The red eye witnesses. The gold eye watches.

Bella smoothly bows before her Empress, sliding onto one knee and bowing her head in worshipful respect. The beauty of that throne has not declined in centuries of death, and she does not dare to profane that divine perfection by trying to scrutinize it. It is enough that She is here. It is enough that She is speaking. Her heart is all aflutter with love and with longing and with the deep-coded desire to be as pleasing as possible.

Bella's legs are trembling. The pressure in the air is like a poison, like gravity itself. Though she fights to keep her feet next to Redana (her wife who needs her now more than ever), defiance is more than her body can stand right now. She collapses. She feels the weight crushing against her skull, bending her neck, forcing her eyes toward the ground. Her claws dig into the floor with a musical chirp. She refuses to be bent. Not like this. Not in front of [i]this[/i] woman, with her contemptible reek and her desiccated, plucked apart face that still dares to hint at a smile even after everything that has happened. And worse, dares to seem sad.

The red eye gazes. The gold eye glares.

"Your Majesty, I have done everything that you asked of me. Please forgive my lateness: it has been a very long and difficult journey. I do not seek words of praise, but rather wish only to return the office you lent to me now that my task is finished."

Is that how it goes? The words come out of her mouth, but is that what they sound like? Or do they come out in a furious hiss, anger and jealousy boiling over until they come out as blasphemy? 

"Look at me! Look at me!! For once just say my name! Am I not... Aren't I your daughter too?!"

The red eye squints. The gold eye narrows.

Bella stays bent on the floor. Half for love, and half for hate. Half fearing danger, half just wanting to be Redana's strength. Half pushing her forehead to the ground, half lifting her onto her feet. Two eyes watch the same scene and see different things.

One red, and one gold. The colors of the Imperium.