A/N: Hey! I am SO, SO sorry for the delay on this story. My life has been crazy since I've been traveling a lot for work and school, but I managed to write this update and hope to have more soon!

I hope you all enjoy it, and please let me know what you think!

NOTE: Revised 6.9.17

Luxurious Lies

33.

Merciless Merge

"Mrs. Coulter." As she walked into the front entrance of the Magisterium hall, the golden monkey on her right shoulder, a young assistant-type man, and a heavily-armed Magisterium guard on her left, Mrs. Coulter smiled.

"Father MacPhail." Mrs. Coulter bowed her head a fraction of an inch. "How lovely to see you again."

"And you as well," the priest drawled, his lips curved into the most devilish of smiles. "How long as it been since our last encounter and contact with you? Oh, that's right – two weeks?"

She knew what he was doing. Flanked now by two Magisterium guards, Mrs. Coulter knew exactly what he was doing. The last time she was here, he had told her that the Magisterium would be resuming their operations and that she would remain at the head of it. He had practically given her no choice on the matter and had forced her into a dangerous trap; he had practically taken advantage of her and had left her with no options.

However, Mrs. Coulter had run away, just like Lyra did. Lyra escaped from her and had joined the Gyptians, so Mrs. Coulter had followed her aboard that day and left the Magisterium in her wake. Nothing truly mattered anymore except for Lyra, and even now under the watchful eye of the Magisterium and most likely God himself, Mrs. Coulter would fight to protect her daughter, wherever she may be at the moment.

"There's a very good reason for my absence, you Eminence."

"Oh, I'm sure there is, my dear woman. Care to join me in my study for some tea?"

It wasn't an invitation but an order. The guards nudged her forward and they followed the priest wordlessly, the golden monkey flanking her right leg.

We have to do something, he insisted to her, his beady eyes taking detailed note of every doorway and every turn. We can't just sit here and let them control us.

I know. Mrs. Coulter was even more impatient than he was. We have to go about it carefully, though, my love. We can't just act out like children.

Mrs. Coulter's heart fell when she thought that word: children. There was an entire building full of them waiting for her back in Bolvangar, and there was an entire team of scientists waiting for her okay to rip apart their souls. In the beginning, Mrs. Coulter had sincerely been in agreement with the procedures. The entire Dust phenomenon was as foreign to her as it was to everyone else, and of course she wanted to protect the purity and youth of the world's children; of course she wanted to do the right thing.

But when it almost happened to Lyra... In that moment, Mrs. Coulter had realized that perhaps it wasn't the right thing. The aftermath was extreme and the future unclear, and it was too much – it was too shaky to be done on Lyra. Like Lyra had told her, if it was so good, she should have let them do it to her; she should have been glad. But she wasn't, so perhaps it wasn't as good as she had thought.

Yet there she was, practically being forced to do it all over again.

"Please, have a seat." There were two rickety wooden chairs, and Mrs. Coulter sat down in the nearest one. It almost collapsed under her weight but she thankfully didn't yell out.

"Brother Louis will get us some chamomile. Off you go."

With the other man out of the room now, Father MacPhail leaned closer and looked directly at Mrs. Coulter, his eyes unflinching. "Tell me what you've been doing, Marisa, and don't lie to me. You owe me an explanation, and you'd best give one if you'd ever like to see the light of day again."

Mrs. Coulter knew that there would be serious consequences, but she didn't imagine it being this extreme. Perhaps she hadn't given Father MacPhail enough credit. At first, she thought he was too shrewd and too arrogant to be an effective priest and an effective operations coordinator, but perhaps it was exactly those qualities that made him so good at it.

"Of course, Father. As you've clearly been informed, the last time I set foot here, I was with Lyra Bealqua, Lord Asriel's niece." Did they still believe that she was his niece? Mrs. Coulter hoped so, and the golden monkey kneaded his paws on her shoulder nervously.

"Yes," said Father MacPhail, his eyes narrowing. "We're aware of that."

"Then you're also aware, I'm sure, that she escaped from the facilities and that I rushed out to find her."

"Go on." Brother Louis returned with the chamomile, and Mrs. Coulter refused to continue until he left from the room. She couldn't afford to have too many people hearing the story directly from her.

"When I found her, she was being taken aboard on a Gyptian ship, and I felt it my upmost duty to sneak aboard myself and find her, for Lyra in the hands of Lord Asriel is more dangerous than anything."

"Where is she now, then?" This was the moment he had been waiting for. Mrs. Coulter knew these men and their causalities, and she could tell by the way he clutched his mug of tea and the way his daemon stared at her unblinkingly that everything hinged on this question.

"That, your Eminence, is what I'm trying to find out. There's more to the story, you see."

Sitting back comfortably, Mrs. Coulter explained everything that happened. She didn't tell them everything, of course, and she amended some minor details, but she told him enough. The golden monkey sat tightly on her shoulder, his claws digging lightly into her shoulder, and she watched with cold satisfaction as Father MacPhail nodded along at her story. She had him.

"That's quite unfortunate," he finally said when she finished, sitting back in his own chair, "but you think you can remedy the situation?"

"Absolutely, sir." Mrs. Coulter stared straight into his eyes, hardly even aware of her pounding heart. "Just let me look for them and I'll find them. I can guarantee it. I can handle Lyra."

He stared at her for a long while, his daemon again clawing his shoulders, but he eventually nodded his head. "Very well, Mrs. Coulter. You may go and search for them."

But as Mrs. Coulter let out the breath she was holding and gave the golden monkey's paw a squeeze, he added: "Only this time, Brother Louis will accompany you. I daresay that we don't want another incident to happen, now do we?"