The Keeper listens to Madern’s request without visible offense.
“You may take what you need,” she says. “I would not deny you what brought you here.”
Her gaze drifts briefly toward the Amberheart trees overhead, the pale fruit hanging in stillness among the branches.
“You may gather them now,” she continues, “though they will not long remain as they are. Nothing here does, once my influence is no longer upon it.”
A faint sadness settles into her expression, but there is no resistance in it.
“This grove will wither,” she says simply. “Not at once. But it will change, as everything outside does.”
A pause, and she says, "And perhaps, that is as it should be."