Two weeks passed, and the night had grabbed the North fully, smothering the world in darkness.
But in the great palace, Iorek had chosen his new mate, Lyra Belacqua. He had chosen the first human queen of the Panserbjorne, something even Iofur Raknison, the traitorous beast, had never been able to do, despite his attempts with Mrs Coulter.
How strange, then, that that cycle would happen again, with both Iofur's successor and Marisa's firstborn.
Iorek had to give her the title through the old ceremony, a title that was gained by blood. Iorek had to mark her.
He had gathered every bear into the great hall, and presented the woman to them, as bare as they were, Pan stretched over her neck and shoulders. Her breasts were frozen, nipples hard and pointed. The hair on her pussy was growing thicker now, her body seeming to react to the dense cold of this place now. Iorek addressed the bears in their language, growling and roaring as he stated that she was his and that he would protect her until the breath faded from him and the stars blinked out.
She had been allowed to speak, confessing her love for Iorek and kneeling at his feet before they kissed in front of the throng of bears.
To mark her as the Consort of the Panserbjorne, the offer had to be given in red. So Iorek had to bite her, hard enough to draw blood. Lyra knew it would be painful, even with Iorek being careful to find the best spot. His mouth engulfed her chest and back, her body tense at the first touch of his huge canines. Slowly, he added pressure, the sharpened fangs piercing her body at the same time, making her tense against him.
A single moment of pressure, and stinging pain, and she had been bled, where two pricks of crimson blood formed, on her breast and on her belly. Iorek's front canines were spotted with red, and he stood to his fullest, roaring to proclaim that they were blood bound, his throat shaking and rattling as the echoes filled the room.
Every bear bowed their heads to him, whether in servitude or disgust, Lyra could not tell. Iorek's eyes were purest black, internally fighting his bloodlust after tasting her.
Lyra was still unsure of what she was doing by being in the North for so long, her studies becoming nothing but a fleeting thought lost in the Arctic winds, similar to how she had been swept up by Iorek, losing her sense of time and forgetting the world of Oxford. Pan had also come to accept their place as the Consort for King Iorek Byrnison of the Panserbjorne. This was much to the chagrin of the female bears which he had mated with before her arrival, those who were ambitious to be in her place, aspirations to be Queens dashed within days of the human woman coming to their city.
Lyra had almost been attacked by a she-bear, or what she assumed was one, as all bears looked so similar she was still unable to tell the difference without examining closely. It had reared to its full height, roaring loudly and almost falling upon her in a fury if it were not for another bear, aggressive and powerful, slamming into her and holding her neck in his great maw, forcing her to calm down and bow its head to her.
She had been there for so long, or maybe not, as the nights were endless here, torches being lit constantly in sky-iron brackets, gorgeously crafted with a delicate precision that forced Lyra to notice them, no matter how insignificant they were.
Lyra slept with her king now, in a bed of animal furs and feathers, skins upon skins, enough for Pan to bury himself beneath and worm through when he wished not to cling to Lyra, as she was now clinging to Iorek, holding him tight even in the deepest points of sleep. He knew what the time was, some ancient instinct that Lyra did not possess as a human, that meant she was woken every morning by the feel of a hard claw against her cheek or a huff of hot air on her ear.
Most of her nights were sex-soaked and lustful, with Lyra and Iorek enjoying each other before they slept in a loving embrace. Iorek had even tried to pleasure Pan, but their size difference had made the attempt untenable, his tongue engulfing the small daemon.
Her days were spent close to him or exploring the palace. Each day she would be given meat from a different animal Iorek had butchered specially for her, and, unexpectedly, it was cooked beautifully, as if come of the bears had learned the human ways of eating. She was given foraged berries and there was no shortage of clean water with the expansive ice sheets surrounding them.
But there had been one time, one night where this glorious fantasy of hers had been shattered by a horrific understanding. She had been woken by the feel of wetness on her thighs, to find Iorek's great head lapping at her, as her body slowly understood what he was about to do.
