Death Feud 14

Diego de la Vega was still sitting on the patio with his friend Bernardo, but his mind wasn't on the game of chess they played anymore. For once, he wasn't able to shrug off his father's words. They were haunting him like the pain in his shoulder. He sighed.

Bernardo looked up at his young master. He could very well imagine what was going on inside of him. First, the letter from Toledano that seemed to tell Diego his secret was found out. Next, his father suggested the same both in words about the letter and with subtle hints. Yet he still continued to treat his son like a major disappointment. Admittedly, Diego pushed his father into voicing these words by acting like a cowardly, irresponsible scholar most of the time. Still, it must hurt.

Now he had just learned his fiancée and her brother knew about Zorro. Diego had no real time to digest this knowledge, as he had to keep up appearances despite an injured shoulder and bruised ribs. Bernardo was sure Diego would have loved to tell his father where he was and what he did. Undoubtedly, the old don would be proud of his offspring then, but Diego wanted to protect his father, and deemed it better not to tell him.

Bernardo watched his friend, staring at the chessboard, deeply absorbed in thoughts. He didn't even seem to hear horses arriving at the gate. Only when the gate opened and the visitors entered the patio did Diego look up. A smile formed on his face and his eyes lit up, but a touch of uncertainty prevailed.

"Soledad, Raúl," Diego called, getting up to greet his friends. "It's good to see you both. I had no idea you were back, Raúl," he continued, hoping Raúl would take the hint that the walls had ears and they should keep pretending none of them knew who Zorro was. Raúl caught on immediately and went to hug his friend, albeit gently, without the shoulder slapping. Still, he didn't miss Diego tensing and holding his breath for a moment.

"It's good to be home, my friend," Raúl said cheerfully. "Are you in pain?" he added softly, just for Diego's ears. Diego merely blinked his eyes and smiled. Then he went to his fiancée and pressed a kiss on her hand.

"Buenos dias, Soledad," Diego smiled, unable to take his eyes off her happy face. Before he could try to find out how much Soledad had told Raúl about what happened in his absence, the latter grinned.

"What is this, Diego? Don't you greet your bride with a real kiss? We're not in public, are we?" Chuckling, he looked around as if to find out if there were any other people about but the four of them. He was rewarded with both Diego and Soledad blushing.

"So you know that, too," Diego recovered. Raúl shrugged, grinning.

"You shouldn't have given her the ring if you wanted to keep it a secret."

"Touché," Diego laughed, proceeding to give Soledad a chaste kiss on the lips. "And now, my friends, my father would lecture me even more if I failed to invite you to sit." He gestured to the chairs he had just moments before vacated himself. Then, signing to Bernardo, he instructed the mozo to get more glasses.

As soon as Bernardo had left the patio, Raúl pulled his chair right up to Diego's, who had taken a seat next to Soledad. "How are you feeling, my friend?"

"Just a bit sore," Diego said softly. Raúl gave him an unbelieving look. "Alright, it does hurt. But it's nothing I can't handle. Now quit treating me like an invalid or my father will catch on. Then again, it would stop him from reciting all my shortcomings."

"What did he say, Diego?" Soledad asked. Diego simply shook his head.

"It doesn't matter. I can't really blame him, can I?"

"You could tell him," Raúl suggested. Diego slowly shook his head.

"No, I can't. He'd worry every time he can't find me and I'd worry he'd give the game away even if he doesn't mean to, by calling me on my name or so. It's a risk I can't take."

"Well, we know," Raúl chipped in.

"And you better see you keep that knowledge locked away my dear brother, else I might be tempted to suture your lips closed," Soledad chimed in and laughed at her brother's horrified expression. Then he joined in laughing, when Bernardo returned with the glasses.

"To health," Raúl proposed, surreptitiously glancing at Diego's injured shoulder when everyone sipped on the wine. They finished their glasses in quiet, each one pursuing his or her own thoughts.

Raúl set down his glass on the table with a small thud and got up. Diego and Soledad looked up at him in surprise, with Bernardo lifting his head in delay, looking confused from one person to another.

"Soledad, don't you have a task to perform in town?" Raúl asked his sister, who nodded. "Then why don't we all go together? I feel like sitting in the tavern discussing certain upcoming things," he held up his left hand wiggling the finger which would carry his wedding band. Soledad blushed, wishing she knew why. A glance to Diego showed him grinning at her, lovingly.

"In addition to that I think on the way we could talk a bit more freely. Are you coming, Diego?" Diego cast a quick glimpse at Bernardo who stared back blankly. A smile tugged on Diego's lips and he almost burst out laughing.

"We will come," he chuckled. "We'll meet you in front."

As Soledad and Raúl returned to their horses, Diego looked again at Bernardo, who was now grinning as well.

"What do you think, my friend, must we tell them your secret, too?" Diego asked with a twinkle in his eyes, looking kind of roguish. Bernardo knotted his eyebrows as if considering the option. Then he grinned and nodded.

