At dawn the next day, Aeneas, sick of slaughter, hangs Mezentius's armor on a big oak trunk as a memorial to the fallen king and as a sign of victory, and then tells his men that the time has come to march on Latinus. But first, he says, the dead must be ceremonially burned and buried, and Pallas must be returned to Pallanteum. Aeneas mourns for the slain youth and pities his father, Evander, who is unaware of his son's death. Pallas's body is placed on a bier and sent off with an escort of a thousand men, plus spoils of war, sacrificial captives, and Pallas's horse, riderless. This procession is followed by a line of mourners.
Now envoys come from Laurentum seeking a truce and asking Aeneas to allow the return of the Latin dead for burial. Aeneas grants this request, saying that he wants peace, and that he is willing to engage Turnus in single combat as a way of resolving the conflict. The Latin envoy Drancës, who is a bitter enemy of Turnus, praises Aeneas and expresses the hope that Aeneas and Latinus will become allies. During the truce, which lasts for twelve days, the Trojans and the Latins live together peacefully and honor their respective dead.
At Pallanteum, Evander and his people receive Pallas's body. The king laments that he himself did not die instead of his son, but he declares that he does not blame the Trojans for his son's death, and that he is consoled by the thought that it was for a good cause — to help the Trojans establish themselves in Latium. Evander sends back the men in the escort with a message for Aeneas: The Trojan leader owes him Turnus's death.
