Edgar lay in a small room that was at the end of the hallway of Patrick's home. It wasn't a servant's room but it wasn't an extravagant guest room either. Patrick seemed to be having an issue with Edgar's placement in the home. He was too intelligent and educated to be placed as a servant but there really wasn't anywhere else he could be in the home. He looked up at the ceiling, wishing his life were better. If he had just kept his stupid mouth shut, then maybe when Higgs and Merida had married, they would have adopted him as their son. Lord Clarvins knew nothing about his odd little family... Someone would come and get him... most likely Merida. There had to be a way around the contract...

Edgar...

Edgar sat up in confusion since he was sure no one was around and it was the middle of the night.

"Hello?" he said.

Edgar...

Edgar made a face and got up, walking out to the main part of the house. It was quiet and everyone was asleep. Edgar lifted his candle to see if someone was there.

"Hello?" he said softly.

A soft sputtering caught his attention and he looked at the front door, fear overcoming him.

"What in blazes are you doing up?"

Edgar gasped, finding Patrick looking at him from the stairs with his own candle.

"Why are you up so late, milord?"

"I have a hard time sleeping and am often up throughout the night... I also swear a heard a carriage pull around and came to investigate." He lifted an eyebrow. "Were you planning to escape?"

"No, I promise. I kept hearing someone calling my name."

Edgar...

Patrick looked around. "Did you bring demons with you, boy?"

"You heard it too?"

"Of course."

There was a knock at the door and then two of them looked at each other. Patrick pushed Edgar towards the door.

"I'm the lord of the house, I don't open doors."

Edgar made a face as he shakily walked up to the door. He opened it and yelled, falling back onto his back. Patrick was frozen in his spot as the dark figure stood at the door with no head but said head under his arm. Patrick started shaking.

"D-D-Dullahan."

The Dullahan lifted its head and Patrick saw that it was Higgs' head. The eyes opened, seeming to look in all directions at once.

"You have taken what is mine." The head whispered, the mouth moving but the eyes not looking.

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"Edgar..."

"Y-you've got it all wrong! I bought the boy-"

"And I raised him!" he spat, a dark mist enveloping his body as his face focused on Patrick with a deathly glare, eyes red with a fire in them. "You have taken what belongs to me and for that you must pay the price!"

"Please, please don't kill me!" Patrick screamed, falling to his knees and cupping his hands in plea. "I'll do whatever you want as long as you don't take my soul!"

"Anything?"

"Anything."

"The debt has been paid. Your life has been spared this night. Hand the boy to me."

"NO!" Edgar screamed. "No, I don't want to die! Please, Mr. Higgs! I-It can't be my time! You've made a mistake!"

"No, no; a life for a life, boy." Patrick said, picking him up off the floor. "He's sparing me to kill you." He laughed at that. "I just realized that that's pretty cruel-"

"Do you think I'm stupid enough to trade your silly life for his?!" Higgs snarled, shoving his face towards Patrick. Patrick cowered behind Edgar. "The debt paid is the earthly value you seek."

"What? You're conning me out of my own money?" he said, suddenly becoming offended. "I'll have you know that I dropped the debt because Edgar came to me willingly. You can't just take him and expect not to pay for him."

Higgs walked in further, moving past Edgar. He pointed outside to the bone carriage and the eerie black Clydesdales.

"Get in the carriage."

"What?"

"I take back my offer."

"W-what?"

Patrick Clarvins... an eerie whisper sounded, seeming to fill the room. Patrick's eyes glazed over, as if he were in a trance, and he stood stock still.

"Get in the carriage."

Patrick started to walk towards the door but Edgar moved in front of him.

"No. I'll not have you kill him."

"A life for a life."

"If it is my time then... then just take me. Don't kill him. You'll regret it."

Higgs stood for a moment and then he lifted his hand. Patrick looked around and realized he had no idea how he got so close to the door.

"Am I to die this night?" Edgar asked, a boost of confidence suddenly coursing through him.

"I am here to take you away."

"Then... then tell Merida that I love herand that she was the best mum anyone could ask for... and I don't blame you for any of this, Mr. Higgs. You're just doing your job."

"Get in the carriage."

Edgar headed towards the door but stopped in front of Patrick, giving him a smile.

"Does a dead boy have any value to you, milord?"

Surprisingly, Patrick looked at him with a solemn expression. "No. They do not."

"Then it's clear that the debt is paid regarding everything?"

"I will not hold the debt to them."

"Promise?"

"Yes."

