did not immediately answer so she continued. "Do you think that … you … might want to pair with me?"
Trent stood up and held out his hands to encourage her to do the same, before pulling her to him and holding her tight against his chest.
"Oh, Isabella, do you even have to ask?" he said and pulled back from her just enough to allow them to look into each other's eyes. "I do not know why I was led to you or why I feel so drawn to you, but I have no desire whatsoever to disregard these feelings that I have toward you."
"You do not wish to return to your home?"
"I left behind a life that was not fulfilling. My world is not peaceful like this one. My world does not have the simplicity of what you have…"
She hung her head low, not feeling good about his last comment.
"We are not advanced enough for you."
"No! You misread my point. What I meant is that I have been living in a world where nothing is simple anymore. Everything is about money and things. I have not seen all of your village so I cannot judge how you live your life, but I feel like I know you. I feel like I have always been meant to come here to find you."
She looked up again and moved in to kiss him deeply, taking him by surprise and making him groan at the depth of the kiss.
"If we pair, we will have children. It will be our duty," she said when she pulled away from him. "It is an important part of our people."
He smiled at her, already sensing in himself the shift that had taken place in him about sex and it being a method of procreation and not for pleasure. Not just for pleasure. He was aware of how different he felt now, standing in the arms of a beautiful woman who had been kissing him passionately, and yet the part of him that would normally be alert and awake instantaneously in such a situation, was at peace and not alert. He did not feel any alarm because to him he felt like he had moved into a different physical form, not needing such frivolous use of his body as he previously had before he had left civilization.
"I would be honoured to raise children with you, Isabella," he said and kissed her once again.
Isabella heard voices approaching and quickly pulled away from him.
"People are approaching. I must go now," she whispered to him and saw him nod in recognition before she turned and began to walk away, as if she were leaving the pool area after bathing. She greeted whoever was approaching and then he saw her turn and wave to him with a smile that to him looked incredibly … sad.
~~~~~
Before it got too dark, Trent packed up his things and once again moved up to the wide open area he had slept in the night before. The little pup tent was up and his sleeping bag laid out inside, and he felt refreshed after so much outer cleansing, and satisfied with the food he had received from Isabella earlier.
Lying in his sleeping bag, he thought about the option open to him. Right now, he was in his own time, in a place that to him looked barren and like a war zone. The waterfall and the pond were intact and he could still use them even as he currently was. But there was no growth here - not one living plant had he yet seen. When whatever had happened here had happened, it not only had destroyed the structures that someone had taken time to build, but it seemed to have destroyed an entire possibility of life.
And yet, he was here, and as far as he could tell, he was alive. He could work hard to bring it back to life. He could try and revive the plants with enough watering and care.
But even if he did that, he would be alone. Isabella could see him now but she would not be around forever. And she would have to move on and pair with someone, to do her duty and contribute to the maintenance of their population. If he stayed as he was, he might see her day to day, but was that any way to live?
The other option of course was that he could build up his body once again over coming weeks and prepare himself for a return journey back to civilization. Back to noise. Back to plastic-tasting food. Back to a life of promiscuity and sexual freedom. Even in this last point he couldn't find any real desire or interest, even though he had always been a relatively free and easy lover. He'd had relationships but they did not last long, and if he was honest with himself he had come to be, and to be regarded as, an easy sexual friend to whoever wanted it.
So far he had only seen a small part of the world that she saw, but it was not a frightening thing to him. Perhaps they were people who lived simply - in being honest with himself he really did not know yet how they lived - but even if they were, would that be such a bad thing?
He moved lower in his sleeping bag, his head full of questions and possibilities. He would not decide tonight, he knew, but he also knew that he would not keep her hanging. She had a friend who was eager to pair with her, and it would only be fair that Trent let that happen if he really could not find any desire to be in her world.
~~~~~
Isabella lay in her bed, awake and thoughtful. There were so many things to think about, but surprisingly what most made her uncertain of what to do if certain possibilities were presented to her, was the thought of Adrian.
She did not want to hurt him - she would never want to hurt him. And perhaps with him having now befriended the young woman she saw him with today - Kat - he was in a place to move on and not wish to have anything more than friendship with Isabella.
She tried to imagine seeing Adrian and Kat paired, and how she would feel about that, but the thought did not cause any stress inside of her. It only made her think of how happy he could be if things went that way.
No, Adrian did not have to be an influencing factor. In fact everything really lay in the hands of Trent. He was the one who would have to give up his existing life in order to join hers. And if the situation were reversed - if the only way they could be together was for her to go into his time, where she would see her home very differently as she saw it now, would she want to do that, even for him? She knew she would not. The thought of leaving everyone around her was something she could not … would not … even consider.
