Sabriel Chapter 14 Summary

  • We get a glimpse of the newly revived mystery man's point of view. He's confused and disoriented when Sabriel awakens him, and remembers the sinkhole as a place called Holehallow. Mogget introduces himself, but the man remembers something about Mogget, replying, "You were bigger when we last met" (14.13).
  • The man can't remember his name, so Mogget suggests they call him Touchstone. The man calls this a "fool's name" (14.17), referencing the court jester in Shakespeare's "As You Like It." (Apparently Shakespeare exists in this magical universe.) But Mogget counters with "You do remember what you've done?" (14.18), and this seems to jog the man's memory as he shamefully agrees.
  • Mogget explains that the kingdom is now in anarchy, and that Touchstone has been frozen on the ship's prow for two hundred years; his family is long-gone.
  • Touchstone gets dressed in scavenged clothes from the ships, and when Sabriel returns from bathing at the spring, he kneels before her and introduces himself.
  • Touchstone tells Sabriel that he was a guardsman and Charter Mage, and fought in an attack on the Queen—he insists he doesn't remember how he came to be frozen and displayed on a ship, and declares his intent to serve Sabriel.
  • Sabriel sums up the situation with her father's disappearance, insisting that she doesn't need a servant, but would rather just have company.
  • When she leaves, Touchstone tells Mogget that he won't help Sabriel, because "help is for equals. I'll serve her. That's all I'm good for" (14.82).
  • Sabriel enlists Touchstone's help to get them out of Holehallow. Touchstone knows the geography of the Old Kingdom, and they decide they must find a boat to sail up the coast to the capital.