makesthings: (not here)
After the family meeting, Sameth can't sleep so he goes to his workroom and tries to make the joints on the cricketers and the soldier for Tavi move properly. Nothing seems to be working and he can almost feel the bells and book through the cupboard door.

Some time later in the night, he's not sure of the time there's a loud knocking, he knows he yells something and there's a clatter. When he goes to look there's what's left of a letter from Nick waiting for him. As he pieces the paper together and reads it, suddenly his own worries are a little easier to put aside for the sake of the trouble that Nick's got himself into.

Dear Sam,

Thanks for organizing the Old Kingdom visa for me. I don't know why your Consul at Bain was so reluctant to give me one. Lucky you're a Prince, I guess, and can get things done. I didn't have any trouble at this end. Father called Uncle Edward, who pulled the appropriate strings. Practically no one in Corvere even knew you could get a permit to cross the Perimeter. Anyway, I suppose it shows that Ancelstierre and the Old Kingdom aren't that different. It all comes down to who you know.

In any case, I intend to leave Awengate tomorrow, and if all the main connections go smoothly, I will be in Bain by Saturday and across the Wall by the 15th. I know this is earlier than we agreed, so you won't be able to meet me, but I'm not just rushing in on my own. I've hired a guide -- a former Crossing Point Scout I ran into in Bain. Quite literally, in fact. He was crossing the road to avoid a demonstration by these One Country fellows, stumbled and nearly knocked me over. But it was a fortuitous meeting, as he knows the Old Kingdom quite well. He also confirmed something I've read about a curious phenomenon called the Lightning Trap. He has seen it, and it certainly sounds worth studying.


He's not sure what the Lightning Trap is but it sounds troublesome and of course Nick wouldn't think to ask someone to help him make sure that his guide is uncorrupted.

So I think we will go and take a look at this Lightning Trap en route to your undoubtedly charming capital of Belisaere. My guide didn't seem at all surprised that I knew you, by the way. Perhaps he is as unimpressed by royalty as some of our former schoolfellows!

In any case, the Lightning Trap is apparently near a town called Edge, which I understand is not too far out of the direct route north to you. If only you people believed in normal maps and not quasi-mystical memorization aided by blank pieces of paper!

I look forward to seeing you in your native habitat-- almost as much as I look forward to investigating the curious anomalies of your Old Kingdom. There is surprisingly little written about it. The College library has only a few old and highly superstitious texts and the Radford little more. It never gets mentioned in the papers, either, except obliquely when Corolini is raving on in the Moot about sending "undesirables and Southerlings" to what he calls "the extreme North." I expect that I will be an advance guard of one "undesirable" in his terms!


The news of the date is even worse since he'd have to rush to meet Nick now, but clearly he should or else who knows what's going to happen.

Everything about the Old Kingdom seems to fall under a conspiracy of silence, so I am sure there will be many things for an ambitious young scientist to discover and reveal to the world. Or worlds, as it happens. I've recently had the surprising good fortune of stumbling through what appears to be some sort of break in time and space and into somewhere else entirely. They call the place 'Milliways,' and it's really quite amazing. I've not yet managed to duplicate the phenomenon that allowed me to reach it in the first place, but I'm sure it's just a matter of finding and replicating the proper conditions. I can almost see you rolling your eyes and hear you muttering about your 'Charter,' by the way, but I'll have you know that there are concepts in the physical sciences that refer to the possibility of such errata in space and time, and my experience merely proves that it can happen outside such theoretical realms. Hopefully I'll have it all figured out by the time I reach Belisaere; even aside from my own wanting to get back there, I think you'd quite like it.

I hope you are quite recovered, by the way. I have been ill myself, on and off, with chest pains that seem to be some sort of bronchitis. Strangely enough, they get worse the farther south I go, and were terrible in Corvere, probably because the air is absolutely filthy. I've spent the last month in Bain, and have hardly been troubled. I expect I will be even better in your Old Kingdom, where the air should be positively pristine.

In any case, I look forward to seeing you soon, and remain your loyal friend,

Nicholas Sayre

P.S. I don't believe Ellimere is really six foot six and weighs twenty stone. You would have mentioned it before.


Though Nick's skepticism of the Charter makes Sameth laugh, Nick really never changes. Sam has to read that paragraph twice, Nick found Milliways while Sam wasn't there. At least its a start to getting him to believe in things, maybe he met Kait there or Mogget.

His gaze goes to his door, its too much to hope after these months that if he opens that door Milliways will be there.
makesthings: (seal for a letter)
Ellie,
I know you're going to be angry, but I need to do this. No one else can get Nick out of the trouble he's in. I promise that I won't make things worse.
Sameth


Parts of unfinished letters and speeches that weren't burned.

Mother,
I can't do what you can. I'm scared.


Dad,
I'm not brave enough and I can't forget what happened. How do I make the nightmares go away and be as brave as you?


