The Golden Desires (19 page)

"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 dearest 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."

~~~~~