Before you read this, I need to state that do not own Lyra, Will or any of
the other characters in this story.
Lyra woke up suddenly. She was fully awake instantly, as if she had heard a scream or cry of alarm. But there was nothing. Just the simple sounds of the night.
She looked to the window and saw light dimly filtering through the thin curtains. It was early. She had started to wake up early more and more and she knew she would not be able to go back to sleep again.
She lay in bed and wondered what Will was doing.
"Sleeping." Pantalaimon suggested.
Lyra hoped so. She hoped he was warm and comfortable and asleep. She hoped that he had not been in as much trouble as he had thought and that his Mother was better and . and . she hoped that he was happy.
She felt the tears start to run down her face as they had done so often before and Pan moved to sit on the covers above her chest and looked at her.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." He gently licked the tears off her face.
"It isn't your fault Pan. It isn't anyone's fault." She stroked his glossy fur. "Will and I made our decision to have our full life even if it had to be apart." But she did not say whether she still thought that they had made the right choice.
She had started to have doubts a few months after returning to her own world. Those doubts had increased rather than diminished until now, nearly two years later, she was sure that they had done the wrong thing. Although it had felt like a choice at the time she now felt as if they had been backed into a corner at a time when they were vulnerable.
Pan stayed very quiet. Lyra believed that he was feeling guilty over his part in what had happened even though she had been the one to abandon him at first. She held him tight to let him know she would never part from him again.
"Come on Pan we might as well get up. Since we are awake we can make a start on the new books."
Lyra was making slow but steady progress with the alethiometer. She had despaired at first of ever being able to read the simplest things but her innate stubbornness had refused to let her give in and with Dame Hannah's guidance the instrument was again starting to be of some use. She had thought of asking it how Will was but she had not dared. In her darkest hours she thought of him in jail separated from his Mother, or on the run from the men who had been chasing him before or being bullied at school. She could not imagine Will making friends easily. What would she do if the Alethiometer told her he was alone or afraid? What would she do if it told him he was dead?
"No! No! He is alive. I know he is. I would know if anything had happened!" But a harsh little voice from inside her said, "How could you know? He is in a different world and the next time you see him will be in the land of the dead."
Lyra sat at the little desk next to her bed and opened the first of the new alethiometer books. Studying was coming easier to her than she would have thought possible. Being one of the first of the new pupils at St Sophia's had helped her to settle in quickly. She was determined to catch up on everything she had missed and the teachers were delighted to have someone who was so keen to learn.
Making friends and being able to approach people had always been one of her strong points. She would not tell lies to draw attention to herself anymore and she could tell her new classmates very little of what had happened to her but the tales of her childhood fascinated the rich and well-to-do girls of the boarding school. She had mentioned Will once and had to explain that he had gone far away and she would never see him again and her new friends were full of sympathy. They had suggested she write to him and didn't understand why she couldn't.
She had tried writing a letter, knowing he could never receive it, just to try to express her feelings. She had screwed the letter up in frustration and thrown it in the waste paper basket. Then she had retrieved it, smoothed out the creases and hidden it.
She heard a noise from outside, down in the quadrangle. She went to the window and looked down. In the early dawn light she could see a large cart coming though the gateway, only just being able to squeeze through. Something was on the back of the cart covered with a tarpaulin. It seemed a rather strange time to be making a delivery but Jordan was renowned for its collection of philosophical apparatus for the chapel and Lyra assumed that this just another piece of equipment. There had been more and more delivered recently although it wasn't called philosophical apparatus anymore and there wasn't a chaplain and the name experimental theology was no longer used.
A door leading into the quadrangle opened and to Lyra's surprise the Master appeared. His health was declining and she hardly saw him about at all never mind at this time in the morning. Relying heavily on his walking stick he moved towards the carters.
Lyra had seen enough. Something unusual was going on and she wanted to be part of it.
"It probably isn't anything Pan," she said when he complained about having to leave the warm bed, " but it might be interesting. Come on, where is your sense of adventure? Anyway you can stay in bed if you want."
