DAGON MANSION

CHAPTER TEN: XENA IS WORRIED

AUTHOR'S NOTE: We finally have Xena back in the story. I promise that she will appear more frequently from now on. :)

Time had moved in quiet, unhurried circles.

Scarlett was twenty months old now, a radiant little creature with a will as fierce as it was tender. She loved to wander through the rooms, to stack her colored blocks and scatter them again in a small symphony of chaos. Every discovery filled her with wonder — and Mia with the ache of love that mothers know too well.

Winter had folded itself over England like a white veil. During the holidays, Mia and Scarlett journeyed to Glouminster. Beyond visiting Ryan, Mia had another purpose: a meeting at Dagon Enterprises. It was the first time she would walk through the doors of the empire that bore her daughter's name. Before, Ryan's lawyer had always gone in her stead; this time, she had chosen to face it herself.

Mia and Xena

The mansion's façade gleamed under a pale winter sun when Mia arrived.

Xena was already there, waiting at the entrance. Her look had changed — still gothic in its essence, yet polished, elegant, touched by something regal.

When Xena saw her, she smiled. There was warmth in it, but also a shadow of something unspoken.

"Mia, how are you?"

"I'm good, thank you. And you?"

Xena studied her quietly. Mia's beauty was the same — perhaps deeper — but her face was drawn, her eyes encircled with fatigue, the trace of an invisible wound resting at the corners of her mouth.

"I'm fine too," Xena replied gently. "And Scarlett?"

The mention of the child brightened Mia's eyes.

"She's growing so fast. You have to see her — she's beautiful."

"I will. Shall we go to the meeting?"

"Yes... let's."

As they walked side by side through the corridors of Dagon Enterprises, Xena couldn't help but feel that every surface gleamed a little too brightly, as if trying to hide something darker beneath.

Later that week, Xena visited Rowena Ellington at her candle-scented home. The air was soft, with a hint of cinnamon and myrrh. Rowena's calm presence seemed to hush the restless energy that Xena always carried.

"Good day, Xena. It's been a while."

"Yes," Xena said, sitting down. "I was at a company meeting. I saw Mia there. Rowena, she looks... fragile. Thinner. Her eyes are hollow. What's happening to her?"

Rowena sighed, folding her hands on the table.

"I don't know much, dear. She lives in London now. But I do know she's suffering."

"Because of Ryan?"

"Yes. She called me months ago — crying. She said Ryan told her he was in love with another woman."

"Is that true?"

"I'm not certain. But Mia believed him, and that belief is destroying her."

Xena's jaw tightened.

"Ryan's already breaking her, just like he did with the others. We can't let it continue."

Rowena regarded her with those calm, knowing eyes.

"Then go to her. Spend your winter holidays at Dagon Mansion. She needs someone beside her — not to question her pain, but to share it. Let your presence remind her she's not alone."

Xena hesitated.

"I don't know if that's right. Brisa wanted to spend a few days with me."

"If she truly loves you, she'll understand," Rowena said softly. "You've always been guided by compassion, Xena. Follow it — not your guilt."

That evening, Xena called Brisa. The girl was dressing for work, her voice bright through the phone.

"Hello, sweetheart! You'll be here this weekend, right?"

"Yes... but something came up," Xena began carefully, explaining everything Rowena had told her about Mia.

There was a long silence on the line.

"Don't be jealous, Brisa," Xena whispered. "Mia is — and always will be — my friend. Maybe I'll stay at her place, Dagon Mansion, and you can stay here in my apartment. We'll be together again soon, I promise."

Brisa bit her lip. A shadow of worry passed through her heart, but she chose to trust. She always did.

"All right. I trust you, Xena."

Around that same time, Jeff Jepson, Ryan's young protégé, walked free from prison thanks to Ryan's lawyer. Grateful beyond words, he accepted Ryan's offer — a modest apartment and work as an errand boy at Dagon Enterprises.

On his third day, fate tripped him — quite literally — into Alisha Rogers.

"Be careful! You nearly threw me to the ground," Alisha exclaimed.

"I'm so sorry," Jeff stammered.

She looked up, ready to scold him — but something about his nervous kindness softened her. Her heart gave an odd flutter. Lately she'd been feeling strange warmths like this, flashes of heat behind her eyes, whispers in her head she dared not mention.

Then the voice came again, low and urgent.

"Dagon Enterprises... here. This is where we belong."

Alisha froze, her expression briefly blank.

"Are you all right?" Jeff asked.

"Yes... yes, I'm fine." She forced a smile. "I'm Alisha."

"Jeff. I just started working here."

"I'm still in school, but almost finished."

"It's nice to meet you," Jeff said shyly.

"You too," she replied — but the voice in her mind was still whispering.

"He's useful. Keep him close."

Xena's Arrival

When Xena arrived at Dagon Mansion, twilight was settling in.

The estate stood vast and silent, its windows glimmering like watchful eyes. Compared to it, Forestvale Manor had been a humble shadow — and yet this house seemed to breathe the same chill.

As she stood before the grand oak doors, memories struck her like a sudden wind — Mia's laughter, her kiss, the promise of something forbidden and beautiful. But those days were buried. Brisa was her love now.

She pressed a gloved hand against the wood, steadying the tremor in her heart.

"Let the past stay where it belongs," she murmured.

Then she knocked.

The sound echoed through the vast corridors within, rolling like distant thunder.

Somewhere in the depths of Dagon Mansion, a voice seemed to stir — faint, almost human — as if the house itself had been waiting for her.