Edgar knocked on Merida's door but she didn't answer. He opened it and found her sheets were not even turned now from last night. He made a face when he heard another door open a few doors down. He turned and found Merida coming out of the room in her shift with her dress hanging over her arm and her hair disheveled. She turned to go down the hall but found Edgar looking at her.
"Hello." She said. Edgar gave a confused wave. "Ye're up early..."
"So are you." He said, looking her up and down.
They stared at each other for a moment and then Merida cleared her throat.
"Weel then, I best be getting back..."
As she tried to skirt past Edgar, he grabbed her arm and pushed them both into her room, shutting the door behind him. He whirled around to her.
"Talk."
"Edgar."
"Merida! What have you done?!"
"Grown up things."
"I'm not that stupid, Merida. How could you do that?"
"There was a lot of sweet talk and the like..."
"How are you going to explain?"
"Explain what? He willnae remember what happened last night."
"How could you be so stupid?! It's been raging about all month! Now that you've had sex with him you're going to be pregnant!"
Merida slapped her hand over his mouth. "Why dinnae ye shout it to the neighbors, eh?" she hissed angrily. He only glared and she let him go. "I ken what I'm doing, lad."
"Do you? Because it kind of looks like you're just going with whatever happens with wanton abandon. I mean, a baby isn't something you can just hide."
"I have my reasons, Edgar. Dinnae act like I'm a sniveling teen who hasnae a way with the world."
"I just want to understand what's going on. Help me understand... I just... I want to be there if things go south and I want to help. I know you get it but I just... I don't get why you would just do that. Babies aren't easy and you run the risk of it being like Mr. Higgs, so why would you give in?"
"Laird, boy, ye act like ye're my father. And I didnae 'give in', I took an opportunity as it presented itself. Ye well ken that the curse chose me anyway, but this really has nothing to do with that. There are only two people this was done for."
"You and yourself?"
"I have a mind to backhand ye for yer smart remarks. Ye best find yer place, lad." Edgar crossed his arms and pouted. "Elizabeth and the bairn."
"What does Lady Hinkley have to do with this? Were you so jealous that she was taking your place?"
"Not at all. I could give two shits about that woman. Although the satisfaction of getting to him first is a highlight, that's not what I mean. My suspicions have been screaming at me ever since she's been coming around here. It's so strong and strange that I would gladly put my body on the line in order to keep a bairn from her."
"A bairn?"
"A child, boy. All I have been thinking about since Higgs said he wanted to try and be with Elizabeth was that whatever my suspicion was would hurt the bairn. She doesnae deserve to have his child... not the way that it will turn out. It irks me to no end that I cannae figure out what her angle is but I wouldn't let a child near her just to watch it for two seconds. I would hate myself an I kenned I'd let a child be with her and my suspicions are right."
"But what if they are wrong?"
"Then what will it matter?"
"Mr. Higgs has a right to know about his child, Merida."
"I wouldnae necessarily hide it from him... We'd be long gone before all that happened."
"What do you mean?"
"Like I told Higgs earlier, do ye really ken I'd serve in this house under that hag?"
"This really doesn't promote trust."
"I know it's a hard concept to wrap yer head around, Edgar." She said, taking his hand into hers. "I willnae say I didnae like it or enjoy it... crave it even, but this truly was because I was afeart of what would happen if she had his child. I was so distraught about it, I had horrid nightmares..."
"What is it about her that makes her so strange?"
"That's the scary thing, laddie, I cannae seem to find that underlying threat that I feel is brewing beneath that picturesque beauty and refinement. It's there and I'm not the only one who feels it. Ye feel it, I feel it, Patrick Clarvins, the curse... many who feel something but cannae see it."
"Lord Clarvins?"
"Aye, when he came to do that silly thing with ye, he brought me letters that he had received from Elizabeth."
"She was writing letters to him even though she is supposed to be with Mr. Higgs?" Edgar asked, raising an eyebrow.
"From what I gathered, he and Lady Hinkley have actually been childhood friends and so even though the engagement was off, she still valued him as a close friend. What I have read in the letters I have read show no affection other than what a sister has for a brother."
"But why did he give them to you?"
"He said that they were strange the more recent they got. I havenae gotten there yet but if even he feels like there is something going on, then that just makes my hair stand even more."
Edgar wanted to argue but she had a point. If their enemy was tipped off by something, then how much more would his adoptive mother be who had never been wrong about a person?
"What can I do to help?"
"Ye can start by not repeating anything that was said in here and keeping quiet about this encounter. Any comments that are made or anything that comes up, ye ignore it. It takes a bit before it's obvious."
"How long is that usually?"
"Three months, an I remember correctly."
Edgar nodded but looked at her pensively. "Can I ask you a serious question, Ma?"
"Of course."
"Please answer me truthfully and I will not ever bring it up again: did you do this to spite Lady Hinkley or did you really do this to help the child?"
"This is for the bairn's safety, I promise. As I said, I willnae said I didnae enjoy it, but this was to keep the bairn from evil hands. I promise ye that."
He nodded. "Alright then... I guess Operation Barley Seeds is underway."
"How do ye ken about that?"
"School teaches us a lot of things."
"Aye, that is does." Merida touched his cheek. "Ye dinnae worry about me, child. I ken it's a bit unconventional, but I'm confident I've made the right choice."
"I believe you."
******************
When Higgs finally woke up later that day, he felt oddly calm. He blinked a little since he had been so uptight for days that the calmness was almost confusing. He remembered talking with the guys last night, drinking, Merida, gargling mint water... it was blurry after that. There was a knock on the door and Merida came in with a tray.
"Ye finally up now?"
"What time is it?"
"Half past noon."
"Noon?"
