Atatarho, the man whose name everyone had feared, would now be the strongest defender of peace. His name would be given to his successor after his own days on earth were done. A man known as Atatarho, the Entangled One, would always head the Great League of Peace. Although he came from the Bear Clan, Atatarho’s successors would not be chosen by the Bear Clan’s clan mothers. Instead, all the Onondaga clan mothers would choose that man. Further, he and the other forty-nine royaners had to always be men of peace. If any royaner went to war, he would be stripped of his title.

One by one, other men were called forward from the five gathered nations to be royaners. Hiawatha was one of the first. His name, too, would always be passed down like that of Atatarho.

Okwaho’s heart almost burst with pride when his own father, Holds the Door Open, was called forward—as was Burnt Hair, the uncle of Tawis.

Tawis! Okwaho suddenly thought. Is he here somewhere?

He began to make his way through the crowd of happy, eager people. Almost all of them were listening intently to the Peacemaker and Hiawatha, but Okwaho could see that a group of young people near the back of the representatives of the Standing Stone Nation were sitting together under a tall pine tree on a hill near the edge of the great clearing. One of them looked familiar.

As he came closer, three men stepped in front of him.

He recognized them right away. They were the Standing Stone raiders who had tried to catch him, the ones he’d called Cold Voice, Angry Voice, and Calm Voice. And behind them, sitting on that hill under the tree, playing some kind of game with four other young people, not yet noticing his friend, was none other than Tawis.

The three big men stared down at him with serious faces. They looked dangerous and threatening, even though they were not carrying weapons. Then, to his great surprise, the three of them looked at one another and smiled. Those smiles transformed them. They no longer looked like enemies. In fact, he could see something else in their faces. Kindness.

“You are a good runner,” Cold Voice said, his voice warmer now,

“We have heard a lot about you from my new nephew,” Angry Voice said in a friendly voice that was also a bit teasing. “Almost too much!” he chuckled.

The one Okwaho had named Calm Voice nodded and then called over his shoulder.

“My son,” he called. “See who has found us.”

Tawis looked up at the sound of the man’s voice. Seeing Okwaho, he leaped to his feet.

“Skanoh, brother!” Tawis said, a wide grin on his face. “I greet you in peace.”