The Golden Desires (10 page)

He looked at her and looked around the area while
the colour was there for him to see, and then pulled his hands up and let the
world go grey and brown around him once more.

She saw his arms reach out to her as he knelt
also, pulling her close to him and holding her tight, before releasing her
again.

"Tell me more about what Elder Rhys said."

"He said that he believed you and I have
shared dreams because we are linked somehow. That nature intended for us to be
paired together," she said, looking and sounding thoughtful. "But
that could not be, could it? We are not even of the same time…"

He kissed her then, to reassure the both of them
that he was real, and she was real.

"Perhaps. But this feels real, doesn't it?
When I look at you I desire you, Isabella. And I felt like that before I had
even seen you in person. You came into my dreams, and you say I came into
yours…" he said and she nodded. "So who is to say we
aren't
meant
to be together."

She was quiet for a long while, wondering how this
strange thing had come to happen to her, a normal girl without any clear
direction in her life as yet.

"What does it mean, exactly, this
pairing
?"

She blushed heavily.

"It is what happens so our population can
continue. There is a ceremony where the man and woman being paired are united
and then they go to the pairing chamber together, where they remain for that
night. It is expected in there that they will … love … so that a child will be
made. After that night they will begin to share their life together, as mother
and father."

He could see that in this culture the pairing they
talked of was similar to marriage, although it appeared the focus was far more
heavily on procreation than on the love that could occur between the man and
the woman.

"And when paired, the mother and father
remain together … for the rest of their lives?"

"Yes, until one is called forth to leave this
world and pass to the next."

He nodded, taking this to be their explanation for
death.

"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.