A young, beautiful and brilliant Aztec princess believes a Spanish conquistador is the god who has come to liberate her people. Together, they unite an army, conquer an empire, fall in love — and unleash a new world whose birth threatens to destroy them both.
SYNOPSIS
THE KEEPER OF THE WATCH
In the year Reed One, an ancient prophecy foretells the return of Quetzalcoatl, the Plumed Serpent—the god who will return to free the people of Mexico from oppression.
Princess Malintzín, the Keeper of the Watch, has devoted her life to awaiting his return. Her people are suffering under the brutal rule of Aztec Emperor Moctezuma, whose empire is built on conquest, slavery, and the ritual sacrifice of thousands. Among the victims is Malintzín’s own father.
When Hernán Cortés and his Spanish soldiers arrive from across the sea on the prophesied year, Malintzín is convinced that the prophecy has been fulfilled. To her, Cortés—with his strange weapons, metal armor, terrifying horses, and seemingly supernatural power—is Quetzalcoatl returned.
Cortés quickly recognizes Malintzín’s intelligence and makes her his translator. But she soon becomes far more important: his guide to the languages, customs, rivalries, and military secrets of an unknown continent. Through Malintzín, Cortés discovers that the mighty Aztec Empire is surrounded by conquered peoples who are ready to revolt against Moctezuma.
As Malintzín helps Cortés navigate a world on the brink of war, an intense and unexpected love develops between them. Together, they forge an alliance between the Spanish and thousands of indigenous warriors who join Cortés in his march toward Tenochtitlán, the magnificent capital of the Aztec Empire.
With every victory, Cortés’s legend grows. When he destroys the idols of the indigenous gods and they fail to protect themselves, many begin to believe he truly is the returning Plumed Serpent. Cortés, driven by ambition and the promise of wealth, power, and glory from the Spanish king, begins to wonder if the prophecy may be true.
But Malintzín’s dream of liberation becomes increasingly complicated. The Spanish may destroy the Aztec Empire, but they may also replace one form of oppression with another. As the march toward Tenochtitlán becomes a campaign of conquest, Malintzín is forced to choose between her love for Cortés, her loyalty to her people, and the future of the child they bring into the world—the first mestizo of the New World.
At the heart of the struggle is a city of unimaginable beauty and wealth, defended by a powerful empire and surrounded by enemies hungry for revenge. The final confrontation will decide the fate of an entire civilization—and place Malintzín, Cortés, and their child in mortal peril.
THE KEEPER OF THE WATCH is an epic historical drama about the collision of two worlds and the extraordinary woman who stands at its center. It is a story of ambition, faith, love, war, and the terrible cost of changing history.
When the god she has spent her life awaiting finally appears, Malintzín must discover whether he has truly come to save her people—or whether salvation will depend on the courage to question the prophecy itself.