~~~~~
The next morning Isabella rose early once more and went to see Trent in his little home, neither of them feeling uncomfortable at her entering and lying down beside him. She kissed him and kept kissing him until she heard voices in the distance as the village began to stir.
Then she was leaving again, making Trent even more aware of how much he had come to love being close to her … and did not feel so good when she had to leave.
~~~~~
At breakfast she found Adrian alone and sat down peacefully beside him.
"You are always early now," she tried to tease him, given that traditionally he had always been late in the mornings before their world had begun to change due to the arrival of a stranger.
He smiled at her softly.
"I know it is time for me to act more responsibly. I have been neglectful of my duties for too long," he said and she knew he was referring to things other than breakfast.
"Adrian," she said, lightly touching his hand. "I wish to talk to you."
"I am right here, Isabella. What is on your mind?"
She looked around her and spoke softly.
"I wish us to speak about what you asked me earlier - about you and I pairing."
He looked surprised for a moment, before a look of resolve came over his face.
"I know you do not feel about me in the way that you wish to with the person you will pair with. It is fine, Isabella. You are my friend and I am yours … always. Do not think any more about my question to you. I am at peace with not being your chosen one."
The speech was given with passion and devotion, and Isabella felt tears come to her eyes. She would not speak against what he had said - she felt no need to contradict the words he had spoken - but there still remained a great
deal of sadness about the statement and its finality.
~~~~~
After breakfast she walked to the open area and saw that Trent and his gear had disappeared once more. She laughed inwardly at the fact that he kept dismantling his little house each morning and taking it with him wherever he went, even though no-one else could see it and to her it seemed like he could have just let it remain made up continuously.
She made her way down to the area by the pool but as she approached she could see that Trent was sitting down and talking face to face with the Elder Rhys.
She stopped walking and remained where she was, currently out of view of both of them but still within listening distance. Her interest was piqued as she heard their voices talking.
"Only you can decide if you wish to change over, Trent. What is it that you desire?"
"I desire to be with Isabella. She has told me of the pairing your people have and I would like that with her."
"Pairing is for life in our village. We do not pair with one and then pair with another when we tire of the situation we have chosen."
"I understand. I don't want to be with anyone else…"
"Perhaps not here. But what of your home? Is there any part of you that wishes to return to where you came from? Because once you cross over, you will not have the opportunity to cross back again, if you wish to see your own home again."
There was silence for a while, before Isabella again heard Trent speak.
"I know that I am meant to be with her. It is important to me that I am, if you and your people are willing to accept me into your village." He paused before continuing. "I will work hard and I will love her and I will bring children into your village that will come from different blood stock. That must make a difference to such a small population, I am sure."
The ancient nodded in agreement.
"It is true that we should have wider breeding ideally, but we are populated enough to keep from there being problems there. We are not a small population, Trent. Perhaps compared to the city you come from, but you might find yourself surprised by the amount of people who are here, once you can see and hear them all."
"I am prepared for that. Please. Please consider allowing me to come into your world, and to pair with Isabella if she wishes to have me."
There was silence again as the ancient considered the words presented to him from the traveller who had so recently appeared.
"I will consider your wishes about you coming into our world, and I shall talk to Isabella regarding the possibility of her pairing with you. Thank you for talking to me. I shall leave you now."
As the ancient walked away, he saw Isabella come into view a short distance away. He walked up to her, took her hand and smiled at her.
"You must come and see me this afternoon, before our evening meal. We have much to discuss."
~~~~~
Walking the last leg of the pathway to the pool, Isabella looked closely at the sight of Trent sitting down on the ground. He looked peaceful and full of thoughts, so much so that he did not hear her approach immediately.
"You are deep in thought," she said and he looked at her, not startled at all, which told her he had sensed her there after all.
He watched as she sat down in front of him, and then he leaned in to kiss her gently.
"I have been talking to Elder Rhys about the option of me coming into your world," he said and saw her nod in response.
"And?"
"And I told him that I wish to cross over so I can be with you, Isabella. So we can pair, if that is what you want." He paused to let her consider an answer and speak again but when she did not he continued. "Is that what you want?"
"Yes," she seemed to breathe out heavily. "Yes, Trent. I want to pair with you. I want to live with you and see you every day - openly. I want to have your children."
They were quiet for a few minutes before she spoke again.
"I want to kiss you every day - every morning and every night. I want to bathe with you."
Her blatant desire fuelled him and he kissed her hungrily then, resolved that he had to have her. Not just sexually but in entirety. As the greater part of the rest of his life.
"I want that too."
She sat back, shy all of a sudden, and now pulled out food she had brought from breakfast and started to help him eat.
