Last King of Kings

Chapter 17: A deal to remember

Yazdegerd was seated on his throne, his very own crown on his head, clothed into ceremonial outfit, waiting patiently. On the inside, he was nervous, and his head was burning. This was the day he was meant to meet with the Roman envoy, presumably to discuss something. On his sides, two darigan members were standing there, guarding him with other few scattered all over the room. The room was big, with all sorts of decorations like flowers, armour pieces and even weapons. His throne was quite comfortable actually, covered in soft silk and the handles lined with gold. His crown, specifically made for him, was a bit heavy, but he had to bear with it. At least here, in his throne room. His clothes were official royal outfit, made from silk with ornaments and other symbols sewn on it. He waited, patiently, for around five minutes. Then, the door opened and a group of around six men entered, with four of them being bodyguards. Darigan soldiers immediately tightened their grip on their weapons, ready to defend their Shahanshah. Behind Yazdegerd was a window, into which light shined, so his face couldn't be seen clearly. The envoys knelt to show respect to the ruler of another realm. Yazdegerd didn't like these formalities that much but had to bear with it. After they knelt, Yazdegerd's crier introduced them.

"My Shahanshah, may he be immortal, Jabalah ibn al-Aiham, King of Ghassanids and an envoy from the Roman empire with his company."

Next to Jabalah, another man with very pretty clothing was kneeling. He was most likely interpreter – Jabalah seemed to not be able to speak Middle Persian. Yazdegerd decided to surprise him. Coming from a great Khosrow II. family, he was given an advanced education, even after his father's and grandfather's death. His education stopped when he ascended the throne, but he was making plans for it to continue. After all, he was still but a child, child given too much responsibilities and expectations. But when he still had his formal education, few of the subjects he had learned was Greek and Armenian languages. And he intended to make these into use.

"I welcome you, King Jabalah. I am Yazdegerd III., Shahanshah of Iran and Aniran, Emperor of all Iranians. Please, stand up."

Jabalah was clearly surprised to hear the child-emperor speak to him in a decent Greek, although with a accent. His company was clearly surprised too as they murmured a bit. Then Jabalah gestured them to stood up. And so they did.

"I thank you humbly, Your Majesty. Shall we begin?"

Jabalah tried to take control of the negotiations as fast as possible, trying to initiate the discussion. Yazdegerd slowly descended down to their company, appearing smaller and smaller, until standing there, before them, barely reaching Jabalah's shoulder. What did you expect from a nine-year-old? Apart from that, he was actually a bit higher than average nine-year-old, so that played into his cards. He gestured for a servant to come to him, whispering into his ears in Middle Persian.

"Bring me my spahbed, as quickly as possible."

Jabalah looked a bit puzzled by this but didn't think it over. He didn't understand Middle Persian, so he had his interpreter with him, but now that he knew the young Shah could speak Greek, he didn't think he was needed. And that would also stop the young Shah for bringing in anyone that would help him with negotiations, leaving Yazdegerd to Jabalah's mercy.

"Your Highness, I see you have the higher understanding of the Greek language. It seems my interpreter won't be needed then, I presume."

Yazdegerd quickly turned to Jabalah with a smile.

"Please, King Jabalah. Although I appreciate your flattering, my Greek is a bit... rusty. I don't have confidence in it."

Without saying it directly, Yazdegerd basically said he wants someone to be there with him. With Jabalah having no way to refuse, he sighed and humbly agreed. Yazdegerd once again whispered something to another servant, who just simply nodded.

"My servant here will lead you into the negotiating room. I'll join you immediately, so please, just wait a bit."

Jabalah nodded, an uneasy feeling getting to him. Then, the same servant whispering to them led them into a fancy-looking room. He and his interpreter sat onto the soft sofa with some maids bringing them jugs of wine and plates filled with dates, oranges and other fruit. They also brought a jug of water and a glass of honey. Jabalah didn't like this even a bit, so he just sat and waited.

Yazdegerd had his heavy crown removed and put back into its storage case. Then he anxiously waited for Rostam to come to him. After a minute or two, he emerged from the door to Yazdegerd's left, coming to him and kneeling.

"My Shahanshah, may he be immortal, what did you need from me?"

"Stand up, please. My dear spahbed, I will need you to accompany me as an interpreter to the negotiations with the Romans."

Rostam stood up, looking a bit surprised nodded silently.

"I bet you have a lot of experience in negotiations, so I'm sure your help would be great to have."

"You can count on me, my Shahanshah, may he be immortal."

After about ten minutes, Jabalah was starting to get anxious, when the doors opened and Yazdegerd, together with a tall man with iron expression emerged from them. Although the interpreter was already indulging himself in the wine and food that was prepared on the table, Jabalah sat still with a stern expression, observing the young Shah. He has already surprised him once with his knowledge of Greek language, so maybe he'll surprise him once again. And, maybe his Basileus wasn't so stupid. Maybe she will be in good hands here, in Persia.

"Now, gentlemen, shall we begin?" said Yazdegerd while Jabalah was still in thoughts, taking the opportunity to initiate the negotiations from him. "What is it Emperor of Romans wants from me?" added Yazdegerd.

"Ah, yes, of course, your Majesty. My Basileus wants to form a sort of contract with you. We call it a contract of cooperation, some may call it-"

"An alliance?" asked Yazdegerd, disturbing Jabalah.

"Yes, that would be it. And to forge a seal with our two countries, my Basileus offers you a gift of tremendous value. For your eyes only."

When he said that, he took out a letter from his bag and handed it to Yazdegerd. After reading the letter, Yazdegerd widened his eyes in a shock.

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