~~~~~
Isabella left the temple feeling no less confused about what was happening in her body, than she had been prior to her visit. She walked out into the sunshine and after visiting her home and seeing Trent was not there, she went to the kitchen to ask the cooks if they needed any assistance.
"Oh yes please, Miss Isabella. Your timing is perfect. Can you go down to the garden and fill this basket with tomatoes please? The reddest ones that are there, so I can slow cook them overnight for a tomato and mushroom pie for tomorrow."
Isabella smiled at the cook and took the basket, glad to have an occupation to take her mind off things. Upon arrival she was surprised to see Trent there, kneeling down on the ground beside one of the gardeners, listening intently to whatever he was saying.
As she approached both looked up at her and instantly Trent jumped up to go to her, kissing her softly before she turned to the gardener.
"Master Martin, Cook Mary has asked me to fill this basket with the ripest tomatoes. Shall I get them?" she asked and saw the man jump and walk to her.
"Oh no, Miss Isabella! I shall get those for you, and Master Trent here has come here today to ask to learn about gardening, so he can come with me … if you wish," the gardener said, redirecting his sentence to Trent.
"Yes of course," Trent replied, reluctantly moving away from Isabella, who stood back, watching with amusement as he trotted off on an adventure to learn something new.
When they came back, Isabella took the basket and found Trent walking with her.
"Did you go to the temple?" he asked her, having spent time trying unsuccessfully to not worry about her.
Isabella nodded at him, smiling softly.
"I did. Elder Rhys is not certain but he thinks that we do now have a child growing inside of me," she said, and Trent saw her subconsciously move her hand to cover her belly. "He does not know about the golden glow, but Trent, he thinks that you are a chosen one also. That is why we dreamed of each other, and why we could see each other in both times."
Trent stopped walking suddenly and looked at her.
"I am a chosen one? But that cannot be. I am not even of your people…"
"I know, but it is what he believes," Isabella replied, putting down the basket long enough to go to him and put her arms around him, which he eagerly received as he looked down into her eyes. "I do not want us to just focus on this, Trent. I only just found you and we have only just … begun…" she said, starting to blush softly. "I would like us to move forward as normal, and see what happens but not stop our journey of getting to know one another."
He kissed her lips and then nodded at her.
"Yes. I surely do not know enough about you yet to already stop learning. Are you walking to the kitchen with this?" he asked and picked up the basket as she nodded at him. "I shall walk you there."
"How did you like the gardening?" she asked him, eager to change the subject so both of them could rest their minds.
He smiled broadly at her.
"I liked it very much. I think that is what I wish to learn - and do - but I shall walk to the mill soon and talk to Adrian to see if they will need me down there."
They approached the kitchen and Isabella turned to him.
"I shall walk with you to the mill, if you will wait for me. I should like to see Adrian, also," she said and he nodded and saw her walk into the kitchen area.
"Here you go, Cook Mary," Isabella called out and immediately was greeted by excitement.
"Oh, Miss Isabella! They are the reddest tomatoes we have had for a long while. Thank you so much."
Isabella laughed at the cook's enthusiasm before waving and turning back to Trent, who held out his hand to welcome hers into it.
They walked in silence, each in their own deep thoughts, until they reached the mill. Walking in, Adrian immediately saw them from where he was working, moving bags of grain.
"What are you doing here?" he asked both of them with a smile on his face.
"Well Trent wishes to talk to you about work, and I just wanted to see you," Isabella said and Trent saw an intensive look of admiration appear on the face of the man as he looked at Isabella.
Adrian found himself captivated for a moment before he shook his head and forced himself to wake up and come back to the present moment.
"Of course. Trent, how can I be of assistance to you?"
"When I was here this morning I assisted but I feel like I am pulled in another direction, Adrian. I wish to work in the garden but I did say I would come back here tomorrow…"
Adrian watched Trent speak and sensed a concern that might flow over to Isabella, so instantly called one of the elders over and asked Trent to speak to him.
"Oh no, that is alright, Trent," the elder before them said. "We all have to find our own way and our own place. And if it is the garden that is calling you, then that is where you should go."
"Thank you," Trent replied, astonished that decisions like this were not so easy at all in the world that he had recently left behind.
The elder nodded, smiled and then quietly walked away.
"Will you go to the evening meal now?" Adrian asked and Isabella nodded. "I shall walk with you then."
~~~~~
During their meal, Adrian leaned in close to her to whisper in her ear.
"Isabella, can I still talk to you?" he asked and she nodded. "In private?"
Isabella looked at him and nodded again.
"Yes, of course you can, Adrian. Do you need to talk to me in private?"
Adrian smiled sadly at her.
