Esfandyar

Upon receiving Rostam's noble yet resolute message, Prince Bahman turned back alongside his pure-hearted mobad. Rostam lingered in thought for a moment before calling forth his brother Zavareh and his son Faramarz. He charged them to ride swiftly to Zal the White-Haired and the grandees of Kabolstan, commanding that royal halls be adorned with golden thrones and brocaded garments of Kianian kings, surpassing even the splendor of King Kavus's court. He urged them to prepare exquisite feasts, for the King's prince had arrived—a formidable, fearless warrior who would not hesitate before a plain filled with lions. Rostam hoped for peace, declaring himself ready to bestow rubies, gold, weapons, and treasure upon the prince; yet he warned that if turned away in dishonor, dark days would dawn, for his bound lasso could pull down even a raging war elephant.

Zavareh reassured his brother, counseling that a man of Esfandiyar's great wisdom and renown would not seek mindless slaughter without cause. Leaving Zavareh to ride toward Zal and prepare the feast, Rostam mounted Rakhsh and rode swiftly to the banks of the surging Hirmand River—unarmed, wearing neither coat of mail nor helmet, and carrying neither mace nor lasso. Reining in his steed at the waterside, he stood waiting for the prince's greeting.

Meanwhile, Bahman reached the royal pavilion and stood before Esfandiyar. When the prince inquired of Rostam's answer, Bahman recounted all he had witnessed—describing Rostam's lion heart, elephantine body, and matchless grandeur, adding that the champion now waited unarmed at the riverbank out of eager desire to meet the prince. Esfandiyar flared with sudden fury, humiliating Bahman before the assembled nobles. He chided his son for listening to childish fears and magnifying Rostam's stature as if trembling at a fox's howl. Yet, turning aside to his wise brother Peshotan, Esfandiyar privately marveled at how Rostam seemed unaffected by the passage of time, bearing himself with the unbroken vigor of youth.