Demon King's Gardener

It only took a week before there was a knock on the door to the King’s office - followed swiftly by Voga storming in, declaring, “Your highness, I object!”

“You know, he’d be killed for this in a beastkin kingdom,” Yheor snorted, standing back in the receiving room.

“More’s the pity we’re not in one, then,” Festi sighed next to her.

“I thought he’d at least be happy she’s a cook…” Braelin also sighed.

“First, you take away the food garden from the Kitchens,” Voga scoffed, “Now you want our departments to co-run it, with a completely unknown cook to run this joint branch!?”

“That is the gist of what we decided,” Hujur said dryly, entering the King’s office as well. He shook his head, “Good morning, my lord.”

“Good morning,” Jurao said, finding a stopping point in the documents he was working on before setting them aside, “Please, everyone come in and take a seat.”

Hujur and Festi pulled over the seats from before the fire while Braelin and Yheor sat in the two already in front of Jurao’s desk. Voga elected to stand with all four arms crossed, which hardly surprised the King.

“After you brought up the suggestion of a joint branch under the Gardening and Kitchen Departments,” Hujur began, “I met with Festi and Braelin to discuss the details of such an arrangement.”

“I was not privy to these talks!” Voga huffed.

“Yeah, cause you’re not a Department Head,” Festi rolled their eyes, “And the new branch will be of equal standing with the Kitchens, not under purview.”

“And it hasn’t been finalized,” Hujur sighed, “I called you to my office after Yheor arrived so we could all work out the actual details now that we knew the position had someone to fill it. We were not, as you accused, leaving you out of it.”

“I should have heard of this from the start!” Voga replied, “If you expect me, a Branch Head, to accept a new cook of equal standing-!”

“And what of it?” Yheor scoffed, “By beastkin standards, I outrank just about any demon cook out there, but you don’t hear me complaining.”

“Not this one!” Voga declared, pulling something out of his robes and thrusting it out ahead of him, “I am a Master Chef of the Lotus Guild, so unless you’re out here as a Guildmaster-!”

“Oh, how nice,” Yheor said, getting to her feet and pulling out a wood block, “We’ll settle this in a civilized way then.”

The maned wolfkin woman set the wood block on Jurao’s desk and just as quickly whipped out a knife and stabbed it into the block.

Before anyone else could react, Voga grabbed a knife of his own and stabbed it into the wood block as well. He pointed at Yheor’s chest and said, “Longfruit!”

“You’re on,” she replied with a grin.

It wasn’t until after Voga had stormed out again - after grabbing his knife - that Braelin asked, “You just carry a block of wood around?”

“I mean, I can’t really stab stone or brick,” Yheor snorted, pulling her knife out of the block before putting both away.

“That’s true,” Braelin nodded.

“I’m sorry, what just happened?” Festi asked.

“I challenged Voga to a chef’s duel,” Yheor replied, “Since we’re both chefs with a beastkin cooking guild, I can do that.”

“Ah,” Jurao said, “Since you issued the challenge, he chose the dish.”

“Yup, that’s right,” Yheor chuckled, “Since you four,” the maned wolfkin woman paused and leaned to look out the open door, “you five witnessed the challenge and acceptance, you’ll be the judges - sorry for not explaining beforehand, but that guy seemed like a pain. Curious to see how he’s going to handle an aubergine, though…”

From the receiving room, Alae chuckled, “Honored to be included.”

“A… what?” Festi asked.

“Closest human equivalent to a demon longfruit,” Yheor shrugged, then grinned, “Sorry, Brae, we do take our judges’ dietary restrictions into account for these things.”

Braelin sighed disappointingly, “Well, that’s only fair, I suppose…”

“When is this duel to occur,” Jurao asked.

“In the Beastkin Realm, immediately,” Yheor said, “In just about every other realm, the next soonest meal - so midday. So, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go set up my workspace - wherever that ends up being.”

“Good luck,” Jurao said, nodding to her.

“Free meal from competing master chefs?” Festi stood with a stretch, “And someone else shut Voga up? This turned out better than I expected.”

“I’ll have to change my meal plans,” Hujur sighed, also getting to his feet, “But I agree this was the most painless option. Good day, my lord.”

“See you at midday,” Jurao replied, nodding to both Festi and Hujur as they left.

Braelin hummed, “I haven’t had Yheor’s cooking in… well, since before the usurpation.”

“You seem excited,” Jurao smiled, “Even if it is human food.”

His partner smiled back, “Well, I’m sure Voga is expecting an easy win. He probably thinks Yheor is like most carnivore-descendant beastkin and didn’t study much plant-based cooking.”

“I doubt he would have chosen something he himself is unable to cook,” Jurao nodded, “He’s certainly had plenty of time to study human cooking.”

“I suppose we shall see,” Braelin chuckled, getting to his feet. He paused a moment before stepping up to Jurao’s desk and waving him closer.

The King leaned forward in curiosity.

His partner kissed his cheek before saying, “See you at midday.”

Jurao smiled, and stopped Braelin long enough to kiss his gardener’s temple in return, “See you then.”

The King finished his work for the morning feeling light, and Alae had received a message that the duel would be occurring in the food gardens themselves. Jurao and Alae were the last of the judges to arrive, and the King took in the set-up as he found a seat next to his partner.

Two long tables had been set up for their chefs - Yheor’s side had a small clay oven, while Voga’s had an open brazier. Both had various foodstuffs and supplies, and the competitors stood waiting.

The judges, as they were, had been set at another long table opposite the chefs. Jurao, as King, was seated in the middle - Braelin was to his right as usual, while Hujur was on the left. Festi was to the left of Hujur, while Alae took up the spot to the right of Braelin.

