Castor Stargazer and Hugo Dargent's Secret Relationship

Life, Relationship change

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1305

When Hugo Dargent and Castor Stargazer were both fourteen years old, their families were on relatively good terms. The pair enjoyed each other's company, pleased to be able to chat to someone else who was equally out of their depth, and generally ignored by their respective families. They would look out for each other at court, cover up each other's faux pas, and have real conversations that didn't involve court business. At some point, their feelings developed a romantic leaning, which terrified both of them, since same-sex relationships were forbidden and both knew they were expected to enhance their families' diplomatic standing through arranged marriages. Even so, with so little attention on them, it was quite possible for the two to meet in secret. Castor would sneak Hugo into the restricted library, where they could be alone together, and they would lie under the stars in the observatory, where Castor pointed out the sanctioned constellations. As his family duties took Hugo into the wider city, he would bring Castor, who wasn’t allowed outside the court, presents that he purchased at the market stalls of the city.  

1306

To satisfy their families' ambitions and to allay any suspicion towards their friendship, the two took girlfriends in the court. By the time they were each fifteen years old, Hugo found himself betrothed to Subvizier Satine Laureat and Castor to Subvizier Rouge Carterhold. They were each to be married on the month of their house moon after they turned sixteen. As their familial duties and responsibilities became more demanding, it became necessary to actively arrange times to meet. The pair developed a secret code, by which they could deliver messages passed at court or by messenger, without any fear that they would be found out. They began to look forward to Eclipsedays, when duties at the court ceased, the Observatory went dark and they had a day to themselves where they could meet, unwind and catch up.  

1307

In Richmoon and Poormoon respectively, Hugo and Castor turned sixteen. Castor gifted Hugo a mechanism that showed the planet in relation to the moon and stars. Hugo got Castor an Expanded Linguistics Codex, that would help him to communicate well in multiple languages.  

Eclipseday Between Beggarmoon And Thiefmoon, 1307

On the next Eclipseday, Castor and Hugo were hiding out in Hugo's bedchamber, when Hugo's machiavellian little sister, Scarlett, who was only four at the time, "accidentally" walked in on them. Neither of the boys were particularly good liars yet, and their shock and fear at having been caught was enough to alert the little brat that this was juicy, even if she didn't yet understand the full implications of what she'd discovered. Deaf to Hugo's attempts to bargain with her, Scarlett gleefully tattled to their mother. When the Dargent Viziera appeared a few moments later, she was livid. Neither Hugo nor Castor was a stranger to the corporal punishment that Noble Families would inflict on their children, but the curses she cast on them were different. The searing agony didn't stop, even as the two teens begged for mercy. It wasn't until Hugo momentarily lost control of his human form, blinking into the fox that his spasming body felt would allow him a faster getaway, that the Viziera relinquished the spell - first releasing Hugo with a warning glare to get his form back in order, and then Castor. Castor was sent home with a request for audience with his parents the next day. Guinevera Dargent made the most of the half-day headstart that Eclipseday afforded her. She began arrangements for a concentrated smear campaign that would shift the focus fully on the Stargazers and away from Hugo and the Dargent Family.