Marked by the Four Beast Lords After Transmigration

Sareth came after first bell carrying the meat he normally used at home.

Ayari walked beside him with one hand on the strap of a market basket that looked as though someone had repaired it twice and disagreed with both repairs. She stopped on the shelterbark landing outside Nia’s entrance and looked down when Sareth placed his carrying basket beside her feet.

“This is better than putting everything on stone and hoping the bottom dries before we leave.”

Nia stepped closer. “That was the idea.”

Ayari tested the edge with one foot before moving out of Sareth’s way. “Mari told me it took three days to decide where this should go.”

“It took longer than that.”

“I believe her version was kinder.”

Sareth wiped his hands at the outer washing side, then removed a covered food bowl from the carrying basket. The basket remained on the landing while he brought the bowl inward.

Shen had already moved a clean receiving bowl, one knife, a wooden cooking spoon, and a separate spoon for transferring raw meat to the preparation board. He checked the outside of Sareth’s bowl before setting it on the washing-side end.

Nia looked toward Ayari. “Are you staying for the whole lesson?”

“I was told I was not allowed to ask why the meat tasted different unless I watched how it became different.”

Sareth untied his outer wrap. “I said you could ask.”

“You said you would explain it later.”

“I would have.”

Ayari carried her market basket to a dry place near the wall. “Later becomes a long time in my house. Someone always remembers another thing first.”

Sareth hung his wrap near the entrance and moved back toward the board without arguing with that. His long dark-green tail curved behind him, staying clear of the path between the basin and the new preparation surface.

Nia washed her hands, then waited while Sareth and Shen did the same.

Kael had left earlier to meet the lower-route crews, and the cave felt different with visitors in it while the new kitchen was actually in use. Yesterday Nia and Shen had tested where bowls could sit and whether two people could work without knocking hips or elbows. Today Sareth took the place across from her naturally enough that she did not have to tell him where to stand.

Ayari settled near the wall and began working on the loose strap of her market basket.

Nia nodded toward it. “What happened?”

“Bram repaired it first.”

Sareth lifted the cover from the food bowl and set it upside down beside the bowl on the raw side.

“Aurel tightened it afterward because Bram left the loop too loose,” Ayari continued. “Now Tovin says both of them tied it for their own hands instead of mine.”

Nia looked at the strap.

Ayari pulled it through the buckle and frowned. “He has mentioned that every time I use it.”

Sareth’s mouth shifted slightly before he looked down at the meat.

The bowl contained ordinary game meat cut into pieces a little larger than the ones Nia usually used for broth. There was enough fat along some edges that she would not need much extra in the pot.

“This is how you normally cut it?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Keep it that way.”

Sareth glanced at her. “You do not want smaller pieces?”

“No. You wanted to know what changes when you cook your own food differently. If we change the meat, the cut, and the method at the same time, you will not know which difference mattered.”

He nodded.

Shen checked the pot over the hearth and moved it slightly closer to the strongest part of the heat.

Sareth watched him. “How hot?”

Nia answered. “Hot enough that the meat makes noise as soon as it touches the pot. Not so hot that the fat smokes before anything goes in.”

Shen looked toward the hearth. “It is nearly there.”

Sareth used the separate raw-meat spoon to lift one piece from the bowl, studied it, then returned it.

Nia noticed. “What are you waiting for?”

“I want to see what you do first.”

“That was not what you asked for at your house.”

“I asked to watch from the beginning.”

“You also said you wanted to know how to do it.”

Ayari kept working the strap through the buckle. “He will do it after he sees exactly what you mean. He does this at home too.”

Sareth set the raw-meat spoon beside the bowl. “Show me one batch.”

“That I can do.”

Nia checked the pot herself, then added a small amount of rendered fat. It loosened quickly across the bottom without smoking.

Using the raw-meat spoon, she transferred only enough pieces to cover part of the pot, leaving space between them before returning the spoon to the raw side.

Sareth’s eyes moved from the meat to the empty places in the pot.

“You could fit more.”

“I could. I do not want to.”

“Because the pot cools?”

“Yes. The pot stays hotter when you leave space between the pieces. If you crowd them, they release water faster than the heat can deal with it, and the meat starts sitting in that water instead of browning.”

Sareth nodded slowly. “That explains one part.”

Nia left the meat alone while she took a few ordinary roots to the washing side and began scrubbing the dirt from them.

Ayari looked up from her basket after several breaths. “You are not moving it yet?”

“No.”

“Sareth usually does.”

“I know.”

Sareth folded his arms, but his attention stayed on the pot.

Nia glanced at him while rinsing one root. “You told me you wanted to learn.”

“I do.”

“Then watch what changes before you touch it.”

Ayari pulled the strap again, noticed another loose section, and pushed the basket toward Sareth with her foot.

He looked down.

“This part keeps twisting.”

Sareth took the basket, shortened the strap by one hole, and retied the loose end while still glancing toward the hearth between movements. When he returned it, Ayari slid the strap over her shoulder, adjusted the basket against her side, then took it off again so she could keep working on the frayed edge.

Nia smelled the change in the pot before she touched the meat. The first wet scent had faded, replaced by the deeper smell of hot fat and browning.

“Now.”

She turned one piece with the cooking spoon. The underside had darkened well around the edges, with a few lighter patches near the center.

Sareth leaned slightly closer. “That is darker than mine usually gets before I move it.”

“How soon do you move yours?”

“When the bottom begins to catch.”

“That is part of the difference. If you move it before the surface browns, you lose some of this.”

She turned another piece.

Sareth watched the browned side. “And if I leave it too long?”

“The smell changes before the meat becomes useless. Pay attention to that before you worry about matching a color exactly.”

Shen passed Nia the clean receiving bowl, and she moved each browned piece into it as it finished.

