Chapter 33

Ninian sat behind Cornelius's seat on the stage in his Class B, waiting for the Ceremony to begin. Today, after almost 2½ years, the war would officially end. The Ceremony was taking place in another room of the Norbulingka Palace, one where the press and a few more guests can see the signing.

The leaders of the various nations sat to either side of the podium at a table with the peace treaty in front of them. Last night every leader signed his or her name nine times. Today was for their final signatures, about twenty minutes away at noon.

The Dali Lama stood up to the podium and began the ceremony.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, fellow Leaders, members of the press, thank you for coming. Today we officially end the conflict that engulfed the world."

He stopped to let the applause go down.

"A copy of the exact treaty will be available for any who wish, however I will go over the highlights of the treaty.

"All boarders will go back to what they were before this war began. The Caliphate of Islam is to be broken up into its respective founding nations. It was agreed that the Empire of Aksum would be broken up, along with the Mongolian Empire and the Mexica Empire. In one year's time ten new nations will be born."

Again, he waited for the applause to settle before beginning again.

"A Committee of Representatives from each current nation shall make sure that the births of these nations happen without outside interference. The former nations that comprised of the Caliphate of Islam will have to pay the Roman Empire reparations in either the form of money or goods."

The Dali Lama then introduces Sultan Khayri, who talked about the hope that the nations and leaders of the future learn from this war and to settle their differences without violence.

The Dali Lama then introduced Cornelius. He talked about his hope that future generations lean towards peace instead of war.

By mere happenstance, the speeches ended one minute before noon. The Dali Lama told the leaders that at the stroke of noon they could sign their name for the final time.

At the stroke of noon, Cornelius signed his name and placed the pen down. Once all of the leaders were done the biggest applause of the ceremony happened. Attendants came out with sparkling cider and glasses. The leaders clinked their glasses together and drank. After drinking they threw their glasses on the floor shattering them. The tradition went that those glasses could not be used for anything else, as they had been part of a historic event. Therefore, it was better to shatter them.

Everyone cheered and started to shake each other's hands. Cornelius turned around and shook Ninian's hand, pulling him close at the same time.

"It's over," said Cornelius, "What say we get out of here and plan a wedding. What do you say?"

"Absolutely."