"Ye were sleeping quite heavily. Ye have a headache?" she asked as she put a tray on the table beside the bed.
"Excruciatingly... I hope that's something for it."
"Indeed..."
She handed him the glass and he took it, sipping the contents. "Everything is a blur from last night. The last thing I really remember is talking with Father and Boston in the study. Did I do something stupid? I feel like I did something dumb."
"Nothing too serious..." she said, looking away.
"I peed in the potted plant again, didn't I?"
"Yes. That's what ye did."
"You didn't have to carry me to my room again, did you?"
"With Edgar's help we got ye in all safe and sound. Some of that pounding in yer head may be from us knocking ye about. Ye're quite heavy."
"I am so sorry, Merida. I don't know what's come over me as of late. I feel like I'm drinking all the time and just making you lug me about... What is the date?'
"September 18th. Why?"
"If I'm going to enact my plan then it must be before the end of the month."
"Why do ye have to go through with it at all? Cannae ye just wait it out?"
"Father said that if I don't get things done during the month of the merman, the urges won't stop. They will keep getting worse and worse and depending on what I turn into, it could be dangerous. If I turned into the werewolf next and I didn't fulfill the urge, I'm at a much higher risk of just taking anyone I see and hurting them in the process. I don't want to be like that. At least if it's planned, it's a little more dignified."
"An ye ken the planning of a lady losing her virginity is worth it all, I guess."
"It will be better for everyone in the long run, believe me." He sat up in the bed. "I'll need you to help me write a letter to her and then you can deliver it posthaste."
"Why do I have to deliver it?"
"Because I'm going to be preparing..."
"Ye want to do it tonight?!"
"Is that a problem?"
"Dinnae ye ken it's a bit fast?"
"Well, I was supposed to do it last night but a bottle of brandy got in the way of that so... The sooner the better, don't you think?"
"Why dinnae ye skip a day at least? Let yer body rest from all that drinking ye did last night and get better prepared."
"Hmm... I guess I should let this hangover leave me so that I'm alert... Either way, I still need you to take the letter to her personally. I'm afraid if I try to do it myself that I'll just null the whole thing by jumping her at the door."
Merida made a face. "Fine, but if something weird make ye not fulfill it again, I'm not doing yer dirty work for ye anymore."
"Aye, aye, captain."
She rolled her eyes and they worked on writing the letter to Elizabeth.
****************
Edgar and Merida rode together to Elizabeth's estate. As they started down the drive to her mansion in the woods, Edgar wasn't moving.
"What's it, lad?"
"I don't like it here."
"I dinnae like it here either, but we have to deliver this stupid letter. Come on, now."
Edgar frowned and nudged his horse to follow hers.
"Does it have to be so soon? I mean..."
"That's what I asked too and he said the quicker things happened the quicker things stopped. To be honest, dinnae ken how he'll be ready to do anything..."
"What do you mean?"
"Dinnae worry about it. Let's just go get this done."
They rode their horses up to the front door and dismounted, knocking on the door. Merida expected the snooty man from before but ended up with Gretchen instead. Merida frowned.
"Laird, Gretchen, ye look horrible."
"Thanks, you too." She growled.
"That's not what I meant. Ye dinnae look weel."
"I have a piercing headache that's throbbing into the back of my eyes. I've already taken a tonic for it so I'm waiting for it to settle in. What are you here for?"
"I need to give yer lady a note from Mr. Higgs."
"Sure, come in. Not you, though."
"Huh?" Edgar said.
"What's going on?"
"Stable boys and helpers go to the stable."
Edgar made a face. "It's me... Edgar... We literally just worked together last night for the gathering at Mr. Higgs' manor?"
"Servants go through the back then."
"Gretchen, stop being an idiot; this is my son."
Gretchen squinted her eyes for a minute. "Oh, I honestly didn't realize that you were that Edgar. I thought the names were coincidental... plus I still picture you as a small child."
Merida made a face as they walked into the manor. "Ye feeling alright? It's not like ye havenae met him afore even as a grown up..."
"To be honest, my head is killing me. I've taken a tonic for it but it hasn't kicked in I don't think. Let me go get Lady Hinkley for you..."
She walked off as Merida and Edgar looked at each other.
"Odd."
"Very."
"Ms. Dunbrough, Edgar; this is quite the surprise. How is Mr. Higgs? You mentioned that he wasn't feeling well last night."
"Aye, isnae verra good with the alcohol."
"Well, what brings you by?"
"I was told to come give this to ye." She said, handing the letter to Elizabeth. "Apparently, it couldnae wait the post." She said with a roll of her eyes.
Elizabeth opened the envelope and read it, smiling. "Oh my... Are you are of this um... attribute?"
"Aye, quite."
"It must be quite difficult to have all this going on around you. I know we have our differences, Ms. Dunbrough, but I would like us to be friends."
"Acquaintances will do just fine, milady." Elizabeth frowned. "Do ye have a response to my laird?"
"Tell him of course. What time?"
"Never." Edgar mumbled.
Merida elbowed him in the ribs. "Never before 3 o'clock, of course. Unless married, tis seems to be a bold move for the early hours."
"So it does. How about five?"
"Sounds all and well. And I would come in something comfortable."
"Comfortable?"
"Or at least something ye dinnae like much. Ye never know how he'll be."
"Oh, I see." She said with a smile. "Thank you."
"Indeed. We shall see ye around five."
They left and mounted the horses, trotting out of the forest pathway
"Does Mr. Higgs rip clothes during coitus?"
"Why do ye ask?" she asked, a full red flush coloring her entire face.
Edgar just grinned and tisked his horse to go faster. "Never mind."
"Wretched boy." He heard behind him and he smiled even more.