I need to speak to you about something important. I don't think I can be Abhorsen.
makesthings: (in disguise)
He hasn't seen a door in over a month and its almost Spring. Sameth just wants whatever Mogget said he had to face to happen but he doesn't know what it is so time just needs filling.

He's been trying harder with his duties to do more than just show up and Ellie still glares at him but he's trying.

Every change he can get he ends up in his workshop, the figure for Tavi is coming together well and he keeps making lots of little flowers and things for Kait but if he thinks too much about her than he starts looking for doors.

His parents appear briefly between duties and he considers saying all the things he's written or presenting some of the letters but none of them are good enough.

Gaius said that if he did well with what he made perhaps it would help the Old kingdom.

So he's trying to not fail too much in his duties while also making things, but time moves horribly slow, but at least Nick will come to visit in not too long.
makesthings: (hiding)
The wind was blowing from the South and Sameth wished he could change it, but the Charter wasn't even there.

Today in class, Cochrane had been lecturing them on the merits of democracy and kept giving him pointed looks so that he had to try and speak up for monarchy.

It was horrible and he didn't do a good job of explaining things since so much of it depended on the Charter and explaining his family's hard history.

In the end, he didn't feel like much of a prince and going outside didn't help since nothing felt quite real enough.

So he ended up in his room staring down at a piece of paper and wishing for ideas, but all the things that he wanted to do needed the Charter.
makesthings: (in waiting)
He's still thinking about everything Mogget said and he's not sure of all he really heard.

Perhaps Mogget does trust he can do whatever lays ahead though he didn't think his time here was a waste. That doesn't matter, he just has to go home and hope that summer arrives quickly.

He stops at the Bar to get more paper and some sealing wax on his way up.
makesthings: (had enough)
It had been almost a month since he'd left the Bar. A week after he came home, there was a letter from Nick saying that he was going to come to visit, but that was about the only bright thing. He didn't need to ignore doors since they just didn't show up and every day in his workshop, he'd wind the beetle from Kait and try to think about doing his duty.

Some days were harder than others especially when Petty Court seemed to drag on horribly today and as the man went on and on about his beautiful daughter and her dowry, all Sam could think of was Kait talking about being decorative.

He wasn't even aware of what Ellimere said as he tried to imagine what Kait would think of this and him in his royal surcoat. Finally the session was over and he could leave after Ellimere but still he could leave.
makesthings: (easy smile)
As soon as they step onto the stairs, his mechanical arm disappears though the uniform does stay on,

"I told you it would go away."
makesthings: (swift river of Death)
He was walking on the hill at Bain again though he didn't feel as cold,

"Hello, Sam."

When he turned there was Harry but whole yet he felt dead, "What are you doing here?"

"Been a while since you batted any wickets."

Harry smiled though it didn't quite reach his eyes, "We kept fighting."

"I'm sorry, Harry, but how are you here? Did he get to you?"

"No, guess we should have believed you more when you answered our questions."

"You didn't need to know before. I never thought things would happen like that."

"You fought him, chose the path that honor takes."

"I lost and you died."

"Went down swinging."

There's a shift in the air, colder and from the North and they both look towards where the Wall would be,

"Time for me to go. Remember take the path that honor takes."

"Harry?"

He wakes up with his burns hurting again and stares at the fire for a while before he can fall back to sleep. Its hard to imagine Harry or any of the boys from Somersby wanting anything to do with him, now Harry won't be able to keep playing cricket or leaping over things. Nightmares are easier than this guilt which he earned by failing so horribly.
makesthings: (hiding)
He kissed her absently and slipped into her bathroom where he closed the door and ended up on the floor where the shakes took over.

No more Milliways unless it found him, just duty and expectation even here. Mogget was right about so much and now Kait had heard all that he wasn't, more of the list that waited at home like the book with its green light.

He didn't want to destroy any future, he just wanted to live and not make things worse but clearly it was too late. Here he could make things and not always be in Waiting, but not any more.

This is because you are a prince. You are far harder to replace.

That was what it came down to truly, there was no one else but he couldn't do it though he had to.

Duty was always deciding his life but that was what he'd always known, it just didn't used to hurt like this.
makesthings: (Default)
Sameth's down in the main Bar working on the dragon for Felix, its still in the early stages but he's happy with how its progressing.

There's a good pot of tea on the table and some sandwiches for when he's at a good enough point to eat.
makesthings: (embers and mechanics)
Somersby doesn't have that many good places to hide and most of the boys know them all by their last year.

After a few bribes and Nick using his charm, they convinced the groundskeeper to let them use a shed as long as nothing broke.

Over the few years that Nick and Sam have had access to it, its become a fairly serious workshop which at the moment is full of the sounds of metal as Sam waves something that was once a clock at Nick,

"It won't work if you do it like that."

