Astrophysical (completed)

Chapter 22

"I do have to go back a little bit first," Ash said looking back at his parents. "Just so Cassie knows the whole history. Give me a bit."

The two parents nodded as they focused in on their son. Ash then looked back at Cassie and squeezed her hand again. He was nervous she knew, but she was ready for anything he was about to say and was willing to give him her full attention and patience in everything he was about to say.

"First," he began. "Like I've told you before and you got a small sense of Darpa wasn't that big. There weren't many people there and the population was families just like us with parents and their kids. When I was little and we went to events or gatherings, the only thing that mattered was playing with other kids. It didn't matter who or what status their family was because we didn't understand any of that. So early on, Ceyona became my good friend because she was the only one who consistently wanted to play with me."

"And they played forever too," Louisa chimed in. "They were inseparable when they were little."

"Anyways," Ash continued. "She was my best friend. It wasn't until we started school that I began to realize why we got so many funny looks when we were together.

"The laws were that any heir to a Governor's planet was already betrothed to the best genetic makeup of a child the opposite gender who was born in the same year. Of course, because Ceyona wasn't supposed to be an heir, people especially were watchful of her chosen husband because he would of course become to real ruler of the planet. I wasn't that boy which is why people never liked that I spent so much time with her.

"But Ceyona didn't change her ways even after understanding this. She had already mentioned several times how hard her parents were on her and on occasion I could hear or see the way everyone else treated her with contempt. But she always said she liked spending time with me and my family because we had always been kind to her. We continued to play and spend time with each other despite what we now understand.

"During our school years though, things got harder. People kept trying to separate us on projects or by making us do different activities and the more the mindset settled in the more even our peers began to tease or bully us. Especially her betrothed. He and his friends would constantly try and force Ceyona to be with them, but she would always cry at their attempts, and I would get bullied for always trying to help her out."

Ash paused and let go of Cassie's hand. He pressed his own together and she noticed it was to try and calm his nerves as she could see him getting anxious.

"When the time came for us to leave Darpa, for our next step in entering Sovereign society, I thought things were finally going to end for Ceyona and I's friendship. After all we were twelve now and knew how things would play out.

"She was to go off and learn with the other Governor's children on the proper ways to rule and maintain the planets that were to be entrusted to them. She was of course nervous being the outcast amongst a group of boys and under the scrupulous eyes of the emperor, but it was her duty, and no one could change that.

"Like all the other children, I was given a choice about what I wanted to go and learn at Napolyon which would eventually lead me to a career in Sovereign hierarchy. I wasn't as much of a science thinker to both of your disappointments," he said looking at his parents, who just smiled a little. "I thought my only option was to go into the force."

He tensed and Cassie wished they were on their own so she could hold him and make this easier for him. But with his parents and SA she didn't want to look inappropriate in front of them nor did she want to make Ash more uneasy if he was thinking this might separate them. Instead, she did her best to curl up in her chair with as little pain as possible.