"I shall miss this, though - helping you in this way," she said and he saw amusement on her face so laughed with her.
"We shall find other things to share pleasure in," he told her and saw her blush in response.
~~~~~
"What are your thoughts, Isabella?" the ancient asked her as she sat inside the temple with him. He did not expand on the question because he knew he did not need to.
"Elder Rhys, I would like him to come through to our time, and for him and me to pair," she said and then paused. "But it is not up to me, is it? He must make the decision about both of those things. And they are not one decision - they are two."
The ancient nodded.
"It is true, but he is resolved to come through and pair with you and I believe his sincerity. Do you have doubts?"
Isabella kept quiet but Elder Rhys could see something was passing over her mind so questioned her.
"What is it?"
"I … I just wonder if he will still want me when he is around many women again. Right now I am the only woman he sees, but how can he be sure he wishes to be only with me, if he does not yet know who else he is going to see when he comes through to our time?"
Suddenly she felt his hand reach out and touch hers.
"Isabella, the two of you are entwined. Fate has secured that and I believe it to be real. He did not have visions in the night of anyone else. He cannot see anyone else apart from you and me. You are his connection. You are his intended. And he is yours."
Isabella nodded but remained quiet thereafter. It was all very well what she wanted but ultimately she could not force someone from another time to leave their life - their world - to come into hers.
10 ~ THE FINAL CHAPTER
"It is time," the ancient said to Trent as the three of them sat quietly near the pool in the very early morning. "Are you certain of what you are asking me to do for you, Trent? I cannot reverse this once it is done. You will not be able to return to your own time. You will leave behind everyone you ever knew."
Trent smiled at Isabella and then turned to the ancient.
"I already left my world behind, Elder Rhys. It is a world that I do not wish to be part of now. Please accept me into yours."
The ancient nodded, stood and walked toward the waterfall. Behind him Isabella and Trent stood also, to watch. Neither knew what they would see or what would happen, but both were astounded as they watched the ancient walk not in the water, but on the water. Over the pool he walked, stopping in the middle and turning back to them.
"Follow," he said simply, and together they stepped out, expecting to fall into the water but following his footsteps they found themselves on what felt like a hard surface even though they could not see it.
They reached him and then as he moved forward still, they stayed close behind him, until all three of them were directly in front of the waterfall. With the raise of his hands, Elder Rhys forced the water flowing to separate into a right and a left side, leaving a dry entry point directly in the centre of the flow.
Isabella thought she must be seeing things. In all her years, she had never seen power such as she was seeing now. Although the ancients were all regarded as sacred people of a great age, there had never been any word of anything like this being possible.
She felt Trent squeeze her hand as he started to walk forward, through the space that had been provided for them in the waterfall. Once through to the other side, they found themselves in a cave.
Isabella felt like she might faint when in front of her she saw, for as high as her eyes could see, yellow. Looking at Trent she knew that he recognised it as well - it was the same colour of what she had
handed to him in their mutual dream.
The ancient stood between them and the glowing rock, as if protective of it.
"This is our life source. It is what provides our village with the heat required to sustain our existence in this location. Without it we would perish. That is why it is kept secret and neither of you must tell anyone about it. Trent, you have seen what our village has become," he said and saw the traveller nod. "That was the result of someone speaking of this and people coming to our village, filled with greed and desperation to take this. It destroyed our home and our people then, and it would destroy us again if we speak of this. The two of you have the ability to prevent what happened to this village from happening in the future. Do you both understand?"
Isabella looked at Trent and saw him nod, and she did the same. She supposed that now she would know for certain if he wished to be with her or not, as here was something of great value that he could return home and tell his people about if such a thing were more important to him than her and her people.
But looking at his face - looking into his eyes - she saw no greed. She saw no malice or discontentment. All she saw looking back at her was passion and desire, and the same eagerness as she felt inside of her.
Elder Rhys looked intently at both of their faces, as if to ascertain if both of them could truly be trusted still, but was pleased with what he saw as he looked into their souls. The traveller had been lost, seeking to find some solace from a life of extreme chaos, but he was now calm. And it was very evident that he was very much in love.
"Trent, this will be your final chance to say if you do not wish to come to us. If you wish to come to us, you will step forward and touch the stone," he said and immediately Trent took a step forward, but was stopped. "Stop. Do not rush. This cannot be undone once you touch it. Be sure."
Trent turned away, walked right up to Isabella, put his arms around her and kissed her softly.
"Is this definitely what you want? To be with me all the time? Not just each morning and each evening? Not just in our own time and place? You will pair with me and we will start a family … together?"
The Golden Desires Page 9