The hot season was coming to a close and Ash was looking forward to going home to his mate. However, before he could do that, he needed to finish writing up the reports for the new architecture and policies he had put into place. To top it all off, his mother had requested he join them for a family meal tonight. As if he didn't have enough on his plate.
Ash sighed in frustration, if he was going to join them for dinner then he needed to go hunting soon. It looks like these damn reports would have to wait for later.
The trip through the palace was unnecessarily long and the journey to the city's outskirts was even longer. The palace was much larger than any of the homes in Blue Springs City, but they insisted on only having a few entrances and exits for security purposes. It allowed them to have fewer males gearing the entrances, but it also meant that he had to walk down several floors and then across the palace to reach the entrance.
While most homes were just hollowed-out giant trees, the palace was a bit different. They had built it in the densest part of the forest so that several large trees could be hollowed out. The upper floors were connected by suspended bridges made from vines and planks. The lower floors, however, were built in a similar manner to the combat arena. They had buried large trunks of trees into the ground to form tall walls and then fashioned a roof of sorts. It made the castle look a little strange, even to Ash who had grown up in it, as the tree tops jutted out above the rest of the building. However, it was still home and it did a good job of keeping the cold and rain out.
Despite his annoyance with his own family, Ash didn't exactly hate them all. His sister was frustrating, but she was still his sister and his mom was a bit of a nag and played favorites, but she was still one of the important females in his life. So, despite the fact that he likely could have just hunted down enough prey to cover his own meal, he decided to go all out.
Along the riverside, he sat down and pulled up cattails, stuffing them into a bag, before tying it to a strip of animal skin he wore over his skirt as a sort of belt. Then he went off to hunt some prey, collecting any useful herbs he found along the way. While he wasn't as practiced as Basil was, he was just as capable of reading the books Iris had, so he had learned quite a bit in recent months.
It took a few trips to carry back all of the prey he needed for his cooking. Then it took even longer to properly break down the meat and prepare it for a proper meal. Despite having to hunt in his human form to avoid poisoning his prey, Ash still managed to make it to the kitchen not long after Viola's own mates. As he was stronger than anyone else there as well as held a higher rank, they quickly made room for him to work and didn't ask any questions as he worked.
Most of the males here weren't really trained in how to make the food they enjoyed in Blue Springs City anyway. Their efforts were misinformed and sloppy, at best, so Ash wasn't surprised to catch several of them craning their heads to try and catch a glimpse of what he was doing. Sighing, Ash said
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"If you keep doing that, you're going to hurt your necks. Are all of you so pitifully weak that you don't even have the self-respect to approach me and ask if you can watch? Go ahead, you can watch, but stay out of my way or else."
Ash was a bit moody, but even he knew that he sounded a bit odd. Perhaps he had gotten into the habit of being too nice over the last few months. Well, he might not sound as threatening as he used to, but he was more than confident that he was just as strong as he ever was. Maybe he was even stronger than he used to be, he did seem to be making some progress thanks to his daily fights with Ember. At least that moody asshole was good for something.
It was a bit difficult to cook meals without all of the tools and seasonings that were at home. It was one thing to read the written recipes and memorize them, it was another to have to adapt them on the spot while also cooking the dish without much practice. Ash only ever got to cook at home when he was cooking for himself late at night with leftover ingredients. Maybe it was a bit hypocritical of him, but he didn't want to step on Fern's toes, so he didn't think it was worth asking him for help.
When he finished, he snapped at those who were still gawking at his cooking
"Help me carry these to the dining room. Don't even dare think you can get away with putting them off to one side either!"
God Ash felt sick to his stomach talking like that. It used to come so naturally to him. Sometimes it still did, but it mostly just seemed like unnecessary rudeness and violence on his part. While this city certainly chewed up and spit out flowery and weak males who couldn't stand up for themselves, he still hated having to put on a show like this. Even the sarcastic and somewhat witty replies he tended to use at home seemed less entitled and rude and more natural.
Ash took his seat at the table and waited for the others to arrive. The table was long, but not everyone would be able to sit at the same table. Generally, his father would get to take the seat of host on one of the end cap seats while his eldest brother would get to have the other end cap seat. Then their mates would sit to their right. Viola sat to the left of his father as she was the only princess. Then only the two favorite males of each female and the highest ranking sons would get to sit at the table after that. The rest would have to find a seat at a different table.
Ares had gotten to have the seat to the left-hand side of their eldest brother previously due to being the second in line for the throne. Sometimes he even got to sit on the other side of their mother due to being the favorite son. No one took either seat until it was confirmed which one he would be sitting in for the day by their mother. It would seem that hadn't changed in the time he had been gone. Well, someone did sit beside his eldest brother, but the seat next to his mother was very much so left empty.
Seeing Ash's look, his mother burst into tears. Ash sighed and his father glared at him, reprimanding
"Don't you start! It's hard enough on your mother without you bringing your attitude in here."
Ash scoffed before retorting
"She needs to get over it. Don't you remember what you taught us? If a male gets killed or injured then he can only blame himself for being too weak."
Ash's father narrowed his eyes, glaring at his son with suspicion. However, he said nothing in reply. What would there even be to say? What he had said wasn't wrong, that was just how things were in the beastworld.