Sameth and Sabriel
Chapter 1
Sameth fell into the chair feeling tired and bored.
It had been another lousy day in Belisaere. His parents were both elsewhere in the Kingdom, dealing with problems that their authority required them to solve. Sabriel, embroiled in her constant war against creatures that were long dead but did not wish to stay dead, and banishing them beyond the Ninth Gate to their final resting place. Touchstone, as King of the Old Kingdom, had had to ride off that very morning with an armoured guard to go and resolve a land dispute in Qyrre, that was on the borders of turning quite nasty.
Sameth's first day back from school in Ancelstierre was not turning out how he had imagined it. True, he had not expected both his parents to be able to take the time off from their official duties but he had at least expected to be able to spend a few days with them. Alas, it was not to be. His sister Ellimere who had finished schooling in Ancelstierre the previous year, got to see a lot more of their parents than Sameth did, and this left him feeling quite resentful. Ellimere, Sameth felt, was so truly his parents' favourite child. She was their first-born and was clearly the one to inherit the Royal title, once Touchstone was gone. This only fuelled Sam's feeling that he was somewhat a "spare part" around the Palace and often wondered to himself why his parents didn't just simply leave him in Ancelstierre for the duration of the summer. But then, he reasoned, Sabriel and Touchstone had seemed rather glad to have him back, even if it was only for a few hours, before they had had to depart again and abandon him once more.
Sameth was just beginning to wonder why he didn't just refuse the next invitation from his parents to return to the Old Kingdom, and go and stay with his friend Nicholas Sayre, when Ellimere walked in, uninvited and stopped his train of thought.
"Oh, here you are Sameth!" exclaimed Ellimere, as she bustled around his workshop, her face wearing a mixed look of distaste, displeasure and polite interest.
Sam's workshop was the one thing he truly loved in the Palace. A gift from his parents on his 16th Birthday, a few weeks previously, he had just started to move into the workshop and get settled in, with his materials and Charter magic, weaved around him, he felt safe and at home. He felt like he belonged in his workshop, which was all he had ever really wanted: to feel like he belonged.
"Well, anyway, Sameth a message just arrived from Mother. She's decided to stay at the House for a few weeks and wanted to know if you'd be interested in joining her?"
"WHAT!" Sameth shouted. It came out rather louder than he expected and felt like it made him sound desperate for any sign of interest or attention from his parents.
"I mean...um...yes. I'd love to go. Did she say when I should leave?" He inquired politely, as he looked at the shocked expression on Ellimere's face after his sudden outburst.
"Well," stated Ellimere looking at the paper rather sternly. "No, it doesn't. But obviously she must be at the House now, if she sent this by message hawk."
"Yes." Agreed Sameth. "Well, in that case, I think that I shall leave tomorrow. If that's alright of course?"
"Yes, just make sure that you arrange it all with the Royal guard so that you can be escorted to the House. We can't risk any assassination attempts. You know that the situation on the Old Kingdom is not as stable as it used to be." Ellimere looked at him, a slight frown creasing across her otherwise pale and impartial face.
"Right, well, I'll go and talk to the guards now. Make sure that everything is ready for tomorrow. Then I'll send a message to Dad to let him know where I'm going." Sameth waited for some sign from Ellimere, or a pointed interjection about some flaw in this otherwise seemingly perfect plan. Ellimere seemed to struggle with herself for a few minutes, decided that there really wasn't anything to prevent Sameth from going and then shrugged her shoulders, sighed and marched out of the room, the door banging shut behind her.
Sameth stood in the middle of his workshop, feeling dazed and confused. He was going. He was leaving the Palace and the annoyance that was Ellimere, and he got to spend some quality time with his mother. Yes, thought Sameth, I shall leave tomorrow and arrive at the House by the end of the week.
"Perhaps," he wondered aloud, "this summer won't be such a waste after all."
With that, he glanced once around his beloved workshop, marched over to the door, bounded down the steps outside and set off for the guards' headquarters.