The Warrior Queen's Last Stand — The Aeneid

Morning after the slaughter, Aeneas erects a trophy from Mezentius's armor on an oak trunk and tells his men that one enemy is gone while Turnus remains. He then turns from triumph to grief, preparing a funeral procession for Pallas that is as elaborate as a prince's death demands. Evander's son is carried toward Arcadia with captured prisoners, spoils, horses, and weeping attendants while Aeneas restrains his tears because the war still requires command. Latin envoys arrive under olive branches asking for a truce to bury the dead. Aeneas grants it generously, blaming the war on Turnus and offering peace if the rival will fight him alone.

He reminds them that he did not seek this war and that Latinus broke the first offer of alliance when he promised Lavinia to Turnus instead of the stranger fate had sent. For twelve days both sides gather wood, burn pyres, and mourn in parallel along the Tiber. The fields smell of smoke and sacrifice. Prisoners destined for Pallas's pyre walk in the procession, and captured arms clatter on the bier while Acoetes, the old attendant, beats his breast and cannot keep pace with grief. Evander receives his son's body in Pallanteum and collapses in silent grief before cursing the war and demanding Turnus's head as the only payment left. Inside Laurentum, Latinus convenes the council because Diomedes has refused aid and the gods clearly favor the Trojans.