Of course Drusilla had anticipated the answer. If she'd thought there was any chance that Mor would say no, she wouldn't have asked in the first place. She grinned, then cast a glance around for a suitable subject. She had been paying more attention to the sight lines of the property than anything else, and she hadn't had anything in mind yet when she'd asked. She cast a glance around the surrounding area for something suitable. She probably could have uprooted the nearest tree, but that would have been very noticable to the gardening staff later. They probably wouldn't ask her about it — why would they assume she had anything to do with it? — but it would be hard to find a reasonable explanation for. The wind was hardly going to uproot just one tree and leave everything else untouched. There was a stone bench not far ahead. That might do. Dru held up a hand for Morrigan to stay where she was and then went over to it.

Drawing on this power was like drawing from a well somewhere deep inside of her. She had to feel it out, and then once she'd reached the rim of it she had to dig down and heave up the strength she needed. It felt as though it took longer than it did (she knew it could not actually take long, because when she had killed her father he hadn't noticed the pause in conversation). She closed her eyes while she pulled it up, and when she opened them again there might not have been anything different about her appearance but she felt like an entirely different sort of being. She felt aglow, crackling with potential. She pulled the bench up from its concrete footing like it was nothing.

"Shall I break it?" she asked.

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