"I want that little trollop out of my house and far away from here, do you hear me Samuel?! I want her gone now!"
It had been many hours, but Noelle could still hear those words echoing in her head. Those were the last words she would ever hear the Lady Kreston scream. She tried to remind herself of all the ways being thrown out of the only home she could remember was a good thing. The Lady of the house had become a very bitter and spiteful woman in recent years, a woman who was constantly yelling and berating the servants – especially any who were young women. That wasn't even considering that Lord Samuel would never try to touch her again; there wasn't a thing that could be better about the situation than that, right?
Noelle still shuddered to think about it. A man that she had looked up to as almost a father all her life had tried to so such things to her! Lord Kreston had certainly been old enough to be her father.
Even with that threat hanging above her head...The Kreston household had been her home for as long as she could even remember. What was she even supposed to do now? She had been tossed out with naught but the clothing on her back – a fine enough dress for a lady's maid, but that wasn't helpful beyond keeping her decent from leering eyes.
"This is where you get off, Miss Dupont." The sun had set and she hadn't even noticed the horse stop until the middle-aged retainer's voice cut through her thoughts. Where were they? Noelle didn't recognize anything, and her already fair skin blanched.
Did he really mean to just leave her there?
With nothing?
Noelle felt tears prick at her eyes as she slid off the back of the horse with as much grace as she could muster. It hadn't been enough to throw her out of the house. Lady Kreston had demanded she be taken away – and apparently just dumped like trash. At least it wasn't the middle of nowhere. This was a populated area; there were people and shops here. Maybe the spited woman wanted her to be a homeless beggar on the streets here.
"Wait! Please!" The man had turned the horse, but he stopped and looked at her coolly for a moment. She wasn't expecting any sympathy or mercy. The man worked for the Kreston family and would leave her there as he'd been told. Still, she could at least try for something, anything. "What am I supposed to do?"
Roger hesitated for a moment, looking down at the girl with a scowl. She'd been raised in the house alongside the lord's own daughter. He sighed and pulled out a little pouch with a few coins and offered it to her. "You might be able to get a decent meal, maybe even somewhere to sleep for a night, but for what to do? Well, whores make good money, and you're a pretty little thing. Do what you want, but I'd figure it out quick, nights get cold up here."
That was how Noelle ended up wandering down the streets of Northwatch with nothing but the clothes on her back and a tiny coin pouch – homeless and dried tear tracks down her cheeks as she shuffled along after dark in quite the daze, unsure at all of what to do.