"Oh yes! And what will the carters say when they see you without a daemon?" The reluctant Pine Marten dragged himself up and then scampered off down the stairs forcing Lyra to run to catch up with him. "Even if it turns out to be dull at least it's a distraction for the moment," he thought.
After her headlong dash down the stairs Lyra walked respectfully up to the Master. His eyesight was failing and he did not recognize her until she was very close to him.
"Ah. Lyra. What are you doing up at this ridiculous hour of the day?"
"I woke up early Master. I seem to do it all the time at the moment."
"Hmmm. Well if this lot don't keep the noise down we will have the whole population of Jordan watching. Well since you're up and about you can take a look at this and give me your opinion. This object has been sent to us for investigation. Several people have come up with theories about it, apparently, but no one is really sure. They found it when the College of St. Jerome was being demolished."
"Where is that, Master?"
"Oh come on Lyra you said you were awake. The College of St. Jerome in Geneva. The Consistorial Court of Discipline. It was being demolished after the Court was dissolved last month. This was found up on the roof but very cleverly hidden. No one will admit to knowing anything about it."
The Consistorial Court of Discipline had only been dissolved last month but it had had no real power since Lyra had returned to Oxford. None of the old church bodies had any real power, but in some ways this was leading to other problems. In some areas the rule of law was still in place, but elsewhere there was anarchy and no one with the authority to impose order. The devastation caused to some areas by the opening of the gateway in the North had led to starvation and despair. Few mourned for the passing of the church but it was still not clear what form of government would replace it.
"The republic of heaven is a very long way away," whispered Lyra to herself.
This was another thing that she had nagging away at her. How could she make a difference? When Xaphania had talked about helping people to learn and understand and gain in wisdom it had seemed so right. But now as she looked at her world falling apart she did not understand what Xaphania thought she, Lyra, would be able to do. People were more concerned with looking after themselves. She was barely fifteen years old with no power, no influence, nothing. Will and she had agreed to live their lives separately so they would have their whole lives to build the republic of heaven. But now that she had realised the size of the task she did not believe that she could do it on her own.
Iorek could not help her with this task.
Serafina Pekkala had visited her several times but the witches themselves were in disarray. So many had been killed in the battle on the plain that they had tried to merge some of the clans. This had gone badly wrong. Old feuds had been recalled and more blood spilled. The last time Serafina had visited she had stayed for a few hours only before a message had called her away.
The Gyptians had returned to their way of life wandering the waterways but had found themselves even more mistrusted than before. Like so many other people they were just trying to survive.
The carters were carefully lowering the object to the floor. It was large and the carters had eventually assembled a small gantry with a block and tackle. They worked quickly but Lyra thought they would have found it a lot easier if they had taken the tarpaulin off. To her surprise they did not do that even when the object was on the ground. Instead they moved the cart away and started to put up a large tent like a marquee over the site. Once that was up the foreman came across to the Master and the Master agreed he could leave. Before the Master could say anything Lyra had ducked under the side of the tent. The Master joined her staring at the object.
"Well then. Make yourself useful. Let's have a proper look at it. I don't know who will be the best person to deal with this."
Lyra pulled the sheet to one side. It slid off easily and she gasped.
"What is it Lyra?" The Master stared at her, trying to focus.
"I have seen this before or one very like it. It was during the battle on the plain. One of these flew past us."
"A flying machine? Well it doesn't look anything like a zeppelin or a gyropter. If you have seen one before it makes you the expert I suppose. I suppose that I will have to include you on the team to investigate the thing."
The Master looked closely at Lyra and saw the tears rolling down her face again as the memory of the craft reminded her that the last time she had seen one she had been with Will.
"How long is it until Midsummer's day?" he asked gently.
"It's in five days time," she sobbed.
"Then think of midday in five days time," he said kindly knowing how much she was looking forward to that time and of how much she dreaded the time just after.
