How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
He wore the same sort of clothes as she did, complete with the surcoat of silver keys. He wasn't quite as tall as she remembered. (22.49)
Have you ever visited a childhood location, like your elementary school, and noticed that everything looks much smaller? That's what Sabriel's realizing here—the last time she saw her father, she was a little girl, and she's not that little girl anymore.
Quote #8
She seemed to diminish in size, till once again she was a little girl, running to his embrace at the school gates. As she could then, she heard the slow beating of his heart. Only now, she heard the beats as grains in a time-piece, counting his hard-won hundred hundreds, counting till it was time for him to die. (23.37)
One of the most poignant things about growing up is seeing your parents as older people, and coming to terms with their mortality. Sabriel has an emotional moment like this when she meets her father in Death and realizes that his time in Life is limited.
Quote #9
Horyse looked at her, thinking that she no longer reminded him of his own daughter. She had become Abhorsen, a person beyond his ken, in such a short time... (24.53)
Sabriel's journey is bookended by visits to the Wall, where she meets Colonel Horyse each time. This is her second visit, after having journeyed through the Old Kingdom, and Horyse remarks on her transformation into a much more adult role.