Outside, two workers carried a long bundle down the upper path, arguing over whether it would fit through the next turn without being untied. One insisted the corner was wide enough. The other warned that the bundle would wedge against the wall if they tried to force it through.

Their voices faded downhill.

Ayari glanced toward the entrance. “Someone will have to untie it.”

“Probably,” Nia said.

“I heard three people make that same argument this week.”

Sareth watched Nia move the last browned piece into the clean bowl.

She stepped away from the hearth. “Your turn.”

Sareth took the raw-meat spoon and transferred part of the remaining meat into the pot. He stopped before crowding the surface, looked at the pieces already cooking, then returned the spoon to the raw side with meat still left in the bowl.

Nia continued rinsing the roots instead of commenting.

His hand moved toward the cooking spoon once, then stopped. He watched the meat while Ayari pulled loose fibers from the damaged basket strap and tucked them into the bottom of her basket.

The meat hissed against the hot surface. Sareth leaned closer enough to smell without putting his face over the pot.

“The wet smell is fading.”

“Yes.”

He waited another few breaths before his hand moved toward the spoon.

“Not yet,” Nia said. “What are you smelling?”

“Meat and fat.”

“Wait for the browned smell underneath that.”

He stayed where he was until his expression shifted. “I smell it now.”

“Turn one.”

Sareth turned the nearest piece. The underside had browned, though less evenly than Nia’s first batch.

He studied it before touching the others. “The edge is darker.”

“That side was closer to the strongest heat.”

Sareth looked at the pot and then at the hearth beneath it. “I usually stir from the center outward.”

“Do that later. Right now, turn the pieces that are ready and leave the pale ones where they are.”

He followed the instruction without rushing. Two pieces needed more time, while another had browned faster than the rest. Sareth moved that one into the clean bowl instead of leaving it in the pot while he waited.

“Good,” Nia said as she finished rinsing the last root.

Ayari glanced over from the basket. “He will remember that you said that.”

Sareth gave her a brief look before returning his attention to the pot.

When the last pale piece finally browned, he moved it into the clean bowl and looked at the remaining raw meat.

“Again?”

“Again.”

This time he waited for the pot to regain heat before using the raw-meat spoon to add the final batch. He put in fewer pieces than before and left enough room that none overlapped.

Once the raw bowl was empty, Shen carried the bowl, its cover, and the raw-meat spoon to the washing side. He scrubbed all three, discarded the used water outside, reset the basin, washed his hands, then gave the cleaned items a final rinse before setting them to dry.

At the hearth, Sareth kept his attention on the second batch. The spacing was not as even as Nia’s, but the meat browned more consistently. He turned one piece too soon, saw the pale underside, and set it back against the hot surface without asking what to do.

Nia carried the washed roots to the preparation board and began cutting them while he worked.

When the second batch finished, Sareth moved the browned pieces into the clean bowl and lowered the heat.

He looked toward Nia. “Now I would normally add the roots and water.”

“Then do that.”

“You are not changing anything else?”

“Not today.”

Sareth looked at the bowl of browned meat.

“You asked why the meat in your broth tasted different from mine,” Nia said. “If I change everything else too, you will not know whether browning was the part you wanted.”

He nodded and reached for the roots she had prepared.

Nia set out dried greens from her household stores. “Use these the way you normally use yours.”

Sareth added the roots, then returned the browned meat to the pot. Shen carried the now-empty receiving bowl to the washing side while Sareth added water once the heat recovered.

Sareth separated enough dried greens for the broth and looked at Nia. “I normally put all of this in together.”

“Then do that today.”

Shen glanced toward her.

Nia saw the question in his face. “One change.”

Sareth noticed the exchange. “You would separate the stems.”

“Yes. They need longer than the leaves.”

He nodded and added the greens the way he normally did anyway.

Ayari looked over from the wall. “You are taking the one-change rule very seriously.”

“I want to taste what this change does.”

The pot simmered while Sareth washed his hands and helped move the clean bowls away from the preparation area. Nia rinsed the knife she had used for the roots and set it to dry. Shen washed the empty receiving bowl and set it with the other clean vessels before clearing the rest of the washing side.

Nia sat beside Ayari once there was nothing else she needed to cut. Sareth remained nearest the hearth, checking the pot the way he would at home.

Ayari slid the repaired basket strap over her shoulder again.

“Tovin was right about the height.”

Sareth stirred the broth. “Then leave it there.”

“He is going to mention that he was right.”

“Probably.”

Ayari adjusted the strap once more, then looked toward Nia. “Bram heard Sareth was coming here and asked whether we needed extra meat so he could practice.”

Nia laughed. “Does Bram want him to practice, or does Bram want the extra meat?”

“Both. He said Sareth should repeat it until he can do it without thinking, and he volunteered to eat whatever comes out of the pot.”

Sareth checked one of the roots with the spoon. “Bram will eat it whether I practice or not.”

Ayari smiled and left him to his cooking.

By the time the roots softened, the broth smelled deeper than the version Nia remembered from Ayari’s house. The greens had still cooked longer than Nia preferred, and the roots were still cut in Sareth’s usual size.

Sareth ladled broth into four cups and set them on the board. Shen took one when Sareth offered it. Nia took another, and Ayari accepted the third before Sareth kept the last for himself.

For several breaths they tasted without talking.

Ayari looked into her cup. “The broth tastes more like the meat.”

Sareth took another sip before nodding.

He looked toward the pot. “I thought the difference was what you added after.”

“Sometimes it is.”

“But this one starts before the water.”

“Yes.”

He drank again, slower this time.

Ayari finished her cup before anyone else. She looked inside it, then slipped the repaired market basket from her shoulder and set it back against the wall.

“Sareth, give me a little more before we leave.”

He took her cup, returned to the pot, and filled it again.