Sabriel (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bindsthedead) wrote2014-03-11 10:45 pm
bindsthedead) wrote2014-03-11 10:45 pm
For hanssome
Belisaere was the Old Kingdom's capital city, and through the two centuries of the interregnum, had undergone considerable decline- with the Great Stones broken and some of the aqueducts, the Dead had begun to creep into the city, and its living inhabitants had slowly retreated to the central valley, safe behind the running water of the remaining aqueducts, with the Royal palace gutted by a fire and then abandoned for twenty years.
Now, with the Great Stones repaired, things were changing. The Dead had been mostly cleared out of the abandoned portions of the city, the outer aqueducts were undergoing repairs and expansion, and the royal palace was occupied once more, although it would be a few more years before the palace and gardens were more fully restored. Not that Sabriel was in the palace most of the time. The Old Kingdom extended far beyond Belisaere, and Sabriel was out of the city for weeks- or even months at a time, dealing with infestations of the Dead and hunting down Kerrigor's remaining servants. She understood now why her father was able to visit her physically only twice a year. Her work as Abhorsen kept her busy- and when that didn't, she was in Belisaere, helping Touchstone run the kingdom, and re-establish diplomatic connections with the rest of the world. Even before the last regent had set herself- and the palace- on fire, the kingdom had cut off most communication with the outside world. Larger ships were arriving now- it wasn't just fishing-boats from towns along the coast that filled the city's only usable harbor now, though work had begun to repair the rotting wharves of one of the abandoned ones.
In those few hours of leisure time that weren't spent with Touchstone, Sabriel often wandered the streets of Belisaere- watching the people go about their lives, marvelling at how much things had changed since she'd first set foot in the city, and watching the ships arrive in the harbor.
Now, with the Great Stones repaired, things were changing. The Dead had been mostly cleared out of the abandoned portions of the city, the outer aqueducts were undergoing repairs and expansion, and the royal palace was occupied once more, although it would be a few more years before the palace and gardens were more fully restored. Not that Sabriel was in the palace most of the time. The Old Kingdom extended far beyond Belisaere, and Sabriel was out of the city for weeks- or even months at a time, dealing with infestations of the Dead and hunting down Kerrigor's remaining servants. She understood now why her father was able to visit her physically only twice a year. Her work as Abhorsen kept her busy- and when that didn't, she was in Belisaere, helping Touchstone run the kingdom, and re-establish diplomatic connections with the rest of the world. Even before the last regent had set herself- and the palace- on fire, the kingdom had cut off most communication with the outside world. Larger ships were arriving now- it wasn't just fishing-boats from towns along the coast that filled the city's only usable harbor now, though work had begun to repair the rotting wharves of one of the abandoned ones.
In those few hours of leisure time that weren't spent with Touchstone, Sabriel often wandered the streets of Belisaere- watching the people go about their lives, marvelling at how much things had changed since she'd first set foot in the city, and watching the ships arrive in the harbor.