Gretchen watched Higgs at the table as Elizabeth seemed to practically inhale her meal. Once it was empty, Gretchen refilled her lady's plate as Elizabeth drank some wine and then gave out an unladylike burp. She covered her mouth in embarrassment.
"Excuse me!"
No one said anything and she went back to eating as Higgs moved a pea around the plate, every once in a while cutting a piece of meat. Now that the mushrooms Elizabeth had been putting in Gretchen's meals were finally out of her system, she could see the full spectrum of damage that her lady had inflicted on herself as well as Mr. Higgs. Higgs was barely there mentally, answering everything with a vague monotone answer or with no answer at all. He was scarred, skinny, and had one arm in a sling.
"What happened to your arm?" she asked him.
Higgs looked up at her with dead gray eyes as Elizabeth drank some more wine.
"He got a little pesky and so I had to punish him. I accidentally dislocated his shoulder in the process."
"And his eye?"
"The same. Are you going to just ask silly questions all night?"
"No offense, my lady, but I haven't exactly been in my right mind for a while so everything is a bit... shocking."
"Understandable, I guess. Do I need to bring you up to speed?"
"Sure..."
"I captured Higgs and he's been trying to get away, but I think he finally realizes where he belongs, right Mr. Higgs?"
"Yes."
"And your um..." she said, her eyes flicking to Elizabeth's stomach.
"Oh. Well, he finally gave me what he promised."
"Just like that?"
"It was a bit of a struggle but the deed is done-" Elizabeth stopped eating and it looked like the blood ran from her face. "Excuse me for a moment."
She ran from the room as Gretchen looked at Higgs. She got up and sat next to him.
"Let's go."
"What?" he said, not really caring.
"I said let's go."
"I can't."
"The hell you can. The door is right there."
"What does it matter? No one's coming."
"That's a lie and you know it."
"It's been months and how can I even trust you?" he said, looking at her.
"I'm a victim too. She was messing with my food and making me do things I couldn't control. Do you honestly believe I would have let her do what she's done if I had the ability to stop her?"
Higgs didn't really care and Gretchen could see his eyes were devoid of emotion. She sighed.
"Whatever I did to didn't do while I was out of my head, I'm sorry. I truly am."
"Doesn't matter now."
"I guess not if you've gone and given up... but that doesn't mean I will."
"She'll figure it out. She's always one step ahead somehow."
"Then I'll just have to be two steps ahead. I'm going to get you home, Mr. Higgs."
"I am home... Elizabeth said so. Elizabeth is always right."
Gretchen pursed her lips but heard the door open again and rushed to the other side of the table. Higgs looked back at his food and finally stabbed the pea he had been rolling around on his plate. Elizabeth came back and sat.
"I'm so sorry about that. Did you two have a good chat?"
"What chat? The man hasn't said anything all evening. We just stared at each other."
"Yes, he hasn't been very talkative as of late... I noticed you didn't come back with new dresses..."
"I honestly forgot about them and don't you actually need to be at the modiste for them to get proper measurements?"
"And let that jibber-jabber tell everyone in town my condition? I think not."
"It would be a little strange to just go in and give your measurements."
"You need to take a dress with you and then double the measurements. I'm sure you can do basic math."
"The math isn't the problem, Lady Hinkley..." she mumbled.
"I understand your concern, Gretchen, but I don't actually care. Once it's clear enough in Mr. Higgs' head that we will be wed, he will wed me and then we will have our child."
"I'm surprised you haven't forced the man to do that yet."
"The priest would get too suspicious. He needs to do it of his own free will." Gretchen made a face but nodded as Elizabeth finished off her plate. "Also, I believe I have on your calendar that we are to visit Mr. Castel. While you're getting the measurements for my new dresses, do go by and cancel those plans."
"And... what were they?"
"None of your business. Just go to the circus and tell him that I'm canceling my plans with him."
Gretchen nodded, formulating a plan.
*******************
That night, Gretchen snuck out of her room and went to check on her lady. She looked asleep but Gretchen crept in to get a closer look and make sure she wasn't just faking it. She had been playing dirty tricks on Higgs to make him think he could escape when in reality she was waiting to capture him and one of those tricks, she remembered, was that she would act asleep and Higgs would try to leave and check on her. Seeing her laying in the bed, he'd think she was asleep when she clearly wasn't and then she'd catch him as he tried to leave. As Gretchen crept in, she stepped on a squeaky board and stopped as Elizabeth moaned, turning over. She didn't move until Elizabeth seemed to settle back down. She got even closer and watched her for a second. She blew on her face as Elizabeth's face crinkled.
"Patrick, drink some mint tea..." she mumbled.
Gretchen frowned at the insult to her own breath but was happy her lady seemed dead asleep. She left the room quietly and snuck downstairs to go find some paper. Just as she turned from the stairs to go down the hall, she ran into a person. She stifled a scream as the person she ran into did the same. She held up her candle and saw that it was Edgar.
"Edgar?" she whispered.
"Gretchen?"
"What are you doing?" they both asked at the same time.
"Obviously I'm trying to find Mr. Higgs. You?" Edgar asked.
"Trying to get him out."
"Pixus said you were in on it." He said with a frown.
"What the hell's a pixus?"
