Shadows over Sigil - The Eternal Boundary

Familiy Day

"Those who stand with us never stand alone."
Prince Romél of Vol, founder of the Harmonium

First Void Day of Accordant, 126 HR

Only a few weeks earlier, Naghûl would never have thought to meet the factol of the Harmonium so often in such a short time. And yet, he stood in the reception hall of the Barracks again, this time without Sgillin.

Lady Diana obviously had similar thoughts, because when he asked to see Sarin, she raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Again?"

The tiefling nodded. "Yes, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you again."

The concierge raised her shoulders and closed the book in which she had just made some entries. She smiled, actually more friendly than polite. "Well, he'll have his reasons, I'm sure." She stood up. "Follow me, please."

Naghûl bowed his head. "I am deeply indebted to you," he replied.

She led him along the same path as Jostos did on his last visit. The long corridors seemed endless, with the countless doors to the right and left, then up the stairs and corridors again. The Sensate looked behind him briefly, then forward again. "Have you ever thought about a carriage?" he asked abruptly.

Diana looked at him, frowning. "Through the Barracks?"

"Well, a carriage would be exaggerated," the Sensate conceded. "But maybe a board with wheels at the bottom that you can stand on and then roll off. I've seen a few young tieflings in the Lower Ward. They were real acrobats with it."

Diana arched one of her brows. "Exactly. And I can just imagine legate Shar or our factol whizzing through the corridors."

Naghûl had to laugh. "You have a sense of humor, dear Diana."

His remark elicited a grin from the concierge. "Nobody ever thinks that's possible in the Harmonium."

"Granted, sometimes it's hard," the tiefling interjected with a wink. "When you only know the officers from the streets ... or from interrogation."

Diana smiled meaningfully. "That certainly depends on how you behave as a citizen of our beautiful city."

"But of course," Naghûl hastened to assure her. "I certainly didn't mean to imply anything bad about the Harmonium. I'm rather talking about the general impression of the common citizen bragging in a gutter pub."

He wondered if his assurance sounded a little too eager, and indeed the concierge smirked. "I thought so," she replied amiably. "Don't worry, I'm not very sensitive about it. Anyone who belongs to our faction needs a thick skin, that's the way it is."

"Oh, we're no different," the tiefling replied cheerfully. "I don't even want to know what people say about the Sensates."

Diana grinned briefly. "I could write books about that."

"Of course you could," Naghûl replied with a laugh.

During this casual conversation, they had reached the end of the last long corridor. The concierge stopped at Sarin's office, in front of which there was only one guard this time. "Is the factol in conversation?" Diana inquired.

The guard, a green-haired tiefling woman, looked astonished. "The factol isn't present at all, Lady Diana."

"Not present?" Diana, for her part, seemed surprised. "But I didn't see him leave, and I was here six hours ante peak."

"Um, he is here, but ..." The guard looked at Naghûl. "Today is the first Void Day of the month, isn't it?"

Diana smacked her forehead as if she had forgotten something completely obvious. "Oh, that's right. Then we have to go one door further."