His Dark Materials

Chapter 9

it felt so heartwarming to hear such a compliment from mary. nobody had ever given her such compliments about her bravery or intelligence. in the eyes of everybody else in her world she was just a beautiful wife, or an alluring sinner. when she was back upstairs in her hotel room, marisa gave mary a quick glance, sighing in an angelic tone once she saw lyra resting again, on their bed, under the warm covers, with pan by her side. she understood that the girl needed some rest, lots of it if she had to be honest with herself. but right now lyra needed to wake up or else they will be late for their flight. marisa put her monkey on the carpet in front of mary, knowing he’ll enjoy the sight and sat her own body down on the bed, next to her child. marisa gently, carefully shaked the girl by her shoulders, while hoping she’ll wake up at some point. “lyra.. darling, i brought you something” she reached for the sandwich in her fur coat pocket and handed it to lyra.

Lyra mumbled a little and opened her eye slowly, she saw her mother and smiled. "how.... How long were you out?" she asked her, sitting up, her ribs feeling much better but still bruised. She took the sandwich and greedily bit into it, but then she stopped halfway through chewing. "wait... Have you eaten?" she asked, still unaware of the other womans presence. Mary narrowed her eyes, not in suspicion but in admiration, awe. She watched how she tenderly touched the girl to wake her, she knew now, no matter what she heard or would hear about her, Marisa does love her child, she smiled softly, turning her head to give the two some privacy, she looked down at the monkey and smiled at it briefly, she brought the clothes out of the bag, a few blouses and work pants, and some comfier clothes for both of them should the prefer that.

marisa narrowed her eyes and decided to lie when she heard the slightest concern behind lyra’s words. “no, i already ate darling” she weakly smiled at the girl meanwhile marisa’s monkey daemon tried to stumble forward to help mary with the packing, but couldn’t so he simply eyed up the clothes she bought. it was definitely not marisa’s style but these clothes seemed acceptable enough for her standards. mrs coulter soon enough realized that she owes lyra an explanation on why she was gone away for such a long period of time. “i am so sorry, it took longer for me than i expected. and i met someone, she helped me with the clothes and-“ she stopped her sentence right there, for she did not feel enough comfortable around mary to express her excitement or gratefulness.

Lyra nodded at her mother and finished off the sandwhich. Mary's head frowned and looked up at them, she knew marisa was lying, though, she did respect letting her child eat, she wish she bought more, though it wasn't good for her wellbeing. Lyra shrugged "it's fine... I fell asleep anyway... As long as we can get home?" she asked leaning into her mother, she'd missed her a lot. Mary came over with a soft smile. "hi... I'm Mary" she said, placing the clothes down on the bed, so they could get changed. "lyra Coul..." she whispered shaking the woman's hand. She wonder what her mother's reaction would have been if she'd said her last name instead of her father's. Mary nodded, looking at Marisa, slight worry behind her eyes, if she hadn't eaten all day, she'd have to get her something on the airship. "I'll wait outside for when you're ready... If you like?" she asked, she did want Marisa to feel forced into doing anything.

marisa smiled widely at that, the mention of her name left half unsaid. it was the first time in a while marisa left her pride and sadness behind her back. the brunette wanted to eat badly but she hit it well, hoping that nobody would recognize the hunger she had. however she was growing uncomfortable around mary, who seemed to look at her every 5 seconds to make sure marisa was alright. what marisa feared the most was the very thought of somebody pitying her, feeling sorry for her or even caring for her. on top of that, this woman was also everything marisa wished she would be- impertinent, intelligent, free.. and everything she thinks she never will be- euphoric, polite, generous. mrs coulter took a deep breath after mary had left and asked lyra about the strange woman. “she helped us out a lot lyra, but i am not sure if i can trust her, i don’t want them to hurt you again.. to hurt the both of us.” her distrust in people, her deep, greedy hate for people was still sitting inside her. but mary was so much different by all means. and then mrs coulter tried to forget her thoughts or at least leave them with her, hidden. she tossed a creamy white blouse and a dark green skirt onto lyra’s side of the bed before locking herself into the bathroom to change.