"It's a name. A Northumberly name."
"I wasn't in on it. I was being drugged by Elizabeth all this time."
"Prove it."
"I literally just called you by your name. When she was drugging me, I could hardly remember my own name, lest yours."
"How can I trust you?"
"I'm trying to find a way to him out too The things she's done to him... Edgar, he's completely given up hope. I tried to help him escape earlier today and he looked me dead in the eye and told me there was no point."
"That's what I heard. That's why I'm here, to show him that we haven't forgotten him. It's just been a nightmare trying to figure out how to get him out. With no concrete confirmation, there was nothing we could do."
"Well, you're not going to get him out without knocking Elizabeth out for a few days. The only way to do that is to sneak a sleeping draught into her drink somehow. Besides, after getting what she's wanted, I think she's letting her guard down."
"Getting what she wanted?"
Gretchen nodded, her face sad. "She forced him to fulfill his promise and she did what she had to to do it. He's acting this way because she's broken him in mind, body, and soul."
"I... I don't understand."
"She's with child."
Edgar saw red and he didn't even realize he was moving until he felt Gretchen's arms around him and pulling him from the stairs.
"What are you doing?!" she hissed.
"I'm going to strangle her, obviously." He said calmly.
"No! Hey!" she growled, turning him around to face her and pointing her finger in his face. "No. That will not help matters in the least. You're about as bad as Merida."
"If Merida finds about this she will butcher Elizabeth into teeny tiny pieces!" he whisper-yelled.
"Then let her deal with it if that's what she wants. I think Merida could live with herself if that actually happened. You're just a boy, Edgar, we don't need to have that on our hands. We need to be smarter than that."
"Why did Elizabeth stop drugging you?" Edgar pulled away and started to back up. "You're part of her plans."
Gretchen was going to protest but the notion made sense. Her lady was good at looking innocent but she didn't do things without reason and it was odd that she suddenly decided to stop drugging her food.
"I guess it would make sense for her to have a plan... Then that means we have to be even more discreet. I'm not working for her but she had to stop drugging me for a reason... Speaking of reasons, now that you're in here, how are you going to move around without Elizabeth seeing you as well as getting Higgs out?"
"Well, Pixus is a fairy this month and so he granted me a wish. I can change my size from small to regular size all month long. I figured I could get really small during the day to stay hidden as well as figure out what to do, and at night I can be normal."
"That's perfect. She'd never suspect you to even be here and that I'm planning a bit of a convoluted plan myself."
"Oh?"
"I was going to use a very unlikely messenger to get the word back to your family."
"Like who?"
"Mr. Castel."
Edgar frowned. "I understand but Merida would never let him near the house or even get a word in."
"If he was being his normal self then I can understand that but if he actually had information for her, I'm sure he can find a way to get Merida to lower her guard for two seconds to explain."
"It doesn't hurt to try, I guess... but why him? He seems a little outside of the loop."
"It's fuzzy but I remember going to the circus with Elizabeth to ask about hypnotism. She paid him a hefty sum to keep it secret and then she went over to Lord Clarvins' home and told him all the things she was planning to do. I remember that Lord Clarvins was enraged and then Mr. Castel hypnotized him into forgetting anything was ever said. He knows some of the issue, but she bribed him again to stay quiet."
"If he's already been paid to keep quiet, what makes you think he'll freely tell Merida all he knows?"
"She'd have to strike some sort of deal with him."
"You are going out on a limb. It's pretty farfetched, but I guess it's so far off from what Elizabeth would think of you to do that it just might work... Although, I'm still concerned about your sudden release from Elizabeth's hold. If you betray me, I hope Merida will come after you with the same vengeance she will have for Lady Hinkley."
"Honestly, I hope she would. The only thing now is that I can't tell when my food could be drugged again."
"Well... I was going to save it for Mr. Higgs but I guess it would be better on you."
"What do you mean?"
"When I asked Pixus for my wish, I also wished he'd allow me to grant one wish to a person of my choosing. I was going to use it on Mr. Higgs and have him wish to be home, but if he's as far gone as you say he is, I have a feeling it will just be wasted on him. You could wish for you to be able to detect if anything is wrong with your food or something."
"Are you sure?"
"You said that Mr. Higgs has given up hope, right? If I asked him to wish he was home, what would he say?"
Gretchen looked down. "When I told him that I could get him home he said that this was his home. Your wish would backfire and be useless, as you said."
"Then giving it to you would be beneficial to everyone. We're counting on you to get the word back to Merida of what we need to do and what's happening."
Gretchen nodded. "I know this may sound strange but... if you see anyone before Higgs is rescued, don't tell them about the pregnancy."
"Um... that's kind of a serious matter, Gretchen."
"I know it is and I'm not saying don't say anything at all, I just mean before Higgs is rescued. After that, do what you want."
"What difference does it make?"
"You saw how you absentmindedly started to go up and want to hurt her, right? Imagine if his family finds about before we can rescue him? Elizabeth would do something to turn that around and make you lose. The law, his life, anything. It won't help anything."
"I guess you're right."
"Promise me, Edgar."
"As long as you promise to do whatever you can do make this happen."
"I promise."
"So do I. Now, make your wish."
Gretchen told him what she wanted and he waved his hands to grant her wish.