Chapter 10

Alejandro watched in amusement as Diego stifled a huge yawn before he even had a chance to sit down in the chair that seemed to have become a permanent fixture next to Diego's bed.

"No, no. Don't fight it." Apparently his son's brief walk had worn him out more than Diego cared to admit.

"I tried to tell you so many times."

"Shhhh. I'll be here when you wake up. Just rest." Alejandro just shook his head when Diego started to speak. Well, if he was that determined to set the record straight, who was he to stop him?

"I never thought I'd have to be Zorro this long. I thought once Ramon recanted the taxes and your execution when I first came home that he'd change. I certainly never thought I'd have to fight his successor." Diego coughed. "I'm so sorry I yelled at you, Father. You deserve so much better from me."

"It's all right, Diego. I'm sorry too." Alejandro handed Diego the cup from the nightstand and helped him to take a drink when he coughed again. Diego relaxed further into the pillows. "Diego, I am proud of you. I always have been. I just…"

"Thought I had more potential," Diego finished for him when Alejandro trailed off.

"Yes. That's it exactly. I saw how you interacted with the farmers and the vaqueros everyday. You treat them all with the same respect you do the other dons. I believed you could be a great leader in this pueblo if you just took the slightest interest. But you were already doing much more than I could have ever hoped. How wrong I was."

"I never corrected you before now."

"I should have realized. What kind of father doesn't know his own son is out riding about the countryside risking his life every night?"

"You saw exactly what I wanted you to see. Father, it wasn't just fear for my own safety that forced me to lie to you all these years. It was also fear for yours."

"Diego--"

"Father, you don't know how many near misses I've had with being captured or killed. Neither do I actually. I don't keep track." Diego winced as he shifted in the bed, and Alejandro helped him take another sip of water. "And I don't just mean soldiers."

"What?"

"There have been several bounty hunters over the years. Some have been more noteworthy than others, but threats nonetheless. Threats that would have come straight here if they had discovered my identity."

"Placing not just me, but the entire household staff in danger as well." Alejandro nodded, finally starting to understand why Diego had made the choices he had. That still didn't completely excuse the fact that Diego had lied to him for the last several years. "Why did you think you couldn't trust me?" Alejandro was proud of his less confrontational way of addressing his son.

"It was never a matter of trust."

"You trusted Felipe."

"That was different. I needed his help."

"But you didn't need mine? I'm your father, Diego."

"Can you honestly tell me you would have acted the same way when you saw me in the plaza as Zorro? That you wouldn't have rushed to my aid or called me 'Diego' in front of the crowd? The Alcalde? Or if there was a problem in town how could you start explaining why you rushed home first only to return and protest without me? Or not return at all, which would have been even more suspicious given your history of leadership in the pueblo?"

His son had obviously thought this out very thoroughly. Perhaps too thoroughly. "And if you'd been captured? Killed? What then?" he asked softly.

"It's always been a risk."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"An acceptable risk," Diego amended.

"And me? Was I to learn the truth seconds before I saw you hang before my very eyes? My only son?"

"I couldn't risk your life, Father."

"Perhaps that wasn't your choice to make."

"It was enough that I was risking my life. I couldn't risk yours too, not when you didn't have any say in the matter."

"And what was to stop the Alcalde from charging me with treason as well? He would have had every right to confiscate our home, our lands. What of our residents and shareholders?"

Diego took a deep breath. This next disclosure was going to be difficult. "I…disinherited myself," he finally whispered.

Alejandro stood up so fast he knocked his chair over with a loud crash. "You WHAT?!"

Diego held up a hand as if it would somehow ward off the incredulous look he was receiving from his father. "Only in the event of my arrest. Aside from your ignorance on the subject, it was the only other way to ensure that you wouldn't be blamed as my accomplice."

"I don't believe this." Alejandro grabbed the chair off the floor, righted it, and sank into it wearily.

"Felipe has instructions and a copy of my will just…just in case."

