TRIGGER WARNING:

This chapter includes depictions or allusions to rape/non-consensual sex.

+++++++++++++++++++

It felt like years since Higgs had been captured by Elizabeth but it was only about two months. Higgs was unconscious half the time, and when he was able to be coherent, he was getting tortured in one way or another. It seemed as if no one was going to come for him.

"Mr. Higgs?"

Higgs opened his eyes a little and then blinked in confusion.

"Merida?" he whispered, not really able to see all that well.

"She doesnae ken I'm here to get ye." She said.

Higgs smiled. "I knew you'd come..."

"No time for sentimentals. Let's get ye out of those binds."

Higgs felt the chains come off of his wrists but he didn't feel them coming off his ankles.

"My ankles..."

"Dinnae ye worry. I ken it."

"It took you so long... I thought... I thought you were never coming."

"How could I ever leave ye to that woman's wiles?"

"The things she's done to me... I honestly never knew a woman could be so cruel."

"Cruel?"

"I really don't want to think about it."

"Why not?"

The remnant of something Elizabeth had given him was still effecting his eyesight but he could see some fuzzy shadows in front of him. For some reason though, he felt very uneasy and he swallowed hard.

"Merida?"

"Aye?"

"You... you did come to rescue me, right?"

"Of course I did, silly. Why would I come here to give ye back to Elizabeth?"

Higgs still felt like something was wrong. He reached out, grabbing a hold of her hair and wrenched away.

"Your hair... it's... it's so... tame."

Higgs had rung his fingers through Merida's hair more than she would ever know. It was frizzy but soft and going into it was like sticking your hand down an unknown rabbit hole. It practically sucked you in but this didn't feel the same. Merida hadn't said anything when she suddenly started to laugh. As Higgs tried to get his eyes to focus, she walked over to a brighter part of the room and seemed to rip her hair right off of her own head. Higgs yelled, backing into the wall to try.

"Was I good?" he heard, the familiar voice of Elizabeth worming into his ears. "You actually thought that I was her! Oh, this purchase was worth every penny!"

"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!" he screamed, totally confused.

Elizabeth walked over to him and pushed him down as he tried to get away from her. She got down on her hands and knees and crawled to him, blocking him between the wall and her.

"I had heard you were of lesser intelligence during your ogre month but I honestly didn't take you as a complete moron. Don't ogres have the ability to smell people's scent? You should have realized something was wrong earlier."

"Please! Please, just stop this nonsense and tell me what you want!"

She smiled and Higgs felt something pierce his neck, his body immediately losing most function and made him completely limp. Elizabeth pulled him so that he was flat on the floor and then straddled him, pulling out a small glass vial. She pulled the top off and leaned over him so that they were face to face.

"I have been saving this bottle, letting it steep and steep to perfection. It's finally complete. You say you want to know what I want, right? What exactly I'm gaining from all this, right?" He just stared at her. "I'm getting what you promised me."

"What... do... you... mean...?" he forced himself to say.

"Beautiful! I thought I got the mixture wrong."

"What?"

"Oh, you see, I wanted you to be unable to move but to be fully aware of what was about to happen. As soft and fragile as you seem, you are stubborn when you want to be. But this particular mixture was made so that your body wouldn't move but your thinking faculties would be just fine. It said that some with a more powerful will can actually talk but it would take every bit of strength to do so, of course." He just stared at her. "Anyway, you're so fun to try all these crazy things on. When I did it the first time, our times apart seemed to mess with the effects, but that won't happen now."

"First... time...?"

Elizabeth grinned, leaning back in an upright position. "That pesky green tea that kept slipping into our private meetings? It was my first attempt at a love potion." Higgs' eyes widened. "Oh yes. In your world, love potions are very real." Are you fucking kidding me?! Higgs screamed in his head as Elizabeth looked at him with a smug expression. "Yes; I tweaked the ingredients a few times (among various other things) but it seems that the mythology your curse holds you to doesn't stop at physical myths. Love potions, herbal remedies, anything with a bit of mysticism and a bit of superstition works just as well. Buuuuut, because we weren't together all the time, the effects would fade with time. But now... here we are, together forever."

"What... what are you going to do?"

"Don't you worry. Just know that you are going to fulfill your promise. Drink up." She tried to pour the contents of the vial in his mouth but he closed it tight. "Don't fight it." He shook his head and Elizabeth sighed. "Fine." She grabbed his hair and pulled his head up a little and then dropped it, making him dizzy. She shoved the vial into his mouth, emptying it's contents. "There now... Let me get prepared."

She got off of him as he lay there, a warmth taking over him and he squirmed uncomfortably. Elizabeth came back with the bad red wig she had been wearing and put it on. She untied her dress and it fell to the floor. Higgs realized what was about to happen but tried to move but he was pretty much bolted to the floor and unable to stop himself. Elizabeth smiled wickedly and got on her knees, pulling his pants down to reveal the erection that Higgs didn't want to have. Whatever she had given him was making him do this and there was nothing he could do to stop it. She crawled on top of him, straddling him. She gave a small cry from the pain but otherwise leaned forward a little, slowly moving her hips.

Higgs felt himself shatter inside, every bit of self-worth being sapped out of him with every move of Elizabeth's hips. How would anyone want him after this? How would anyone believe him after this? Who would believe him? A man has to be aroused in order to allow this to happen right? That's what they'd all say...

"You promised me a family." Elizabeth commented, thrusting her hips harder into him. "You promised me a title." She thrust again. "You promised me a home." She thrust again and leaned over to look him in the eyes. "And you. Promised. Me. An. Heir!" She screamed, climaxing as Higgs just lay there, dying inside.

Elizabeth moaned and straightened the red wig back on her head, leaning over again.

"Ye want yer Scottish whore? I'll give her to ye! It's not like she would want ye now, right?!" She made him look at her. "Merida Dunbrough doesn't want you anymore. She left you here to face your fate. She let this happen to you. She's never going to come! They'll never find you because no one would ever suspect me! Merida, your parents, your friends... They've all abandoned you. They're never coming. And why would they? Look what you've done. They will never believe you... Oh, and what will Merida think of you? I mean, a lord who rakes about is just doing what everyone expects from a lord, but a man who gets captured by a woman and then forced to engage in sex?" She threw her head back and laughed. "Who in their right mind is going to believe you were forced to do anything?"

Higgs wasn't really listening even though he could hear what she was saying. He was too busy trying to handle damage control in his brain. His body was doing things he couldn't control but if he hurried, he could salvage what little bit of himself he could come back to. He had to shut all the doors to every person he loved so that he could protect them. If he shut the doors, then the toxic words Elizabeth was permeating in his brain might not affect the way he felt about everyone so badly. He would never be the same and he knew that even thinking about accomplishing it by himself was an impossible task. His family would find him. When and how was a different story, but he would need their help and he would need to trust them to some degree. If he didn't shut the doors, Elizabeth's poisonous words would destroy everything. But if he shut all of them, he would be giving into Elizabeth's lies of never being found... I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry, but if I don't lock you away, I won't be able to salvage something to hold on to. I know you're trying but... but this the only way I'll be able to survive. Please wait for me and be patient with me. I'll find you, Merida, I promise.