Disclaimer: I do not own the His Dark Material series or any correlating elements.

Hi everyone! Here's the third chapter. Hopefully more to come quickly! Thank you to everyone that reviewed and sent a pm! You're all so kind. :) Have a good one!

o3.

Daring Dash

Her eyes fire, Mrs. Coulter walked forward. The golden monkey chimed in her ear, and she gave the slightest indication of a nod. She knew what she had to do.

Lord Asriel tensed as she approached him, but he didn't move. Calm, arrogant, and simply exhausted, he wouldn't bother to obstruct her path. The heretical-minded fool always underestimated her prowess. Even to this day, he held a bit of a soft spot for Mrs. Coulter. That would inevitably come back to haunt him. Mrs. Coulter smirked at the fact.

"What are you doing, Marisa?" he asked irritably as she continued to walk past him and over to her wardrobe. Saying nothing, Mrs. Coulter pulled open the doors and then rummaged around to the right side. She felt Lord Asriel's eyes bore into her back, and she knew she had only a few moments before his common sense and suspicion would get the best of him.

Twisting around to stare directly into his now alert and wary eyes, she pressed a button and said "You'll regret this, Asriel."

A caterwauling alarm split the atmosphere and red light spilled in from the crack beneath the door to the hallway. In a flash, Lord Asriel dashed to the wardrobe and grabbed Mrs. Coulter from the front of her shirt. "What did you do? What's going to happen?"

Dirty hands smudged Mrs. Coulter's delicate beige blouse, and she snarled before spitting at his face. How dare he assault her? She was the one with control of the situation!

Removing a hand to wipe her saliva away, Lord Asriel lowered his hand from Mrs. Coulter's shirt to her wrist, which he gripped tightly. "And you shall regret that even more."

Before she could react, Lord Asriel was dragging Mrs. Coulter to her bed. For the first time, genuine fear surged through Mrs. Coulter's system, and she thrashed and struggled as hard as she could. The golden money, stuck in the strong grip of Stelmaria's bite, let out an ear-splattering screech. Together, the two writhed beneath their captors, desperate to regain control. Mrs. Coulter had never felt more humiliated. She would never forgive Asriel for that.

"Don't you fret," the wild man sneered, throwing her on the bed and then lunging to the side to take a hold of Lyra. "I wouldn't even bother with the likes of you."

As he turned towards the door, Lyra flailing in his grasp, a new sensation overcame Mrs. Coulter.

For the third time in her life, she feared for someone other than herself. The world seemed to stop, and life seemed to swirl all around her; her heart began to beat out of control, and all of her senses sharpened to an intense clarity. She watched as her former lover and her daughter's father attempted to take away all that Mrs. Coulter had left. Time seemed to stall as she felt a glimpse of what life would be like without Lyra.

And as if in a dream, Mrs. Coulter rose to her feet and then flew forward. She shook away that cold, empty feeling, and with all of her might, she flung herself on the man with the ragged furs.

"You – are – not – taking – my – daughter!" she howled, giving him a blow to the head that caused him to stop and sway on the spot. Again, he had underestimated the capabilities of a desperate woman. "My officers will be here any minute, and they'll throw you back in prison where you belong!"

With another mighty punch to Lord Asriel's head, Mrs. Coulter reached forward and pulled Lyra to her and out of his grasp. She then shoved her backwards, and she gasped as Lord Asriel tackled her to the ground and knocked the wind out of her. She had never been hurt by him before, and her heart along with her body underwent a small moment of shock.

Clearing her head, she scratched at his face and forced him to turn away from her, giving her the advantage that she needed. Curling her leg back as far as it would go, she kicked it forward to his lower abdomen and listened triumphantly as he yelled out in pain and fury. Bowling over, he slid off of her, and Mrs. Coulter sat up to glare coldly as he suffered. She realized that there was a time where she would have dropped everything to help him, to hold him, to comfort him. But now, she understood how things were. With a growl from her daemon, Mrs. Coulter accepted the fact that any spark uniting her and Lord Asriel was diminished with the threat of taking Lyra away from her.

