「Has he told you who he is?」
「Only his name. And it was the sul at Trollesund who told us that.」
「He is highborn. He is a prince. In fact, if he had not itted a great crime, he would be the king of the bears by now.」
「He told me their king was called lofur Raknison.」
「lofur Raknison became king when lorek Byrnison was exiled. lofur is a prince, of course, or he wouldnt be allowed to rule; but he is clever in a human way; he makes alliances and treaties; he lives not as bears do, in ice forts, but in a new-built palace; he talks of exging ambassadors with human nations and developing the fire mines with the help of human engineers....He is very skillful and subtle. Some say that he provoked lorek into the deed for which he was exiled, and others say that even if he didnt, he ences them to think he did, because it adds to his reputation for craft and subtlety.」
「What did lorek do? See, one reason I love lorek, its because of my father doing what he did and being punished. Seems to me theyre like each other. lorek told me hed killed another bear, but he never said how it came about.」
「The fight was over a she-bear. The male whom lorek killed would not display the usual signals of surrender when it was clear that lorek was stronger. For all their pride, bears never fail tnize superior for another bear and surreo it, but for some reason this bear didnt do it. Some say that lofur Raknison worked on his mind, ave him fusing herbs to eat. At any rate, the young bear persisted, and lorek Byrnison allowed his temper to master him.
The case was not hard to judge; he should have wounded, not killed.」
「So otherwise hed be king,」 Lyra said. 「And I heard something about lofur Raknison from the Palmerian Professor at Jordan, cause hed been to the North a him. He said... I wish I could remember what it was....I thiricked his way on to the throne or something....But you know, lorek said to me ohat bears couldricked, and showed me that I couldnt trick him. It sounds as if they was both tricked, him and the other bear. Maybe only bears trick bears, maybe people t. Except...The people at Trollesund, they tricked him, didnt they? When they got him drunk and stole his armor?」
「When bears act like people, perhaps they be tricked,」 said Serafina Pekkala. 「When bears act like bears, perhaps they t. No bear would normally drink spirits. lorek Byrnison drank tet the shame of exile, and it was only that which let the Trollesund people trick him.」
「Ah, yes,」 said Lyra, nodding. She was satisfied with that idea. She admired lorek almost without limit, and she was glad to find firmation of his nobility. 「Thats clever of you,」 she said. 「I wouldnt have known that if you hadnt told me. I think youre probably cleverer than Mrs. Coulter.」
They flew on. Lyra chewed some of the seal meat she found in her pocket.
「Serafina Pekkala,」 she said after some time, 「whats Dust? Cause it seems to me that all this troubles about Dust, only no oold me what it is.」
「I dont know,」 Serafina Pekkala told her. 「Witches have never worried about Dust. All I tell you is that where there are priests, there is fear of Dust.
Mrs. Coulter is not a priest, of course, but she is a powerful agent of the Magisterium, and it was she who set up the Oblation Board and persuaded the Church to pay for Bolvangar, because of her i in Dust. We t uand her feelings about it. But there are many things we have never uood.