The morning rays pierced the windows of the Ashwood Hall dining room, casting warm beams of light onto the oak floor, highlighting the small scratches and dents in the age-worn planks. The air was filled with the sweet scent of Mrs. Henderson's blueberry muffins and the strong aroma of freshly brewed coffee. The awkward silence was broken only by the gentle clinking of china as everyone tried to digest the details of the previous night's events, carefully choosing their next questions in light of the new facts presented by Miles.

"What does it mean... familiar energy?" Beatrice decided to break the growing silence. Frowning slightly, she set her cup on the saucer, cradling the warm cup in her fingers.

"I don't know, Bea. Just... familiar," Miles sighed heavily and took a sip of coffee, feeling the weight of everyone's gazes on him. If he had known, he probably wouldn't have spent half the night pondering the same thing. He reached for one of Mrs. Henderson's muffins to occupy his hands for a moment. "Just... like a familiar signature."

"That I figured, but in what way familiar?" Beatrice leaned on the table, carefully studying the boy's face. "Feminine, masculine?"

Miles sighed again, looking up at the ceiling.

"I don't know. The only thing I could sense was...anger? Maybe it seemed a bit chaotic?" Miles placed an untouched muffin on a plate. "I'm not sure. And I wouldn't attach too much significance to it."

Beatrice glanced at the two remaining people at the table. Tension filled the room as each privately analyzed potential scenarios. Alden, sitting at the table, nervously twirled his fork, his gaze fixed on his plate. The barely touched breakfast wasn't the only cause of the uneasy feeling in his stomach. If Miles had indeed recognized the energy of someone they knew, it was obvious that no one in the gathering had mentioned his father, purely out of common courtesy.

Daisy, sitting across from Alden, could feel his anxiety radiating from him like a palpable wave. She shyly reached out and placed her hand on his forearm, offering a reassuring squeeze.

"Hey, it's okay," her voice was gentle but firm, trying to ease his discomfort. "We still don't know anything for sure."

Beatrice took a sip of coffee, carefully choosing her next words.

"Either way, we need to find out who this energy belongs to. Especially if someone is lurking around Vivian," she stated with a measured tone. A slight pang of guilt, as she realized, she worried more about potentially loosing a necessary asset, that girl's actual wellbeing. "Do you think it's the same person who killed Abigail?"

Miles nodded without much hesitation.

"We couldn't read anything from the body, but I sincerely doubt that suddenly more than one witch with murderous intentions appeared in Hillcrest."

"Oh, never say never," Harvey joined them in the dining room, almost excitedly traversing the length of the table. He tossed a scarf over the back of an empty chair next to Daisy and rubbed his slightly reddened nose. "Mornin. How did the assimilation of our little bastard go?"

Alden raised an eyebrow at Harvey's casual words but still replied with a light sigh.

"Not bad, as far as could be expected." He glanced at the boy for a moment, as if questioning his presence in the residence today. "We were just discussing the strange energy that Miles sensed while escorting Vivian last night."

"Strange energy?" Harvey immediately looked curiously at the boy at the head of the table. Sitting down, he propped himself on his elbows on the table, grabbing one of the muffins. "Are you telling me this girl isn't as green as we thought?"

"It wasn't Vivian's energy," Miles shook his head. "Harv, what are you doing here at this hour?"

"Dad wanted to come and ask how everything went yesterday," the blond nodded towards the corridor, where the faint sounds of Grant's activity could indeed be heard. "And I couldn't resist such a juicy topic. And of course, Mrs. Henderson's food," he added, grabbing an untouched cup from Alden side and pouring himself some coffee. "By the way, Vivian... Are you sure it's not her? Maybe she secretly masters black magic," he joked.

"I doubt it, Harv. We thoroughly checked her background. Her mother runs a flower shop. Her grandmother was a seamstress or something like that," Beatrice explained, glancing towards the end of the table, where Miles confirmed these facts with a simple nod.

"But... she has magic in her, right?" Harvey furrowed his brow, looking at the rest.

"Barely detectable, but yes," Miles nodded. "I think with proper training, we should be able to awaken it enough for her to bear the Seal."

"Should?" Harvey raised an eyebrow. "Is that your brilliant plan? Counting on the fact that the halfblood won't kick the bucket as soon as he tries to connect with the Seal?"

