"Some did, at first." Keeper's tone suggested amusement. "But Therra would tell them, 'The ladle knows. Trust it.' And eventually, they learned she was right. The portions were always perfect. No one left hungry, but no one left uncomfortable either."
"What happened to her?" Marron asked quietly. "When the cataclysm came?"
Keeper's posture shifted, subtly. Sadness, maybe, though the mask made it hard to read.
"Ashenbright fell in the first wave," he said. "The rivers flooded, the ground split, the buildings collapsed. Therra died trying to get people to safety—carrying children to higher ground, directing people away from falling structures. The ladle survived because she'd hung it in the kitchen that morning. When the building fell, it was buried but intact."
The circle was silent, processing this.
