The elven woman gave a small nod once the final vote was spoken. "Then it is decided."
Her voice did not rise, yet it settled over the chamber with the same weight as a seal pressed into hot wax. "For the houses that voted against this proposal, let it be stated clearly that this new power will not interfere in your internal affairs. Its existence will not alter the privileges of the Eight, nor will it be allowed to trespass into matters that belong to your families."
She paused briefly before continuing. "If there had been any true danger to the balance of the Eight, the Elders would not have allowed this possibility to reach the floor of the Council at all."
That much was true. No matter how much power sat around that obsidian table, everyone there understood that the Elders did not place certain ideas before the Eight unless they had already measured the consequences from every angle worth fearing.
Then, unexpectedly, Lysaria spoke. "Then I would like to change my vote."
