So Many Bees

The gardens, a rare excursion. And when her father was not there to ensure neither she nor her demon broke the rules, she wore a leash. Shackles around her wrists, separating her hands, and the end was in a nursemaid's grip. She'd only acted out once, since they'd started allowing her out of her room, but it had immediately earned ire.

She was in high spirits today, though one would never tell this from looking at her. Healing wounds to her face; clawmarks, the last of her bruises were a week old, by now.

The nurses with her tried to talk to her, but she simply continued on a path, wandering, weaving through the gardens, and nobody seemed willing to call her down. She supposed they feared her father's temper.

"Won't you let us stop and rest?" One of the women asked, as they rounded a corner and came to stop while their charge studied her surroundings.

It's my day out. Not yours. Novella's response was petulant, like that of a spoiled child. You can stay here and I can keep going though.

The women drifted into silence at that; she'd tried to escape one too many times during her fits for them to trust a word out of her mouth.

Ella didn't seem to mind, as she knelt to study a delicate bush, which is when she caught sight of a leg—a person under the lemon tree...

Does father have another guest? She inquired, sitting next to the bush to study the stranger. The nurses behind of her just stood silently, more than one of them wore a weapon; whether a staff or a sword. Not all of them were nurses; only one was, the rest were Eyes in disguise.

@Ophelia Jolfy