"Mrs. Coulter, what –"

"Not now, darling." Mrs. Coulter was up in a flash, making her way towards her daughter. "Just start packing your things into your bag and get ready to leave. Come on now."

As Lyra stood there, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, Mrs. Coulter sensed a shred of suspicion and uncertainty flicker through her system. Snorting inwardly, Mrs. Coulter put a hand on the side of her face and lifted her eyes to gaze directly into hers. She didn't have time for this. "You're going to have to trust me, my love. Please, just get your clothes and possessions so we can leave. I promise that I'll explain everything."

For a moment, Mrs. Coulter thought the little brat was going to refuse. Her eyes gleamed defiantly, and a look of pure rebellion smeared her childish features. But then Mrs. Coulter followed her gaze over to Lord Asriel, who was still on the floor but who seemed to be recovering. Mrs. Coulter's eyes widened in fear, and upon looking back at Lyra, she caught her staring intently at her. Understanding seemed to dawn inside her blue depths.

"Let's go!" Mrs. Coulter urged, taking a traveling bag beside her bed. It was already packed and ready to go with food, money, and clothes to last for a week or so. She turned her attention to Lyra, who was struggling to find her things since Mrs. Coulter had taken them out to dry and clean. She hurried over to the bathroom and snatched up all of her clothing, returning to roughly shove them in Lyra's sack. The girl stepped back and let her do it, wonder glazed in her eyes.

"Take your coat!" Mrs. Coulter ordered, jumping as Lord Asriel started to stir. It wouldn't be long before he'd leap back up and take her down again, though this time knocking her out cold. This was her and Lyra's only chance.

Not waiting for her to put it on, Mrs. Coulter took Lyra's hand and ran over to the door. Ushering Lyra ahead, she slammed the door shut and then fiddled in her bag for a key. She heard movement beyond the mahogany barrier, and she quickly thrust the key into its hole and turned it to the right. Her heart beating, Mrs. Coulter paused. Her daemon ran a hand along the side of her face, and she let out the breath she was holding. She was temporarily safe.

"Mrs. Coulter?" Lyra called, halting at the end of the hallway. She exchanged a look with her daemon, and Mrs. Coulter's heart stopped.

They were going to flee. She could tell by the way Pan gazed longingly for the door. She had saved her from the dangers of Lord Asriel, but she had failed to secure her for herself. What a fool she was!

But on the contrary, Lyra waited as Mrs. Coulter bolted over to her. She felt a flaring pang of relief and appreciation.

"Are the police really gonna go arrest Uncle Asriel?" Mrs. Coulter paused to hear the pounding of approaching footsteps, and she stepped to the side and guided Lyra with her.

"Yes," she murmured, putting her arm around the girl's shoulders and watching as a group of officers came into view, their weapons out and their faces alarmed. Mrs. Coulter merely nodded towards the door to her bedroom, which was now being smacked and shoved fiercely. The head of the patrol nodded before charging over to it, his men following.

"Let's go somewhere private to speak, darling." She turned Lyra away and began to head towards the main entrance.

"But where?" Lyra asked, trying to crane her neck to see the men fighting with her father.

Mrs. Coulter gently turned her head back around, stroking a few strands of her dark golden hair. As the golden monkey and Pan strode side-by-side, and as Mrs. Coulter stared down at her daughter, she realized how utterly brave Lyra was. No child she knew could have gone through the previous turmoil so calmly and obediently. Maybe she had been too hard on her earlier in the evening; maybe she hadn't given her a chance.

"I don't really know," Mrs. Coulter answered softly, holding on to Lyra a little tighter. She was there, and more importantly, she was there because she wanted to be. "But wherever we go, I promise you that we'll safe. You'll always be safe with me."