"Before that… let us talk first."
Sandra turned her head to Maelona, who spoke with a sly, knowing expression, her eyes glittering with something unreadable beneath the surface.
Sandra glancing toward Kaelen... her gaze asking him, silently, to remain quiet. However, Kaelen straightened his posture and replied instead, his voice measured,
"What do you wish to discuss, Elder Maelona?"
Maelona lifted her chin with quiet dignity, her eyes settling on Aether,
"He has been in this place for a long time, and… who can truly say what shadows have crept into his mind? What powers might have twisted his will, or... what unseen forces may have sought to claim him?" She cast a pointed, sidelong look at Sandra, and the circle of Elders murmured and nodded, faces hardening with silent concern.