"You will send a contract to the estate. I do not believe in the words of men. If you are lying, I will not spare you next time." Higgs said, shoving his face in the Patrick's.

Patrick just nodded and just as quickly as he had come, Higgs left with Edgar as Patrick fell to his knees in relief and horror. He was almost chosen to take Edgar's place but he took his own... He immediately went to find some paper to write out the contract on. He would have a notary sign it in the morning and send it off with the morning post. He wanted to make sure he never saw that Dullahan again and he figured the faster it got to the house, the better.

***********************

Merida waited at the door of the manor ready to kill. She could still hear the names and she heard Edgar's as well as Patrick Clarvins. When that foolheaded man get back, I'm going to slaughter him! I didn't want him to kill him! she screamed in her head. She heard the whip as the rickety bone and skin carriage made it's way up the hill faster than you'd think it should be able to travel. It was still frightening, no matter how many times she tried to get over it. The carriage pulled around and Higgs got off, pulling something out of the carriage, and threw it over his shoulder. Merida could see the sun peaking over the horizon as Higgs held his whip in one hand, his head in the other, and the thing from the carriage on his shoulder. Merida opened the door to wait as he walked towards the door. When he got to her, he stopped.

"Ye ken ye could kill him and all would be well? That ye could blame the Dullahan and hope I moved on with my life?"

"He's alive." He answered, his whispery-raspy voice a little different than when he called out names.

Merida stepped back in surprise. In all the years she had dealt with the Dullahan, the only time he had ever acknowledged her presence or ever spoke to her directly was the first night she provoked him. After that, she never heard him speak.

"What?"

"Edgar Dunbrough is dead but the boy is alive." He lifted his head so it could look at her. "You should be thankful, Merida Dunbrough."

"Should I now?"

"This was no easy feat for the boy."

"Of course it wasnae. Poor Edgar-"

"I am not speaking about him."

Merida blinked in confusion. "Then..."

"You are an extraordinary human, Merida Dunbrough. You have an uncanny ability to make even the most rigid rules bend to your will and natural things go against their nature. I have inhabited many an offspring, but this one is surrounded by stranger people than even himself. You, woman, are the only one I cannot deny."

"I dinnae understand..."

Higgs didn't answer her as he walked past her and went into the living room, depositing Edgar on the couch. Merida watched in hesitation, unsure of what was happening.

"Who are ye? Ye speak as if ye are different than Mr. Higgs, as if ye're someone else."

"You know who I am... I am in all and they are all me. I have watched you from many angles, through many eyes, and many, many forms." Merida gulped, realizing what the answer was, but she didn't want to confirm it. Higgs held his head up. "It took courage to make this monster deviate from its intended purpose, to make a convincing argument, but with you, the boy can do miraculous things." He walked a little closer to her. "The child is safe, there is no danger."

"So I assume, as he always does, he only did this so I will stay? Thinking that if Edgar is here I willnae be mad at him?"

"You misunderstand the boy as much as he does you. He holds a special care for the child that he cannot expose but holds dear to his heart. Everything he has done for the child is out of love he cannot show otherwise... But you... You are something else entirely that he cannot and will not let go. Just the thought of losing you will make him do impossible things when it seems as if all is lost. It was he who found a loophole to this monster, who is tightly bound by one purpose and one goal."

"I ken ye've got yer facts wrong. He doesnae love me like that."

A rooster crowed and Merida looked behind her at the window.

"All is not lost, Merida Dunbrough."

"Ye say that he can do all these amazing things by just the thought of losing me, but it's only because he doesnae want to admit how he did me these past years. How he's led me along... He's got someone else to give him this strength, so why do I matter?"

"The boy is conflicted but that has never caused such strangeness. There is something amiss, something that even I cannot fully maneuver around. It is causing problems... I have a feeling we may meet again."

"Has this ever happened before?"

"Not in a very long time. Your sort are very, very rare..."

"I see... I guess I should be thanking ye then? For controlling things and getting my boy back to me."

"Do not thank me at all. If not for the boy's determination, this night would have been drastically different."

"I see... How can I repay this kindness then? On both parts."

"I think you know."

Merida was actually a little surprised. "But Lady Hinkley-"

"You are the one I recognize."

Merida felt her face flush. "I-Is it really alright? I feel like I'm taking advantage."

"Believe me, it is a pleasure."

Higgs held up his head as Merida nodded, putting her hands on either side of his face. Oh please, Lord Jesus and God above, don't let this fuck everything up!