Suddenly, the true impact of Diego's words slammed into Alejandro like a ton of wet adobe. "You've…you never…" He was so distraught at the direction his thoughts had taken him it was difficult to even put into words. "You never expected to live long enough to tell me. To tell anyone." Diego's hesitation was all the answer he needed.

"I've prayed every day that's not the case," Diego finally answered softly after a moment of silence.

"Oh, Diego."

"Father…choosing to become Zorro…it wasn't a decision I took lightly. Your life and several others were in danger. I had to be able to act without fear of retribution from the Alcalde towards our family or the other landowners in the territory. It was the only way."

"I wish you'd told me."

"I couldn't risk it," Diego insisted again. "You've always taught me to put others' needs ahead of my own. That's all I've ever tried to do, no matter what the consequences."

"Including my deteriorating opinion of you?"

"Yes, well, that was an unavoidable, however unintended, side-effect."

"I called you a coward, Diego."

"You didn't have all the information you needed to think otherwise at the time."

"I can't even begin to imagine what you've been through, can I?"

Diego smiled. "I'd be delighted to try and explain."

ZZZ

Several hours later, Victoria and Felipe were engaged in a game of chess. Victoria stood up in surprise when Don Alejandro entered the library. Felipe stood as well, but years of conditioning himself to always wait until others acted were still dictating his actions.

"Did you need something Don Alejandro?" Victoria smiled.

"He fell asleep."

"Again? Should we be concerned? He hasn't even had any tea today."

Felipe answered. No. He usually heals pretty quickly. He just needs to rest.

"Usually?" Don Alejandro asked somewhat alarmed. Felipe suddenly found the floor quite interesting. "Felipe?" He asked sternly.

I'd rather not.

"That's just too bad, young man. Tell me." Diego had just spent the better part of an exhausting two hours detailing his exploits as the masked bandit. It appeared, however, that he'd left out a few details.

Even Victoria startled at the tone Don Alejandro used with Felipe. She fought back a chuckle when she imagined Diego on the receiving end of that tongue when he was younger.

There was the time Tornado threw him.

"Ah, yes. I knew he was too good a rider to be thrown off the old mare like that. Tell me what else." At Felipe's raised eyebrow, Don Alejandro continued. "I'm not naïve, my boy. How else has he been hurt?"

Felipe figured if he signed fast enough, maybe they would miss some things. That way he wouldn't really be lying. He didn't want to lie anymore. However, the more his father and Victoria questioned him about Zorro's activities, the more uncomfortable he became. They were Diego's accomplishments, and his brother should be the one to disclose them if he wanted to.

And Felipe seriously doubted Diego wanted to. So he started signing in a flurry of hand motions.

Snake bite, poisoned, blindness, stabbed, rockslide. The list went on, but he figured that was enough. Unfortunately, they understood everything, and they both paled with every word.

"Good heavens," Don Alejandro whispered and all but collapsed onto the sofa.

Victoria sat next to him, but Felipe could see the question forming on her face. "Who poisoned him?"

Colonel Palomarez. When Zorro snuck into the hacienda to examine the land grant.

"That explains a lot," Victoria said pensively. She'd been worried about Diego then, she recalled. He'd been shaking and dropping things and getting so dizzy Don Alejandro had to prevent him from falling over more than once. Dios.

"What really happened when Tornado threw him?" Alejandro asked.

He was leading the soldiers away from you so you could get to Monterey. A musket shot bounced off a rock near Tornado and it spooked him. He reared, and Diego fell off the cliffs at Canyon Perdido. He…I…Tornado came back to the cave and led me to him. Diego was too weak to stand, and I was too little to carry him then. It was a day and a half before we made it out of the canyon and back home.

Alejandro stood and embraced the boy in a hug. When he pulled away, he maintained a gentle grip on Felipe's shoulders. "You've taken very good care of him over the years haven't you?"

Felipe nodded. I tried.

"No doubt he owes his life to you more than once, eh?"

He's repaid the favor several times.