Lyra tried to smile through her tears and gazed at the Intention craft in front of her.
Lyra woke up suddenly. She was fully awake instantly, as if she had heard a scream or cry of alarm. But there was nothing. Just the simple sounds of the night.
She looked to the window and saw light dimly filtering through the thin curtains. It was early. She had started to wake up early more and more and she knew she would not be able to go back to sleep again.
She lay in bed and wondered what Will was doing.
"Sleeping." Pantalaimon suggested.
Lyra hoped so. She hoped he was warm and comfortable and asleep. She hoped that he had not been in as much trouble as he had thought and that his Mother was better and . and . she hoped that he was happy.
She felt the tears start to run down her face as they had done so often before and Pan moved to sit on the covers above her chest and looked at her.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." He gently licked the tears off her face.
"It isn't your fault Pan. It isn't anyone's fault." She stroked his glossy fur. "Will and I made our decision to have our full life even if it had to be apart." But she did not say whether she still thought that they had made the right choice.
She had started to have doubts a few months after returning to her own world. Those doubts had increased rather than diminished until now, nearly two years later, she was sure that they had done the wrong thing. Although it had felt like a choice at the time she now felt as if they had been backed into a corner at a time when they were vulnerable.
Pan stayed very quiet. Lyra believed that he was feeling guilty over his part in what had happened even though she had been the one to abandon him at first. She held him tight to let him know she would never part from him again.
"Come on Pan we might as well get up. Since we are awake we can make a start on the new books."
Lyra was making slow but steady progress with the alethiometer. She had despaired at first of ever being able to read the simplest things but her innate stubbornness had refused to let her give in and with Dame Hannah's guidance the instrument was again starting to be of some use. She had thought of asking it how Will was but she had not dared. In her darkest hours she thought of him in jail separated from his Mother, or on the run from the men who had been chasing him before or being bullied at school. She could not imagine Will making friends easily. What would she do if the Alethiometer told her he was alone or afraid? What would she do if it told him he was dead?
"No! No! He is alive. I know he is. I would know if anything had happened!" But a harsh little voice from inside her said, "How could you know? He is in a different world and the next time you see him will be in the land of the dead."
Lyra sat at the little desk next to her bed and opened the first of the new alethiometer books. Studying was coming easier to her than she would have thought possible. Being one of the first of the new pupils at St Sophia's had helped her to settle in quickly. She was determined to catch up on everything she had missed and the teachers were delighted to have someone who was so keen to learn.
Making friends and being able to approach people had always been one of her strong points. She would not tell lies to draw attention to herself anymore and she could tell her new classmates very little of what had happened to her but the tales of her childhood fascinated the rich and well-to-do girls of the boarding school. She had mentioned Will once and had to explain that he had gone far away and she would never see him again and her new friends were full of sympathy. They had suggested she write to him and didn't understand why she couldn't.
She had tried writing a letter, knowing he could never receive it, just to try to express her feelings. She had screwed the letter up in frustration and thrown it in the waste paper basket. Then she had retrieved it, smoothed out the creases and hidden it.
She heard a noise from outside, down in the quadrangle. She went to the window and looked down. In the early dawn light she could see a large cart coming though the gateway, only just being able to squeeze through. Something was on the back of the cart covered with a tarpaulin. It seemed a rather strange time to be making a delivery but Jordan was renowned for its collection of philosophical apparatus for the chapel and Lyra assumed that this just another piece of equipment. There had been more and more delivered recently although it wasn't called philosophical apparatus anymore and there wasn't a chaplain and the name experimental theology was no longer used.
A door leading into the quadrangle opened and to Lyra's surprise the Master appeared. His health was declining and she hardly saw him about at all never mind at this time in the morning. Relying heavily on his walking stick he moved towards the carters.
Lyra had seen enough. Something unusual was going on and she wanted to be part of it.
"It probably isn't anything Pan," she said when he complained about having to leave the warm bed, " but it might be interesting. Come on, where is your sense of adventure? Anyway you can stay in bed if you want."