Far too late, she screamed as he pulled her legs apart and pushed himself inside her, hands clawing at his fur and beating at him uselessly while he forced himself on her. Pan was writhing next to her, crying out silently, wishing someone human would help her, but knowing no human was within a hundred miles of this place, that she was helpless to his lust, that her new position was as temporary as the seasons if he wished it. Her life was in his paws, so she had to lay there silently as the great beast humped her painfully. He was rougher than he had been before, his entire weight shoving her forward and back, and as he finally forced his massive knot inside her, Lyra's muffled scream being trapped by harshly gritted teeth.
The strength of his thrusts decreased then, small jerky movements being all he could manage after stuffing her, until he bred her once again, as chill tears rolled down Lyra's face. Pan buried himself close to her as the bear finished and sat over her, the feeling of his pulsing inside her making Lyra force her eyes closed. Her body was quivering, fear and pain and forced arousal shooting through her like lightning. He stayed there, inside her and atop her, as his cum pooled inside her, strange and warm and uncomfortable, trapped by the knot.
It took time, what felt like an eternity, for the bear to free her from her torment, as his knot shrank and finally popped out of her, making her cry out as it slipped slickly from her ruined pussy. Iorek quickly calmed and succumbed to the ease of sleep that releasing one's seed allows for, seeming not to care for his consort or for the daemon that was sobbing next to her.
The next day, she had shunned him, retreating into the depths of the castle, where she had once been held by the last king of the Panserbjorne, how she had believed she would die that night and how strange her life had become after that, from Citagazze to the world of the Mulefa, from Lee Scoresby to Will Parry, the unimaginable journey she had taken after her travels to the North had begun.
The thought of Will brought tears to her eyes, but she blinked them back, wiping the remnants against her face irritably. Pan was against her chest as he normally was, and they sat in the empty cage, shuddering and shivering as a draft blew through the bear-made cavern.
"What have I done, Pan? Is it too much?"
"It might be, Lyra, but you don't have a way out. You were the one that dismissed the gyropter a few days ago. You have at least another week before they return. You can't stop Iorek now. He's an animal, and he acts like one. You made the decision, we can't leave." And so she had had to go back to their bed and lay with him again the next night.
They lay together, and he looked forlorn, understanding that he had hurt her.
Lyra spoke quietly. "I'm sorry, Iorek. I didn't know you wanted to have me so badly."
The bear was still silent, but the arm he draped over her had stiffened slightly. "I want to show you how much I want you, my king." She looked up at him with a sensual gaze, trying to communicate the feeling with only her eyes. The bear lay still, but grumbled "Use your mouth."
She had to slide down his body to where he lay, down to the thick furred sheath, before she began to run her tongue up his quickly swelling cock, tasting him as he became fully aroused. She wrapped her lips over it, running them over the sensitive flesh as her head moved slowly, sucking on him as she felt him bulge against her, thin drips of bitter warm liquid trickling down her throat. She had to stop at his knot, her tongue flickering against the base of his cock as she took as much as she could into her mouth before she had to force him out of her, pulling herself away and gasping for air, her jaw aching with having to accommodate how big he was.
She gave herself a second before she returned to his cock, wrapping a hand over the base, pumping at him to arouse him further, as he pushed against her. She kept going, moaning softly to let herself breathe while his cock was in her mouth, and he groaned as his arousal peaked, until he came. A thrust inside her mouth, shocking her as the thin liquid forced its way out of the gaps between her lips, dribbling down her chin. She extricated herself from his cock and licked at him, keeping him moist as it retreated once again, and she was free from her obligations.
That night, she was not taken, Iorek merely nestling her against the thin skin of his belly, letting her rest against him.
When he woke, he slid a black claw softly over her cheek, admiring her nakedness, the curves of her hips and her chest, the roundness of her ass and the perfect pussy between her legs, hot and tight and heavily arousing for the bear.
She was more beautiful than any human he had ever seen, and his body lusted for her, hungry to taste her again, but he had to suppress his appetite, quell the urge to take her once more, locking the deep desire away to satisfy his consort.