a time to come together [Empire Festival Opening]

Life was hard for the aging once Empress. All of her efforts had been in raising her two children, the last of her children, to adulthood. They were all she had left, all of her older offspring had long abandoned her, but not without good reason that the woman tried not to think about too heavily. She was the only reason she didn’t have a relationship with them anymore, because her own desires had gotten in the way. Deathbelle lived with the shame everyday, but tried her hardest to do better for Sorcerer and Voodoo. They deserved every ounce of effort she could manage for them, especially in the face of Belle’s own mistakes and the lack of their father.

She regretted giving them his last name. At the time she had expected Magnus to reappear, to be there for the birth and help her with the children they made. He never returned. She was left, again and again. After so much loss Belle felt like a shell of her former self. She still held herself with the decorum of an Empress, and she hadn’t allowed her body to deteriorate to reflect the rotten soul beneath.

This would be her first time laying eyes on her grandchildren, not that she had any right to call them that. Deathbelle followed at Recluse’s hip, this was the first time the once Empress would look upon the Empire that had slipped through her paws. Venom took her place with pride, and she ran the packs like she belonged at the helm, as she very well did. Deathbelle was quiet, she lowered her head, her nose almost touching the ground in a repentant bow but said nothing as she lifted her features to gaze at the beautiful children that Venom created. She felt another stake driven deep into what was left of her heart, but smiled proudly at the legacy that remained.

Belle detached herself from the crowd around the royal family, and was careful to avoid Sirius as she made her way to the section claimed by Habari wolves. She tried not to let how troubled she was reveal itself, she was here for her young one’s experience, not her own pleasure because the situation felt incredibly uncomfortable.