The Grand elders looked at Markan and didn't know how to react. After all, Markan was supposed to be the current leader of the organization. He should be having the status and power that the other young man is so daringly flaunting and everything Markan has obtained has been obtained with truthful methods following all the rules and traditions of the organization.
They thought he died and just gave the power to someone else. When they looked at Markan's face which is completely unfamiliar with them, they felt a bit less burdened by this as they were not completely at fault.
Granted they should have investigated more and looked into the incident on why it happened all of a sudden and why Markan disappeared without a trace, they just gave the position to the next best candidate since they felt that digging into the old matters is not worth it anymore. There is no one to question it anyway.
