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.
Scrapday, Thiefmoon, 1307
The Dargents and Stargazers held several meetings, first with the parents alone, and then interrogating Hugo and Castor, first separately and then together. While they waited to be called before their parents, the boys were guarded by family servants, who monitored their nervous small talk and reported back everything to the adults.
It was decided that, although they could not be prevented from being in court together, Hugo and Castor were to cease any and all interaction above what was deemed strictly necessary by the parents. They were never to be alone together under any circumstances. They were never to speak of the incident at home or at court. And their punishments would each be dealt with by their families separately. Frightened and angry, the teens had little choice but to agree - neither dared to mention the punishment that they'd already received the previous day.
As this was happening, Victor Dargent and some of the other Dargent allies were sowing the seeds laid out by Guinevera, turning court suspicion on only Castor's sexuality and controlling the narrative one full day earlier than the Stargazers were able to.
Goldday, Thiefmoon, 1307
With court rumours circulating, the Carterhold family called off the engagement between Castor and their daughter and then-Subvizier, Rouge. The diplomatic relationship between the Carterholds and the Stargazers were stained from that day.
Tinkermoon, 1308
With their son's reputation in tatters, and the arranged wedding abandoned, the Stargazer Family began to run damage control. A new betrothal was hastily arranged between Castor and the Half-Orc Subvizier of the less esteemed Greenskin Family, Cassiopeia.
At court, Hugo's name was now frequently mentioned alongside Castor's, the rumours fueled by the sudden obvious distance between the two. In their efforts to show their parents that they were obeying the new rules, Hugo and Castor inadvertently also broadcast to the more seasoned members of the court that they had been separated.
Givesday, Soldiermoon, 1308
Although the Dargents had managed to spin the narrative at court in their favour, they were less able to smooth things over within their own family. Increasing tensions within the Dargent Household reached a boiling point on the evening of Givesday, Soldiermoon after it was revealed that Hugo had broken off his engagement to Satine Laureat earlier that day.
Takesday, Soldiermoon, 1308
To steady the friendship with the Laureats, the Dargent Family offered their older son, and heir, Victor to marry Satine in Hugo's place. The Laureats accepted, viewing it as, if anything, a better match for their daughter to marry the heir rather than the spare.
Copperday, Sailormoon, 1308
Castor Stargazer and Cassiopeia Greenskin were married, on the day that would have been the wedding with the Carterholds.
Needleday, Richmoon, 1308
Victor Dargent and Satine Laureat were married.
