The members of the delegation exchanged stunned looks, doubting their own ears.
Littlefinger's smile froze for half a second, and a sharp gleam flashed through the depths of his eyes.
So easily?
Liu Qian took in all their expressions and said with a mocking smile, "I haven't finished speaking."
The delegates' hearts lurched.
He tilted his head slightly.
Mezzo, standing in attendance beside him, slowly drew a thick roll of parchment from his wide sleeve, then passed it down the steps without expression.
Duke Eddard stepped forward and reached out with a sword-callused hand to accept the scroll.
It felt cold in his hand.
He untied the cord and slowly unrolled it, the parchment making a dry rustling sound.
His gaze fell on the densely packed clauses, heavy with ink. After scanning only a few lines, his already stern, long face turned pale.
His muscles tensed, his palms trembling uncontrollably, and the knuckles of the fingers gripping the scroll whitened with the force of his grip.
The Seven Kingdoms shall pay one million gold dragons in compensation for the unprovoked attack on Bloodstone Island.
"-The Seven Kingdoms shall cede Estermont and Tarth, along with their surrounding territorial waters."
"The Seven Kingdoms shall exempt all goods traded with the Stepstones from customs duties for thirty years."
There were a full hundred clauses and more.
Every line demanded gold, land, and trading privileges.
How was this a peace agreement?
It was plainly a treaty imposed at swordpoint, written in the humiliation of the defeated.
"Agree to these terms, and we can welcome the dawn of peace..."
Liu Qian's voice drifted down from the dais, carrying a trace of languor.
At those words, Duke Eddard's face went from pale to ashen.
He raised his gray eyes, steeped in the icy cold of the