Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate
Caliph Harun al-Mu'tasim stood overlooking the sprawling city of Baghdad. Two days of negotiation had passed since the eastern dragon first cast its shadow across the horizon.
The Caliph had signed the treaty with a hand that trembled only slightly, while his viziers watched in stunned silence. Now the eastern army was beginning its slow march westward, the ground shaking beneath the synchronized tread of a hundred thousand boots. e.
A high-ranking Arab vizier named al-Fadl knelt beside him, "Your Majesty… the treasury bleeds. The silver we surrendered could have funded ten campaigns against the Byzantines. Our merchants already whisper in the souks that the Caliphate has been humbled before the eyes of the world."
Harun ground his teeth together. He turned sharply, seizing the vizier by the collar of his silk robes and hauling him upright.
