The Peacekeeper ~ The Peacemaker Series #4

• Author: Zoe Saadia
• Kindle Edition
• Category: Historical Fiction, Native American
• 

With the Great Peace established, new laws delivered, and important agreements reached, Two Rivers and Tekeni could now sit back and enjoy the fruits of their work, watching the union of Five Nations alive and kicking, functioning, maintaining the Peacemaker’s wonderful vision. Or so they thought…

The League of Five Nations is recognised and accepted and the clans are gathering for the second time. Although Tadodaho is the appointed head of the Great Council, he is still unpredictable and very much distrusted by Teneki. Two Rivers, mistakenly, is less concerned. Tadodaho, devious and full of contempt for Two Rivers and Teneki, is determined to sabotage the Great Peace and the Second Gathering. Not content with causing unrest, he plots to discredit Two Rivers after he learns the truth behind the miracle of Two Rivers’ test of the falls.

When the Crooked Tongues people cross the Great Sparkling Water and attack a hunting party after fresh meat, it takes much self-discipline from Tekeni and Two Rivers to avoid the threat of a bloody confrontation and contain the conflict the attack provokes. Hainteroh poses a much greater risk had they but realised; he has despised Tekeni ever since Teneki and Yeentso had come to blows during the sacred ball game.  More so when it became evident Seketa had feelings for Teneki. After he and Two Rivers acted on their decision and fled the land of the Crooked Tongues, Hainteroh seized his chance with Seketa. But she refused his marriage proposal and ran away to find Teneki, taking with her the captive, Sgenedu and his sister. Hainteroh finds it hard to believe Seketa’s actions, and what he sees as her betrayal. His hatred and jealousy of Teneki burns fiercely within him.

Had it been so long since he had left his settlement, his clan and his longhouse, fleeing, disillusioned and hurt, blind with rage, her betrayal cutting into his soul, tearing it to ribbons, leaving nothing but an empty shell?  It seemed like an eternity, but at the same time, he felt as though no more than a moon or two had passed since he had seen the last of her, perched on that lonely cliff, weaving her ornaments, aloof and ethereal  and yet warm and enticing, as beautiful as always, maybe even more so because of the change.

Kahontsi, Teneki’s cousin, desperately wishes to attend the Second Gathering and when Anowara, ready to set sail, asks her if she wants to go with him she jumps at the chance. I love the way all the main characters are eventually brought together at the Gathering in the Onondaga lands, none of them aware how much their lives will change. The Gathering is not destined to run smoothly, there are disputes, clashes between individuals and attempted murder.

The Peacekeeper is an excellent end to the Peacemaker series. I’m so glad Zoe Saadia decided to take Two Rivers’ story in the direction she did, it makes perfect sense and gives a very satisfactory ending. It’s interesting, and a little sad, to learn the Peacemaker’s name wasn’t passed down or included in the members of the First Great Council. Who knows the toll the whole process would have taken but one thing is for sure, the importance and consequence of the Peacemaker’s efforts to unite the clans has resonated down through the centuries. Perhaps it’s true, and I hope it was the case, that the man who could foresee the wisdom of a peaceful existence wouldn’t be content to stay in one place in order to govern, rather he felt the need to carry on his work and spread the message further afield.

These stories bring history to life so enjoyably and realistically, weaving together fact with fiction. The huge amount of research shines through the whole of the series, along with the cultures of the clans, their everyday lives and the wonderful characters who people the stories.

My grateful thanks to Zoe Saadia for this review copy.

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