Garsivaz, brother to King Afrasiab, rode swiftly toward the city of Balkh bearing a treasure of unimaginable wealth—lines of gold and silver coins, fine Arabian steeds, precious gems, and richly attired servants. Reaching the banks of the Oxus, he dispatched a vanguard messenger to announce his arrival to Prince Siyavash and the mighty Rostam. When Garsivaz stepped into the high court, Siyavash received him with grace and honor, rising from his throne to welcome him. Garsivaz bowed low, kissing the dust, and presented the boundless tribute sent by the Turanian king. Siyavash and Rostam hosted Garsivaz with magnificent feasts for seven days while they pondered the offer of peace.
Late into the night, Siyavash and Rostam held council in strict confidence. Rostam, ever vigilant and suspicious of Afrasiab's sudden willingness to capitulate, advised a decisive test of faith: demanding one hundred high-born Turanian nobles and kinsmen of Afrasiab as hostages, along with the complete evacuation of all occupied Iranian territories, including Soghd, Samarkand, Chach, and Spejab. At dawn, Siyavash delivered these firm terms to Garsivaz, who immediately dispatched a swift courier to his brother.
Though Afrasiab wept at the prospect of parting with a hundred of his closest blood relatives, the terror of his apocalyptic nightmare still haunted his soul. Preferring peace to annihilation, he surrendered the one hundred nobles with lavish gifts, abandoned the conquered border cities without delay, and retreated with his host to the fortress of Gang. Satisfied with these deeds, Siyavash bestowed glorious robes of honor and gilded armor upon Garsivaz, allowing him to return to Turan, while Rostam personally rode for the court of King Kavus to bring news of the triumph and the restored borders.
Yet when Rostam appeared before King Kavus and read the terms of the treaty, the king's visage darkened like pitch. In a fit of irrational fury, Kavus accused Siyavash of youthful foolishness and condemned Rostam for growing soft and succumbing to the lure of Turanian plunder. Kavus demanded that the hostages be bound in chains, the plunder burned, and the armies readied to march once more to slaughter the Turanians. Rostam stood resolute, fiercely defending the prince's honor and warning the monarch against the grave sin of breaking a solemn oath. Enraged further, Kavus accused Rostam of corrupting the young prince's warlike spirit. The king ordered Rostam to step aside and handed the command of the Iranian army to General Tus, commanding the drums of war to sound. Deeply insulted and filled with righteous wrath, Rostam turned his back on the tyrant's court, as Tus mobilized the realm's forces for renewed bloodshed.