Touchstone

Character Analysis

The Frozen Prince

Sabriel meets Touchstone when she finds him on the prow of a ship, looking a little too realistic (and too attractive) to be a carved wooden figure. Sabriel risks a trip into Death to rescue her prince, although she has no idea he's a prince at the time. Why the risk? Well, Sabriel notices that "His muscles were lean and well-formed, his hair short and tightly curled against his head […] He was not exactly handsome, but not displeasing" (13.33). Translation: He's her type.

Sabriel's Sleeping Beauty (revived with a kiss, no less) struggles with guilt from a traumatic past. When Touchstone initially can't remember his own name, Mogget offers up the name of Shakespeare's famous jester, chiding, "'You do remember what you've done?'" (14.18). When his memories quickly return, Touchstone accepts the jokester name out of shame, which takes modesty to a whole new level. This guy is clearly struggling with something deep.

Touchstone is quiet and servile at first, which drives Sabriel nuts—apparently butler isn't on her list of appealing qualities in a potential boyfriend—and soon after he's awakened, he kneels in front of Sabriel, calling her "milady" (14.69). He has good reason to be subdued, since he's been asleep for two hundred years and has lost his entire family, which he believes to be his fault. It takes some convincing from Sabriel before Touchstone starts to act like her friend rather than her butler, but eventually he gets there.

Once Touchstone starts to get his guilt under control, he proves himself to be a brave and capable fighter and wizard, and quickly becomes a crush-worthy companion. Luckily, he feels the same way about Sabriel, and the two of them share a few well-timed kisses at climactic points in the book. Ooh la la.

Although we never discover his real name, we find out later that Touchstone is in fact the last living member of the Old Kingdom royal family—he's the half-brother of Kerrigor (a.k.a. Rogir), and an illegitimate son of the Queen. He also goes "berserk" under great stress, entering a state of mad rage kind of like the Incredible Hulk. He does this first before he's frozen, when his family is betrayed by Kerrigor, and again with Sabriel when they confront Kerrigor at the capital city.

Even though most of the book is about Sabriel's adventures, Touchstone's emotional journey is an essential piece of the puzzle. He's a genuinely good guy who was dealt a bad hand by a nasty relative, and now has to pick up the pieces. We have to hand it to Touchstone, his family reunion ranks up there as the worst of all time.