Samantha brought down Maisie when Maric and Varatt carried Reigna’s body outside to the shed. Nimue handed her a mug of tea liberally laced with whiskey. Samantha recoiled from the first taste but as the liquid warmed up her belly as well as her body, she felt stronger. Samantha helped Nimue put a meal on the table. Maisie was a strangely quiet child. Soon Samantha no longer noticed her presence. She played in a corner with a faceless poppet and a small scrap of burlap which she used like a blanket.<br/><br/>That night, Samantha and Maisie bedded down in the alcove inside the house which had originally been intended as a love nest for her and Faren. Samantha felt like she was more mature than she had been  just a few days ago with all that had happened. She was learning the power a woman had over  a man, whether it was right or wrong.<br/><br/>The night was spent in nightmares, first Maisie’s and then her own. She rested poorly and finally fell into a fitful sleep as the sun was lightening the sky. A piercing shriek ripped her from her pallet.<br/><br/>“She is gone. The dead walk the Earth! Maric, she has risen. The moon was full and the dead were called forth. I knew she was evil. Evil I say, Only the evil dead walk among men leaving havoc in their wake.”<br/><br/>Samantha raced outside to the shed where Reigna’s body had been placed. She noticed the lock on the door had been forced but she also noticed two sets of footprints, one much smaller than the first.<br/><br/>“Maric, did she just walk away? Is she not dead then?” Samantha’s head began to ache. “If she isn’t dead, Faren can go free.” She rubbed at her forehead, between her eyes. “If that woman isn’t dead, I’m going to kill her myself. I’m done with her antics. Faren is mine and it is time she left us alone.”