There was also a sizable crowd around them - Jurao heard people whispering in anticipation of something new and exciting. With the crowd, Petal was seated in Braelin’s lap - as was becoming their habit. The most surprising person for the King to see was Adhi, who offered a bow as Jurao passed.

“I’ve heard of beastkin chef duels before,” Minaz chuckled, standing behind Hujur’s seat, “But I didn’t realize Voga was a guild member.”

“Apparently, they’re both master ranked,” Hujur sighed, “So whatever they make should be delicious, at least.”

“What does the winner get, exactly?” Festi asked.

“So glad you asked!” Adhi said loudly - and waited for the crowd to quiet down before continuing, “Good day, good day to you all! As a fellow master chef, I have been asked to be the referee of this chefs’ duel!”

The lionkin man pulled out an insignia similar to the one Voga had shown before, “I am Adhi Nathozh, Master Chef of the Acacia Guild! Many of you may also know me as the current owner of the Bountiful Treeking! And before I explain the rules, allow me to introduce our dueling chefs!”

Adhi waved a hand to his fellow beastkin chef, “Yheor Jhaalkar, Master Chef of the Azalea Guild!”

Voga flinched in surprise at the introduction.

Yheor stuck her tongue out at him, holding out her own guild emblem.

Braelin leaned close to his partner to say, “The guilds that focus on meat dishes are named for trees, while the ones that focus on fruits and vegetables are named for flowers - there’s also guilds that focus on grains, named by precious metals, and guilds that focus on desserts, named for gemstones.”

“Ah,” Jurao nodded.

“And Voga Unemae, Master Chef of the Lotus Guild!” Adhi announced, “Also, Branch Head of the castle kitchens!”

Voga huffed, pulling out his emblem once more.

“Chef Yheor has challenged Chef Voga for equal standing in his kitchens!” Adhi said, “If she proves herself his equal in this challenge, he will acknowledge her skills and accept her as the head of a newly proposed joint branch between the castle Gardens and the Kitchens, in charge of these food gardens and liaising between the two groups!

“If Voga proves superior, the new branch will be under the purview of the Kitchens, rather than its equal!” Adhi said, “If Yheor proves superior, she will take his place as Head of the Castle Kitchens, while he will accept a demotion as head of the new branch under purview!

“These are the terms the chefs have agreed to,” the lionkin chef nodded.

Festi whistled, “That’s a big risk…”

Braelin hummed, “As much as part of me wants Yheor to win, I don’t really want to work with Voga that closely…”

“I feel that,” Festi snorted, “I really do.”

Alae chuckled, “I suppose that makes the panel less biased in one competitor’s favor…”

“In Chefs’ Guild tradition, the judges for this duel are those who witnessed the issuing of the challenge,” Adhi said and waved to the table, “The Demon King, Jurao Mafokuraes; the Castle Stewart, Hujur Gaevislaevas; the Royal Gardener, Braelin Struud; the Castle Quartermaster, Festi Tsuhquena; and the King’s secretary, Alae Gaevol!”

There was some hesitant applause, which Adhi encouraged with nods and hand gestures - though he did not let it go on for long, “While the challenge was initially issued for cooking longfruit, due to the dietary restrictions of one of the judges-”

Braelin sighed, and Petal patted at his face.

“-and the improvised kitchen space, the chefs have agreed to prepare solely the human aubergine, which is close to the demon longfruit in the way it is prepared!” Adhi nodded more, “The chefs will have one hour to complete their dishes, and light refreshments have been brought to keep the judges from getting too hungry in the meantime! As every chef knows, all food is good food to an empty belly!”

Adhi and Yheor laughed at what was likely a common saying, and even Voga - who had to have trained in the Beastkin Realm to earn his masterage - snorted in amusement.

The lionkin man stepped up to a small table the King had missed, which held only a large hourglass. Adhi lifted it and said, “Without further ado, you may begin!”

Once the hourglass had flipped, both chefs went to work immediately - equally focused on their tables.

Adhi himself brought a tray of beastkin fruit wine with crackers, fish paste, and cheese that were all Treeking stock, chuckling as he said, “My, my, my! I was very pleased to hear you had offered Yheor a job that would allow her to reconnect with an old friend, your highness, but I didn’t think it would lead to such an eventful first day! Before she’s even officially hired!”

“I had anticipated Voga’s ire,” Jurao replied, “But I had not been aware of his status as a Master Chef.”

“We already said it earlier,” Festi snorted, “But this is probably the easiest way it could have been handled.”

“Oh, don’t fret about that!” Adhi laughed, “This is the only way to get hired in the top restaurants and kitchens in the Beastkin Realm! If I know Yheor, she probably prefers it this way!”

“That sounds right,” Braelin chuckled.

“Are they really not worried about us making a biased decision?” Hujur asked, “Voga is not unaware that few of us are fond of him…”

Adhi shook his head, “Perhaps a lower ranking chef would consider it - but chefs that have earned a masterage rarely ever prove more or less than equal when the judges are not food experts. Meaning no offense, of course.”

“There are professional food tasters in the Beastkin Realm, aren’t there?” Alae asked, “For your… Apex Chef Games?”

The lionkin man nodded enthusiastically, “Just so, just so! But, if you’ll excuse me, I need to keep an eye on my fellow chefs.”

Jurao was becoming increasingly intrigued by the chef culture of the Beastkin Realm - and was beginning to wonder if some of Voga’s behavior could have been influenced by his training there, considering how easily he had accepted Yheor’s challenge.