Persephone remained calm. Despite her personal feelings on the matter at hand and the fact that some of what the nobles were saying was valid and some decidedly not, she allowed her father to handle the situation through Lord Votis. His voice had completely failed him now and Lord Votis was forced to climb the steps to His Majesty's chair and then speak out his words.

When Keikelius spoke, it was a simple enough response. That the king appreciated his words of support on the subject but for his concerns to not be such; for women could be sent as baronesses to provinces too; such as Persephone herself or Sanasa of Antonis. He acquiesced to the Lord Stravos' words that such a practice was indeed less common than to send boys into such roles but that there was time enough for such practices to change and for the daughters of nobles to start taking up such roles - provided they were under the instruction, guidance and tutorship of a steward or male relative until able to handle the responsibilities themselves with their husbands.

When Lord Alehandros spoke, Persephone was the most surprised. The man had made it clear he had no ambition for the throne - had never had any such goals - and had spoken with her father at length on the legislation vote. They had been strongly believing the man to vote in their favour. Specifically, because of the strength of the female members of the House of Antonis. Her father had mentioned Lysta already but there was also Vasia - a confident young woman of military mind - and Lord Alehandros' daughters themselves. Including Sanasa, baroness to her own province.

If the law did change and something untoward happened to the current line, it was not such a large step for the inheritance to pass to Alehandros again. And with the new rules of inheritance, his daughters would then become Queen. He seemed to not care for such things and seemed instead focused on insult, despite the king having spoken to him on this subject at great length and made it clear insult had nothing to do with it. This was not a debate on whether Persephone or Alehandros should rule. It was a debate on whether the law should change for future generations and future families.

When Alehandros had finished speaking, the king gave no reaction to his apparent turn around on the subject and, instead, addressed his concerns in turn. First, stated that, once again, that this was not an insult to the Antonis family and he put forward the rhetorical question of whether Alehandros would have issue with the law change suggested if he were king and it were his daughters who had the chance to inherit the legacy he had forged. Minas then turned the subject back to that of hand by confirming that this was not a personal debate or issue between the current Houses -

"-this is a debate on whether or not future heirs who have learnt at the hand of their parents - who are arguably more equipped and well trained to handle the role of monarch - are given preference in the line of inheritance regardless of gender. We are currently in a position - as I said before - where we have a perfect male heir to our throne... This is not a suggestion against any of the heirs presented in our current time. But there have been times where this is not the case and there will be such times again. And during those dark times, I can assure you that such a policy change as this would be unlikely to be put to you for democratic discussion."

Translation: if a current law supports the ascension of a bad king, you cannot wait for that bad king to be ruling in order to realise this fault and change it. Only in times of peace can you make valid choices on how to stop a war. Whilst it would, obviously, affect the lives of many people within the room, it was not for the benefit of Persephone or Alehandros or even for Antonis or Xanthos that such a ruling was being suggested... That was what the king was saying.

When Alehandros spoke of the refusal for the line of succession to variate from the current Xanthos, Persephone worked hard to keep her expression calm. This was simply arrogance speaking. As far as she was concerned, the best person for the job should be placed on the throne. Alehandros could be that person. But Elias could not. And the current law supported each of them in equal measure - one after the other. It didn't matter what their name was or what House they belonged to. Persephone couldn't have cared less about becoming Queen if Alehandros had sons. All she intended to do was keep the rule of the kingdom out of the hands of people like the Stravos or other such power-hungry politicians. And the daughters of kings would have the training and benevolence to do that - in the same way their sons do. Because an heir who has always expected to take the throne, as child of a monarch, did not have to scheme to get it.

On the topic of names, Minas spoke up, thanking Alehandros for his contribution to the discussion and making a lenience and acceptance.

"Perhaps we should consider that all future female heirs, provided their betrotheds are of Athenian descent, will take their husband's name regardless of marital discussions?" The king suggested. "Such a process coincides with our current laws and would stop a singular family from - as you say - claiming the honour of being our monarch..."

Persephone disliked the suggestion - not because it was a bad one, it actually made a lot of sense. But because it pandered to the pride and arrogance of the men in the room who just wanted their Name on the throne - regardless of who it was attached to and whether they were right or appropriate.

When the conversation moved to Lord Panos, Persephone felt a flicker of panic in her gut. This was supposed to be the discussion portion of the Senate. The bit in which people talked back and forth, worked out the issues and the kinks in a plan, before finalising it into something to be voted on. And yet the Lords weren't waiting. They were voting straight away after expressing their opinions.

She knew it was childish but Persephone felt hurt. She had been running the country now for several months in her father's stead - most of the room were aware of this. And yet not a single person seemed to wish to show support for her efforts. Instead, focusing on the honour or pride of those males whom the law would cut out. One of whom had always expressed that he never wanted the throne and another just accused of treason.

She felt a little of her faith die. Amazing how these men could be purported to be calm, objective and able to see all sides of the argument... they could claim their faith in a king who had never led them astray before... and yet now - when push came to shove and they were asked to step a little outside of their comfort zone of tradition and support the horrendous and scandalous notion of a woman on their throne - a woman who had been handling matters for months anyway - when there was nothing in their laws to previously prohibit it? Well... shocker. Everyone had something to say.

Men.

Frustration started to gnaw when the Lord Panos stood and started to counter Alehandros regarding the name change. Suggesting that the law would only support Xanthos rule until Persephone married. Instead of this becoming a means of support for the law change, however, the man managed to turn it into yet another reason against it. How was a law supposedly wrong on both accounts?

