An Arctic Mystery
Author's Note: Hi, this is a little message from The Nightshift. This is the first chapter of my first ever fanfic, and it is about Lord Asriel and Mrs Coulter's lives before they met and and fell in love. I know most of this stuff belongs to Phillip Pullman, so please don't sue me lol. I hope you enjoy it, and please review ASAP if you get chance. Cheers.
Lord Asriel and his daemon moved swiftly down towards the entrance of the board room. He had been called to a meeting there, which was being conducted by Mr Coulter, a famous politician. The meeting had already begun, so he shut the door behind him as he entered the room.
"You're late Belaqua," hissed Mr Coulter as he took a seat.
"Sorry Coulter," mumbled Lord Asriel sarcastically. Mr Coulter stared daggers at him before beginning.
"Now, I have summoned this council because I wish to discuss a matter of up most importance. An entity is stirring up the north, which has never opposed the church before. The ice bears of Svalbard are forming a rebellion against the church by inhuming all of its members in a manor which is unacceptable." An uncontrolled snicker emerged from Lord Asriel's mouth.
"Silence Belaqua, or you shall be removed," warned Mr Coulter.
"Now, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, the church is under attack from the ice-bears of Svalbard. They have already slaughtered several of the pope's most dearest followers, plus they have ambushed eight churches in Trollsund, Brusellhauf and Norweis, and are now targeting several churches in Tugenstreim. It is now time to act against this malice. I call upon one of you fellows destroy every last ice bear from the northern hemisphere, including the king, Iofur Raknison."
"But what if the ice bears were hired by another enemy of the church to do all of this," protested Lord Asriel.
"Do not question my decision, Belaqua," boomed Mr Coulter.
"Yes, but you said that the ice bears do not normally form a rebellion against the church, so it seems unlikely that they were attacking the church of their own accord."
"And who else can you think of that would want to harm such a powerful organization that is the church, vampyres?"
"Well for all you know, it could be."
"Right, let me make this simple for you," said Mr Coulter, addressing the whole meeting. "Many rumours have been spread around the world which concern immortal, blood sucking creatures known as vampyres. They are all lies."
"How do you know?" enquired Lord Asriel.
"Because the idea of supernatural, shape shifting creatures of the night is ridiculous."
"And so is the Authority."
Everyone's jaw dropped. There was a long pause.
"What?" hissed Mr Coulter through gritted teeth.
"There isn't an Authority," said Lord Asriel simply. "It's all lies."
"Well you are wrong Belaqua, because there is an Authority, and if anyone's right it's me. Now, since you know so much about the matter, you will stop the attacks from going on in the north, and my decision is final."
"But Mr Coulter, I don't think that's a very wise decision," protested Lord Boreal.
"Quiet you, Belaqua, you are charged with killing every last ice bear, or you will be replaced. Is that clear?"
"Yes," said Lord Asriel.
"Then it appears that we have an agreement. You're working for your place in the institute, so don't expect any payment on your behalf. Also, you have six months starting from next week in which to complete this assignment. If it is not accomplished by then, consider yourself out of the institute." Mr Coulter swept back several strands of sleek, black hair and droned on for the next few hours about metaphysics. When that was over, the meeting was dismissed.
Lord Asriel couldn't stand Mr Coulter. Every meeting that he conducted was like being in a back at school, with him as the tutor and Lord Asriel as the student he always picked on. He was pretty sure that if Mr Coulter was a tutor in a school, he would be the one that everyone despised. The one that loved the sound of his own voice. The one that hated everyone, especially Lord Asriel. He knew why Mr Coulter hated him, it was because he didn't follow that stupid religion that every one else followed. But he was proud to be different. He also was very interesting when it was his turn to conduct the meeting. This was mainly because he didn't keep banging on about the church or the Authority of metaphysics all the time. He got straight to the point, and within moments everyone was enthralled, (except Mr Coulter of course, because he had mysteriously been unable to attend any of the meetings conducted by Lord Asriel.) As he left the headquarters of the Royal Arctic Institute, Lord Asriel imagined himself throttling Mr Coulter until he finally tumbled to the floor, limp and powerless, unable to irritate anyone ever again.
Later that night, Mrs Coulter was sat at home reading by candle light on her bed. She heard the front door open, and rushed downstairs to greet her husband.
"How was everything at the institute darling?" she asked.
"Busy," mumbled Mr Coulter as he walked into the study. Mrs Coulter sighed as she wandered into the kitchen. He was always like that, too busy to talk to her. It was as if she didn't even exist half the time.
"Do you want a cup of tea," she called.
"Yes please," he replied. Mrs Coulter groaned. He always took advantage of her. Every time she offered to do something it was "yes please," never "no, I'll do it thank you." One of these days she should offer to slap him round the face and see how he responded then.
When she'd finished, she handed Mr Coulter his cup of tea, and started to drink her own. She hated life with Mr Coulter. She had only married him for his power and wealth, and all he had ever done was treat her like a servant.
After she had finished her cup of tea, she returned to her book. After reading that for a while, Mr Coulter entered the room.
"Yes Edward," she sighed, snapping her book closed. He sat down on the bed.
"Marisa, I have to go to Norway next week, and I won't be back for another six months. I expect you to escort me to the zeppelin station, and to see me off before you do anything else. Is that point clear?" he asked.
"Yes, darling," said Mrs Coulter in the sweetest voice possible, while in her head she thought something along the lines of "what, again?"
"Right, Marisa. I'm just going to get back to work. I'll call you if I need anything," he said. "Call me if you need a throttling is more like it," she whispered under her breath as he left the room.
"Marisa, if you hate him so much, why did you marry him?" asked her daemon, Ozymandias, who had settled into the form of a monkey with sleek golden hair.
"Ozy, how many times have we been through this, I married him for his wealth, power and reputation, which is everything I ever dreamed of when I was a child. Whether or not I actually love him has nothing to do with it."
"But Marisa, surely it would be better if you had waited for someone who actually loves you," he suggested.
"Well, Edward is the best I will ever get, because he possesses more power, money and respect than anyone I have ever met," she said proudly, and with that she stood up from the bed and walked across to shut the window. Strange, she didn't remember opening it in the first place. Suddenly she heard a crash coming from in the cellar.
"Edward, is that you?" she called. No reply.
"Edward, what in the world are you doing down there?" she asked. No reply. Mrs Coulter decided to go and investigate. As she crossed the hall she noticed the door to his study was wide open. That was peculiar. Edward always kept the door to his office locked to prevent her from prying into his business. She started to panic. Had something happened to him? The crash sounded again. Something was definitely amiss. Mrs Coulter started to run towards the cellar. When she arrived at the door she stopped. If she let whatever was attacking her husband kill him, she would be free of his authority. But she would lose all of her wealth and power.
"Don't go in," begged her daemon, as if he had read her mind. "Please Marisa, don't go in." Mrs Coulter exchanged a glance of fear with her beloved daemon.
"I have to," she whispered. She slowly opened the door and descended into the cellar. What she saw made her blood run cold.
Thanks for reading. Please leave a review while I write the next chapter.