"You know we don't have a choice," Grant interjected, finally joining them in the dining room. The sturdy brunette in a dark gray suit nodded briefly in greeting to the residents. Unlike his son, he calmly reached for a clean cup from the sideboard and stood at the head of the table next to Miles, pouring himself some coffee. "And we're lucky that Michael..."

"That Michael hoed around and left us with a bastard to spare?"

"Harvey," Grant scolded him sternly, sending him a cold look. "Language."

"What?" The blond raised his hands, seemingly surprised. "I'm just telling the truth. The guy spent so little time at home that I'm surprised he managed to conceive a kid with his own wife. Maybe if we look hard enough, we'll find a few more bastards, you know, just in case."

Beatrice massaged her forehead, wondering if it made any sense to engage in a discussion with young King.

"Harvey, calm down," Grant spoke again with the patience that seemed to be running out for the other residents. "Vivian is currently our only option, and how we plan to incorporate her into our group is none of your concern."

"But it will be," the boy quickly retorted. "If you'd just let me..."

"End of discussion." Grant cut him off with a decisive tone. "And now, get going, or you'll be late again."

Harvey shot his father a disgruntled look, but when Alden nodded to Daisy to start getting ready to leave, the blond sighed resignedly and stood up from the table, grabbing his scarf. It wasn't the first and probably wouldn't be the last time that an attempt to negotiate with his father ended before it even began.

"Danny," Beatrice also stood up as Alden began putting his cutlery on the plate. "I know it's probably a futile effort, but maybe it's worth at least trying to rule out that your father has returned to Hillcrest?" she suggested uncertainly and reached for a clean, sharp knife and a small glass from the sideboard. She circled the table and extended the hand with the knife towards the boy.

Alden sighed heavily, getting up from his chair. He knew that even if this mysterious energy were to belong to his father, a simple locating spell would be useless in his case. Nevertheless, he took the blade from the brunette and, gritting his teeth, made a deft cut on the palm under his little finger.

"You owe me a cute bandage," he muttered with a slight smile, waiting for the right amount of dark blood to drip into the glass. After a moment, he grabbed a linen napkin from the table and pressed it to the wound. "Is it enough?"

Beatrice nodded, transferring the glass to her other hand to take it out of the line of sight of those still sitting at the table, not to disturb the breakfast decorum too much.

"Thanks, Danny."

"No problem. Just... don't sign any cyrograph in my name," he wanted to remind her once again to be careful. He wasn't sure about anything related to his father, but everyone was stressed enough without adding more reasons to worry. Instead, he smiled warmly, then looked again at Harvey and Daisy, and nodded toward the corridor. "Let's go."

The youth quickly gathered to leave, and Daisy politely nodded goodbye to Grant.

"Have a nice day!" she said shortly before the three left the dining room.

Grant sighed heavily, taking the vacant seat next to Miles and leaning on the table when the room fell silent again.

"So... What is she like?"

Hey!

It's hard to admit to some failures, especially as, being active on Wattpad, I've been promising every now and then that the next chapter will appear soon. However, I lost the duel with the autumn/winter chill, at least in terms of writing. The rest of my energy, unfortunately, had to be devoted to work and university (and graduation is fast approaching). However, I'm hoping that this chapter will be a break through the writer's block and I won't be able to tear myself away from the story again, because I'd love to bring it to you, and I promise the further it goes the more it happens. 

What's been going on in the meantime?

✦ The cover of Dark Seal has changed - I'm still not convinced by it myself, as it may be pretty, but the question is whether it suggests too much of a typical teen or high fantasy?

✦ Halloween short story  - I wrote a Halloween short story as part of a contest. The plot concerns The Dark Seal and takes place shortly after the prologue, but it is not necessary to understand the events of the book. It is an extra, but for those thirsty to see a little more of the earlier fates of the characters, would you like for me to translate it and add it to the English version? 

✦ My cover workshop - I set up a little workshop for my cover designs, where you can order something for yourself.  Should I translate the regulations so non polish speakers could order too? Let me know if someone would be interested in those. 

✦ And finally, a question for the audience: In addition to chapter with characters, would a spread of family ties be useful? While writing this chapter I noticed a multitude of 'fathers' scrolling through and while I as the author remember who begat whom, maybe there is a need for a bit of a visual breakdown of this for you?