"If I can…" he said, sounding doubtful.
"Why would you not?"
"Trent…"
Trent heard his name mentioned and looked around from his side of Isabella.
"Are you talking to me, Adrian? Sorry - did I miss something?" he asked and immediately saw Adrian go a shade of red.
"No," Isabella said, trying to avoid any discomfort between the two men. "Adrian would like to talk to me alone so after dinner I shall spend some time with him, Trent, if you have no objection."
"Oh! Oh no, of course not. Adrian you do not have to feel awkward about asking such a thing. You and Isabella have been friends for your whole lives…"
"Yes but now she is paired with you…"
"Yes … but that should not - and will not - change her friendship with you," Trent assured Adrian, surprised even at himself for not seeming to have any feelings of jealousy in himself over their friendship. As he finished his meal, he stood up but leaned down to kiss Isabella before moving away. "I will go home, and I will see you when you return."
Isabella nodded at him and watched him walk away, wondrous again at where he came from and what the two of them meeting actually meant.
"I am sorry, Isabella. I did not intend for him to leave."
"Adrian, he had finished eating. There is nothing to worry about. But now it is just the two of us, talk to me. What has you so serious today?"
She saw Adrian look around him, as if scared someone would hear, before finally his eyes rested on hers and he spoke.
"I think it is time for me to pair also, Isabella, so I wish to ask Kat," he said and Isabella burst out laughing. "What is so funny?" he asked, feeling surprisingly vulnerable all of a sudden.
"Oh, Adrian! Of course you should do that! She has been yearning after you for so long…"
"What are you talking about, Isabella? You do talk nonsense sometimes," he replied, with a mock look of surprise and disbelief on his face, making her laugh harder.
"No, I do not!" she said and he began laughing with her.
"I take it from your response that you have no objection then?" he asked, toning his amusement down.
"Why would I object to you being happy, Adrian?" she asked and took his hand in hers. "Be happy. I am."
Adrian felt sense of loss and sadness come over him, but he squeezed her hand back and smiled at her.
"Thank you."
"You are my d
earest friend."
"Maybe I was your dearest friend…"
"Why do you say such a thing? Why do you think we are not still friends?"
"No, I just meant that now Trent is…"
"Adrian, no matter how much it appears that he and I should be together, to share our lives, I barely know Trent. The person I know best of all is you. I will never turn my back on that. I will never turn my back on you. And I hope that you will feel the same way when you are paired…"
As if sensing she were the object of conversation, Kat appeared beside them, sitting down near Adrian.
"Hello Kat," Isabella said before starting to rise. "I shall leave you two alone." She put her hand on Adrian's shoulder and squeezed it before smiling at him.
As she walked away from them she felt a moment of sadness. The words she had said - that she knew Adrian intensely and hardly knew Trent at all - had been true, but regardless, it did seem that she and Trent were meant to be together. Something higher than all of them had made it so, and who were they to deny it.
~~~~~
On her way home, Isabella found herself drawn to the temple. She stopped in front of it and to anyone seeing her they would have thought she was looking at the front façade of it, but as she stood and faced it front on, she felt a warmth in her belly that for the moment, she wanted to just stand still and focus on.
"Isabella," she heard in her mind - a woman's voice was calling to her. "Come into the temple, child. Do not stand outside."
Isabella opened her eyes, wondering if what she had just heard was real. She looked around her but saw no-one who could have spoken to her. At first uncertain of whether to return to her home or go do as the voice had requested, she found her curiosity heightened to a point where she knew she could not just walk away.
She stepped forward and entered through the large doorway, slowly making her way through the chambers as she remembered.
"Isabella, are you alright?" she heard and when she turned around she saw Elder Rhys looking at her, concerned.
"I…" she stammered, keeping her distance from him after the earlier feelings she had experienced from moving closer to him. "I heard a voice and it told me to come in here."
She saw the ancient before her look surprised and then startled.
"My voice?" he asked but Isabella shook her head.
"No, it was a woman's voice."
"What did the voice say?"
"She said my name, and then she told me to come into the temple."
Elder Rhys looked at her with confusion in his thoughts.
"There is no woman here, Isabella."
"Perhaps it was another ancient…" she started to reply but he shook his head.
"No. There are no women ancients at the present time. You will be the next one, I suspect, but for now, there are no other women here."
"Perhaps just one of the elders…" she said, trying to figure it out, like a deep puzzle that was testing her.
She saw the ancient look thoughtful but doubtful, and although he did not dispute her theory, he then smiled softly at her and the words that followed from him she suspected were only said to make her feel better.
"Yes, perhaps."
~~~~~
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.
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"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?"
The Golden Desires Page 15