Disclaimer: I do not own the His Dark Materials series.

A/N: Hi everyone! This chapter is really, really short, but it has so many questions and so much to offer, so I thought I'd go ahead and post it to give you all some food for thought. Enjoy, and thanks again for all the reviews! You guys are awesome :)

NOTE: Revised 6/9/17.

20.

Tumultuous Turns

"My dear lady, wherever have you been the past few weeks?"

Though the priest's tone showcased concern and good intention, Mrs. Coulter recognized it for what it was: suspicion. Bearing his white teeth in a wide, sparkling smile, the golden monkey agreed, and Mrs. Coulter understood how incriminating she must appear to be.

In the end, it wasn't like Mrs. Coulter actually had a choice. Her first priority was to keep Lyra safe, and when confronted with her former lover and a pack of savages, the decision wasn't difficult to make. The murky part, however, was what happened after they arrived at North Gorvsy. Why didn't Mrs. Coulter contact the police? Why didn't she fight? Why didn't she run?

"I was trapped with the barbarian Belacqua, sir." She paused to look down, as if the memory were painful to relive. "He held me at gunpoint and ordered me to accompany him to the nearest town. With my life and the child's life in imminent danger, I wasn't in a position to argue."

"Yes, yes," said the priest, his brown eyes narrowing as his rabbit daemon pricked her ears. "Indeed you were in quite the situation. But why were you out in the wilderness in the first place?"

This, Mrs. Coulter knew, was also tricky. It was very tricky. Mrs. Coulter didn't wish her connection to Lyra to become public knowledge, but it wasn't a secret that she had taken in a child back in London. Likewise, her affair with Asriel was certainly well known and well scrutinized, but in the end, their illegitimate child wasn't something that stretched further than the limits of Oxford. It was one of those things that people avoided out of courtesy, and surely, it wasn't something that anyone could hold against her.

Additionally, there were whispers of a child who has the ability to read the alethiometer, and it certainly could appear to these people that Lyra was that child. But Mrs. Coulter didn't think they had any concrete information, and if she could just persuade them to let her return to London, she could wash her hands of this business and keep Lyra out of it.

"If you recall, your Eminence, this child is the niece of Asriel Belacqua. And also, you'll recall that I had taken her into my home back in London, and it caused him to lash out with many threats and with much malice."

Mrs. Coulter had framed Lyra's disappearance well, and it was fortunate that Asriel had left right around the time Lyra ran away. It made for the most perfect set of lies and excuses, and it had made it easier for Mrs. Coulter to search the country for the child.

However, she wasn't sure if this priest would be as easy to convince. He was nodding at her words, but there was something in his expression that she just didn't trust. "And what are you doing now, my lady? Taking the child with you?"

For a second, Mrs. Coulter held her breath, feeling the monkey's claws dig deeper into her shoulder. "Yes."

"Where?"

"London, sir. As you certainly must know, our operations in Bolvangar were compromised. The children were rescued and we need to abandon the plan and think of a different course of action."

"You've ordered this, have you?"

"Yes."

She had, though she didn't know if she had the authority to do so. That was always the plan if anything foul had happened – the Church (and Mrs. Coulter) would step away from any association in order to preserve their data and carry forward with their work. It'd set them back, of course, but it'd keep them safe. At least in the short term.

"You realize that with all the children released, there will likely be investigations left and right?"

"Yes."

"You realize the children will be able to identify you?"

"Yes."

"You understand that we have men in place who can influence how law enforcement treats this?"

"Yes."

"And ultimately, you realize that the Church can only do so much to keep this experiment going now that it's been compromised?"

"Of course."

"Well then." His lips pursed, the priest turned around to grab a piece of paper on a nearby table, his eyes now twinkling. "I'm glad to see your intentions are still pure, Mrs. Coulter. We were actually able to retain a few dedicated researchers, and our operations will continue."