When Panos talked of female mortality and lack of military experience, Persephone admitted to herself that these were interesting and good points, but she also highly supported her father when he - through Votis - spoke up against them

"Such an eventuality - death to a Queen in childbirth - is the same threat it has always been." Minas commented. "In which case her husband would rule and any living children would take the throne, as they do now. This should cause no disturbance or issue. As for the military expertise..." Minas paused to gain his breath as Votis spoke out his words. "This is again of no dissimilar issue as now. We have had Queens before, do not forget. And we have had Kings with no military experience. This is not something without precedent. Our proposal to change the law simply offers the opportunity for it to become less rare. But if this is a concern for you Lord Panos, we could always discuss the addition of any female heir being required to marry before her coronation?"

Persephone glanced at her father, frustrated at this suggestion but understanding its benefit. If these men couldn't get over their assumptions that a Queen could not rule alone - despite it not being illegal anyway - she knew that offering them this stipulation put many of their arguments to bed. As Kings and Queens ruled with equal power in Athenia, regardless of bloodline, a married female heir would be no different to a married male heir taking the throne. All it would do would ensure a more direct line of succession, down the divine bloodline.

There was little the King could say in reference to Nikolaos' comments. The man mentioned history and pointed out his own House's importance within it and then proceeded to vote against the law change after flattering their vassal to soften the blow.

It was not a blow of sorts, however, for Persephone knew the Nikolaos to be an independent House. The other Xanthos provinces were loyal to a fault and would each vote in favour of the law change, anyway.

What frustrated her the most was the lords use of emotive language. "Brothers against brothers"? This was the Senate. Where debate and discussion - sometimes angry and sometimes heated - was had. Where else were men supposed to trade words on this subject? The language was pure emotional blackmail and even Persephone saw it was weak. She thought nothing on the subject and the King simply thanks Nikolaos for their contribution, assuring them that they should absolutely vote in the way they most believed in, no matter their vassaldom.

By the time discussions had passed, the King had made two considerations to the law, to behove the nobles' concerns and alleviate their worries.

Firstly, he had agreed that a change in law should be made that, instead of it being a matter to be discussed during marital talks, any female heir marrying a male within a Royal Dynasteia had to take the name of her husband, allowing other Houses the chance to have their sigil fly on the royal banners. If it was a man of lower status or a foreign noble, however, then they would have to take the heir's name - in order to ensure that the throne did not fall out of Athenian hands.

Secondly, it was decided that woman had to be married to take the throne. This allowed for a male of equal power to rule beside her and effectively ensure that none of the aforementioned pitfalls were an issue in the early days of a Queen's reign, prior to marriage; she would already have her king in place. As no kingdom could be without a monarch, even in the current death of their current head, it was also decided that no woman who was neither married nor betrothed could be considered a true heir until such a time that she was. And she would be passed over at the time of succession if she was not married when her parents passed.

Such leniencies were made in a way that most in the room would recognise has having no effect on current lines - Persephone was already engaged - except to cancel out Princess Emilia from the line of succession until a time where she married or became betrothed. But it was an allowance by the king on the part of his own proposed law, specifically due to the concerns of the nobles.

That has the grant us some credit... Persephone had to hope.

With the first noble Varonos having spoken, the floodgates then opened to the noble levels of society. Lord Votis kept the hall calm so that everyone could speak when they should and Persephone was pleased to note that her and Aimias's research on everyone had not been inaccurate...

With the championing of Keikelius and the allegations against Elias, all of the Stravos provinces were on the side of the law change. This held zero surprises and was better than expected. Whilst they had hoped that some of the Stravos would be swayed to vote in their favour through a desire to be seen as separate from the accused traitor, it was Keikelius' words that had the rest of them following suit. Whether to cover their behinds or offer loyalty to either Xanthos or Stravos, it didn't matter. All of the provinces voted in their favour. Which was a third of the kingdom already.

The rest of the Xanthos provinces - Laconis' baron and Persephone's steward - voted as expected. And within Marikas, most sided loyally with the opinion of their Head of Dynasteia. Only a few - provinces known to be independent or who had impressive sons that could marry potential female heirs, or daughters who were highly respected in a way that swayed the minds of their fathers - voted for the change.

And when it came to the Antonis House, Aimias' intelligence was not wrong. The lands were divided. Antonis were well known for being a fair and devout beneficiary of their vassals which meant that many did not vote in fear or under concerns for Antonis' retribution. Some voted for the change. Some suggested additional edits that were denied. Some voted distinctly in favour of their patron House's wishes.

Persephone felt her breath quicken as she did the maths in her head. They already had Lord Votis and Lord Aimias's votes as Masters, as well as Keikelius' and all of the Stravos provinces. Two of the three Xanthos lands had voted in their favour and nearly half of Antonis...

That was it.

They had the majority, didn't they?!

Persephone thought she might break something - possibly a rib - if she wasn't able to speak to do something soon. But she also knew that if she was to show herself as emotional or excessive, it would only encourage those who were on the fence to vote against any vote that placed her in a position of higher power. So, she stayed quiet. She stayed firm. She remained in her mother's seat and did nothing as Lord Votis - despite everyone having followed the first noblemen's leads and voting with their comments - asked for the official show of hands.

There was a moment of deathly quiet around the hall as hands - scarily close in number - were lifted both in favour and against and Lord Votis was the man who stood at the front and counted. Then each of the scribes did the same. They conferred and wrote down the names of the men to whom each hand belonged... It was all a formal proceeding that was required and one that Persephone knew to be important but she could help wanting to run down there, shake them and tell them to hurry.

By the time Votis came back to the centre of the speaker's dais, Persephone's stomach was in notes and she thought her spine might snap. Then her world changed with four, simple words...

"The motion is passed." Confirmed Lord Votis.