A Birthday

Oct. 16th, 2009 08:48 pm
makesthings: (Default)
He was hoping that doing the Bird of Dawning would have placated Ellimere but she just got more stubborn. The girls she kept sending after him didn't really care and he couldn't escape all that he was supposed to do no matter where he went. The darker ones would hold his gaze for slightly longer but they didn't seem to see him like Kait did and that just made something else hurt.

Even his workshop started to feel close with all the reminders of what he should be doing. As days went by and doors didn't appear but instead bracelets to be fixed and people trying to talk to him. He just gave up on talking.

He knew that they were doing it because of Ellimere not him and he grew to watching the skies for his mother's paperwing when he wasn't in his workshop or at his duties. Maybe if he could just think of something to say to his mother than it would be simpler, but nothing sounded right and in the end it all just meant he was a failure.

His mother had sent him another book and a surcoat with the keys of the Abhorsen on it for his birthday, which just accused him as bad as the other book he couldn't open and all the unfinished letters in the fire.

Ellimere tried, she always tried so hard and he could never try enough so the birthday feast was horrible. At least for once he didn't have to do anything, he didn't have to dance or open things, though their eyes were horrible as he left, but they'd hate him more if they knew the truth.

An Abhorsen in Waiting scared of Death.


He had to try once more, so he opened the cupboard where the The Book of the Dead lay casting its own green light, this time he managed the clasp at least before he started to shake. The fireplace was close but his hand brushed the door and it opened to Milliways. He just looked at it for a long time before walking through pale and shaking.
makesthings: (little awkward)
The idea of being there when she studying is just nice and he really should have done more on the commission than he has already.

So he decided to grab a mixture of things and asked Bar for something to eat and she provided him with a simple basket with snacks in it.

Once he was sure he hadn't forgotten anything, then he knocked.
makesthings: (Default)
He's never sure what it is that makes some nights easier than others, but somewhere in his dreams, he falls into the river again.

The world is cold and yet full of fire as he struggles up trying to find air again.

With a strangled scream he finally wakes up and feels too cold, he's not even aware of how he's trembling, he needs to get to the fire.

He somehow finds his feet as he falls out bed and curls up in front of where the fire would be in his room just hoping that he can get warm again.
makesthings: (annoyed)
After talking to Kait last night, Sameth's been in a restless mood and can't seem to focus on anything in the forge so ends up walking around the lake.

He knows that he bothered her but he also wants to talk to her again.
makesthings: (watching you)
He missed Milliways, he missed feeling like he actually fit in somewhere. Today had been the Winter Festival and he was sore everywhere from the performance. At least it gave him an excuse to slip out of the royal dinner which he wasn't sure he could face.

Every time he turned around, it seemed like someone was giving him a look of You're not good enough.. All he wanted to do was yell back that he knew but he couldn't do that. So he just had to keep going through sword practice, Petty Court, Perspective and hope that he wouldn't mess up on this scale again.

The worst was Abhorsen prep with that book just staring back at him, even when he'd seen his mother in Milliways, there was no way to start. Even his workshop didn't feel like a refuge anymore, he missed Teja asking him to explain things better and Val never came to the forge.

Even though he'd made a mess of things with Blodwen, at least he'd been trying to do what he was supposed to do. At least no one followed him up here to his workshop and he pulled on the door with a wince from all his bruises.
makesthings: (had enough)
Mother, I need to talk to you about something important...

Mother, I'm scared to Walk in Death and won't be able to..

Mother, I don't think I can be...

Mother, how do you get past the fear?

Mother, looking at the book makes me cold and scared.

Mother, I'm a failure, I'm sorry.

Mother, I'm not good enough to be Abhorsen...


Sameth just puts his head in his hands, not even caring about the ink getting into his hair, there's no way he can tell her. In the end, he doesn't even throw them in the fire just uses a simple spell to turn them all to ash.

He hopes that his door comes back soon, because he knows he's going to end up having to talk to her soon if it doesn't and no matter what anyone else says, he can't.
makesthings: (not here)
He sleeps for a long time but Sameth does wake up and simply lays there, everything hurts so he decides to not move.

Sabriel woke up too and is around and about but if anyone wishes to talk to Sam, he's not going anywhere for a while.
makesthings: (Default)
Sameth is lying on a bed in the infirmary, wreathed in poison and trying and trying to get back to consciousness.
makesthings: (hiding)
After Winters helped him get to his room, Sameth didn't sleep. It all still felt too close and he knew that if he closed his eyes, he'd feel the cold water and the flare of the burn again.

So he curled up on the bed and just focused on keeping a small globe of Charter Light going in front of him.

When the sun finally came up, it hurt to move, but he still didn't feel ready to face the world so he let the light fade and moved to the sitting chair in the room.

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makesthings: (Default)
Sameth, Wallmaker and Prince of the Old Kingdom

July 2015

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