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

A/N: Hey! I am SO, SO sorry for the several month delay on this story (and all my stories). I started graduate school this semester and it's INTENSE. I'm busy reading and writing and teaching and doing so much academic stuff, so it's a little hard for me to find the time to write for fun.

I happened to have a little bit of time over my Thanksgiving break, though, so here's another chapter! I'll be completely off with no school-responsibilities by mid-December, so hopefully I can keep this streak up! Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy!

NOTE: Revised 6/9/17

Luxurious Lies

34.

The Wicked Witch

"Madam, where are you going?"

"To rent a sled, of course."

"A... A sled?"

"Yes." Mrs. Coulter stopped in the middle of the snow-encrusted path and glanced back over at Brother Louis, who had also stopped, his terrier daemon cowering low to the ground. "How else did you think we would travel back to Bolvangar in the North?"

"I-is that where they are?"

Brother Louis was nothing short of annoying. Picking up her pace again, Mrs. Coulter continued down the lane and thought about how absurd it was for the Magisterium to assign her a babysitter. Not that she entirely blamed them, though. Mrs. Coulter had run off, went into hiding, escaped, and so on more times than one could even think possible of a woman.

But Mrs. Coulter wasn't just an ordinary woman. As she and the golden monkey made their way to the outskirts of Trollesund, the slightest of smiles could be seen tugging at her lips.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Dr. Lanselius was a fool. Swinging the door of the witch's consulate open, Lord Asriel snorted as he looked around the little garden.

Nothing, he thought angrily, his eyes still scanning the trees and the sky. Absolutely nothing. What was he playing at?

The child. Stelmaria nudged his leg and pricked her eyes toward Lyra, who was hunched over fiddling with something. The alethiometer, Stelmaria answered him, her tawny eyes now narrowed.

"We need to get out of here," Lyra suddenly exclaimed, snapping the golden machine shut and looking up at Lord Asriel with wide, scared eyes – eyes the very same shade as her mother's. "Lord Asriel, Serafine, we've got –"

"Too late." Suddenly, Serafina Pekkala descended from the sky, her long, low-cut dress hovering in the cool wind. Lyra moved closer to Lord Asriel, her small figure shivering, and Lord Asriel wondered what she'd seen. Why was she so afraid? Why had she insisted on leaving?

"So you've returned," said Lord Asriel lazily, trying to buy some time. The witch rose her eyebrows, as if knowing what he was trying to do, but he merely continued to stare at her. "Off to drag us somewhere else? Might as well get it done and over with."

"You're a very strange man, Lord Asriel." Setting her pine cloud against a nearby tree, Serafina moved closer, slowly circling the man, the girl, and their daemons. "You've always been strange. Powerful, but strange."

"And why is that?" His voice remained bored, and as Stelmaria stared at Serafina unflinchingly, she appeared unnerved.

She likes this, she thought to him, studying the way the witch's eyes basked over Lord Asriel's figure and the way her shoulders sat easy. She doesn't want to hurt us. She wants to play with you.

"You've spited me and you've seen with your very own eyes what a witch can do when spited, yet you remain so calmly speak to me as if we're at a ball."

"You don't want to hurt me." His voice was strong now, commanding. Her eyes widened by a fraction of an inch, and he smiled. "Let's not play games anymore, Serafina. I know what you want, and you don't have to drag Lyra into this."

Taken aback slightly, Serafina glanced from Lyra to Lord Asriel and then back again, the first hint of suspicious glinting in her emerald gaze. "But you won't go anywhere without her, will you?"

"That's not entirely true." Giving Lyra a cursory look, Lord Asriel shrugged her shoulders. "I just want her away from the Coulter woman. I don't necessarily have to be with her."

"How you lie!" Serafina's lip curled into a snarl, and Lord Asriel felt Lyra press even closer to him. Stelmaria checked to see Pan hiding in Lyra's sleeve as a mouse, and he was again reminded of how afraid her voice had been – "We need to get out of here."

"I'm not, witch." She stiffened at the address, but he saw that she was half-intrigued by it, too. "It's impossible for you to know the entire story, but if you do with me what you will and let Lyra stay here, I'll be sure to fill you in."

Could this possibly work? Stelmaria wondered, watching the way Serafina's eyes now narrowed with not suspicion but consideration. She wanted him, Lord Asriel knew how badly she wanted him, but he had spited her. He had kissed Marisa in the witch's presence, making no effort to hide his effection for her, and he had let Marisa hit the witch in the back of the head with a pan.

"But you're no ordinary witch yourself, are you?" he said aloud, moving boldly forward to stand closely to her. She did nothing as he approached, and Lord Asriel knew that he had her. She loved him and she felt obligated to avenge his spite, but she also felt strong enough to resist it – to act on something else.

"Leave her here," he said softly, nodding to his daughter while keeping his eyes trained on Serafina's. "We don't need her. Coulter is no doubt occupied by the Magisteruim, so surely she won't be a threat for some time."

"But," said Serafina, her eyes full of desire yet flecked with uncertainty, "what about the prophecy?"

"Prophecy?" It was the first time Lyra spoke, and her blue eyes were now round as she stared up at the adults, Pan peeking out of her sleeve. "What – what prophecy?"

Damn! Stelmaria thought, turning to glare at Pan. He shrunk back a little, nibbling on Lyra's sleeve, and she looked back over at her father, now unsure herself.

"Never you mind," Lord Asriel snapped at her, "and not here," he added to Stelmaria.

The witch gazed at him coolly for a long while before nodding stiffly. "Very well. And the child?"

"Lyra," said Lord Asriel quickly, thinking wildly of a plan. He hadn't gotten that far with it. His first priority was to convince Serafina to leave her here, but now that she had agreed, he didn't know what to actually do with her. "Come here."

In the few seconds it took for her to go over to them, his mind spun. Stelmaria's did as well, and when Lyra was standing in front of him, and cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "Don't talk to anyone. Go back to the first place you ever visited in Trollesund and wait for further instruction."

His daughter nodded slowly, her face already scrunched as she processed what was happening. As Lord Asriel gave her a stuff nod and followed Serafina over to her pine cloud, he could only hope that Lyra would use the alethiometer again and that, some way, some how, Marisa's intentions were still pure and that she could find and save their daughter.