"Oh yes! And what will the carters say when they see you without a daemon?" The reluctant Pine Marten dragged himself up and then scampered off down the stairs forcing Lyra to run to catch up with him. "Even if it turns out to be dull at least it's a distraction for the moment," he thought.
After her headlong dash down the stairs Lyra walked respectfully up to the Master. His eyesight was failing and he did not recognize her until she was very close to him.
"Ah. Lyra. What are you doing up at this ridiculous hour of the day?"
"I woke up early Master. I seem to do it all the time at the moment."
"Hmmm. Well if this lot don't keep the noise down we will have the whole population of Jordan watching. Well since you're up and about you can take a look at this and give me your opinion. This object has been sent to us for investigation. Several people have come up with theories about it, apparently, but no one is really sure. They found it when the College of St. Jerome was being demolished."
"Where is that, Master?"
"Oh come on Lyra you said you were awake. The College of St. Jerome in Geneva. The Consistorial Court of Discipline. It was being demolished after the Court was dissolved last month. This was found up on the roof but very cleverly hidden. No one will admit to knowing anything about it."
The Consistorial Court of Discipline had only been dissolved last month but it had had no real power since Lyra had returned to Oxford. None of the old church bodies had any real power, but in some ways this was leading to other problems. In some areas the rule of law was still in place, but elsewhere there was anarchy and no one with the authority to impose order. The devastation caused to some areas by the opening of the gateway in the North had led to starvation and despair. Few mourned for the passing of the church but it was still not clear what form of government would replace it.
"The republic of heaven is a very long way away," whispered Lyra to herself.
This was another thing that she had nagging away at her. How could she make a difference? When Xaphania had talked about helping people to learn and understand and gain in wisdom it had seemed so right. But now as she looked at her world falling apart she did not understand what Xaphania thought she, Lyra, would be able to do. People were more concerned with looking after themselves. She was barely fifteen years old with no power, no influence, nothing. Will and she had agreed to live their lives separately so they would have their whole lives to build the republic of heaven. But now that she had realised the size of the task she did not believe that she could do it on her own.
Iorek could not help her with this task.
Serafina Pekkala had visited her several times but the witches themselves were in disarray. So many had been killed in the battle on the plain that they had tried to merge some of the clans. This had gone badly wrong. Old feuds had been recalled and more blood spilled. The last time Serafina had visited she had stayed for a few hours only before a message had called her away.
The Gyptians had returned to their way of life wandering the waterways but had found themselves even more mistrusted than before. Like so many other people they were just trying to survive.
The carters were carefully lowering the object to the floor. It was large and the carters had eventually assembled a small gantry with a block and tackle. They worked quickly but Lyra thought they would have found it a lot easier if they had taken the tarpaulin off. To her surprise they did not do that even when the object was on the ground. Instead they moved the cart away and started to put up a large tent like a marquee over the site. Once that was up the foreman came across to the Master and the Master agreed he could leave. Before the Master could say anything Lyra had ducked under the side of the tent. The Master joined her staring at the object.
"Well then. Make yourself useful. Let's have a proper look at it. I don't know who will be the best person to deal with this."
Lyra pulled the sheet to one side. It slid off easily and she gasped.
"What is it Lyra?" The Master stared at her, trying to focus.
"I have seen this before or one very like it. It was during the battle on the plain. One of these flew past us."
"A flying machine? Well it doesn't look anything like a zeppelin or a gyropter. If you have seen one before it makes you the expert I suppose. I suppose that I will have to include you on the team to investigate the thing."
The Master looked closely at Lyra and saw the tears rolling down her face again as the memory of the craft reminded her that the last time she had seen one she had been with Will.
"How long is it until Midsummer's day?" he asked gently.
"It's in five days time," she sobbed.
"Then think of midday in five days time," he said kindly knowing how much she was looking forward to that time and of how much she dreaded the time just after.
Lyra tried to smile through her tears and gazed at the Intention craft in front of her.