***ZzZ***

Capitán Arturo Toledano was sitting in the office, thinking. A moment ago, a courier had delivered an envelope containing information from Monterey concerning the attacks; he had requested them once he'd learned of the attack on his own garrison. The capitán sent a private to fetch Sergeant Garcia and Corporal Reyes. He opened the envelope and withdrew the sheets, finding a list of all soldiers in the King's Army whose initials were C. S. and who had some sort of problem with the governor during his mandate.

Next to the names, it stated if the soldiers were still on duty or not, where they had served and their age. Toledano estimated the man at about forty to forty-five, and circled all the names that were in this category. Two, who had the right age, had died on duty, narrowing the list down to six names. He crossed out another three names because they had never served in Southern California and marked two names as highly likely since they had been stationed in San Diego, where the crusade had started. A knock on the door heralded the return of the sergeant.

"Come in, Sergeant. But note that there's no need to knock on your own office's door," Toledano greeted Garcia, nodding towards Corporal Reyes. Garcia blushed slightly.

"Si, mi capitán," he saluted. "I have the information from the innkeeper that you requested, Capitán. And Privates Nuñez and Gomez are riding to Santa Ana to gather the log of the inn from the night of the attack there."

"Very good, Sergeant," Toledano said, taking the note from Garcia's hands. He studied it a moment and then waved for Garcia and Reyes to come closer. He put his list and the note next to each other. "Now, Garcia, would you mind reading those names for me?"

Garcia squinted his eyes, adjusting them to the light. "Cristobál Sanchez, Calisto Sola. And the note says the man in the inn was Calisto Carvalho."

Toledano nodded. "Sergeant, how many people do you know that are called Calisto?" Both the sergeant and the corporal obviously started thinking, a sight which almost made Toledano chuckle.

"I don't think I've ever known someone with that name," Garcia finally said with Reyes nodding his sincere agreement.

"It's a rather unusual name, that's right. I think the chances are high we've identified our fiend. I'm sure in Santa Ana he either signed his real name or this alias. We will find out when Nuñez and Gomez return. And I'm sure if we look into the San Diego log it will be the same. No identification papers were found in his room yet?"

"No, mi capitán. But Sanchez and Casillas are still searching."

"Bueno," Toledano sounded happy. "Sergeant, Corporal, I'm ready for lunch. Won't you join me in the tavern?"

"Gracias," both of them beamed in unison, delighted that the capitán invited them to the tavern.

***ZzZ***

Don Alejandro de la Vega had been pacing up and down in the library, trying to figure out his son. On the one hand, he was the perfect gentleman; well read, intelligent, caring and always aware of the necessary etiquette. On the other hand, in the same moment he could be the most dense, oblivious and irritating person he'd come across so far

Somehow all this didn't go together. It didn't make sense. As a boy, Diego was never clumsy, or dense, or even oblivious. He'd still been learning his etiquette but he had shown a natural instinct to behave proper at the right time. He'd been daring, dashing, adventurous, flamboyant, roguish, with a fine sense for justice. In fact, if he hadn't seen his son act so foppish at times, these qualities he'd possessed as a boy sounded very much like a certain black clad outlaw.

When he had stormed past his son earlier on, he'd seen fatigue in his features, but he also recognised the tension that flew through his son's body. Almost like Diego was trying to steel himself for the onslaught of accusations. Alejandro had also seen pain in Diego's eyes. But he didn't know if it was physical pain, a pain caused by his words or maybe both.

"This charade has to come to an end," Don Alejandro murmured to himself. Determined, he strode onto the patio to ask his son squarely if he was Zorro. But the patio was deserted. The soft clatter of hooves in the distance drew the old man to the patio gate. Peering through it, he saw the small posse, including his son, riding towards the pueblo.

Maybe it was for the better, Don Alejandro pondered. Maybe he'd better confront his son with his suspicions in cold blood, when the time was right. Maybe after the upcoming wedding, when everyone was relaxed.

***ZzZ***

Bernardo was riding a bit behind Diego and his friends, listening to the light conversation they shared. Raúl told them about the trip and how they heard of the happenings that spurred his decision to ride on ahead. Then he told Diego that he was expecting his bride and father-in-law to arrive sometime that day.

When the outskirts of the pueblo came into view, Diego reined in his palomino, waiting for Bernardo to be next to him. Raúl and Soledad had noticed his move and halted, turning their horses. "Something wrong?" Raúl wondered.

"Not really," Diego explained. "There's just something you should be aware of. Since you now know about my... being Zorro," it sounded strange to Diego to tell that to someone other than Bernardo and he felt somewhat self-conscious, "you should also learn Bernardo's secret. As much as he is mute, he isn't really..."

"Deaf," Soledad finished Diego's confession. The latter looked up sharply, unable to hide his surprise.

"...deaf, si. Soledad, how," Diego struggled for words. "How did you know?" The knowledge that his fiancée not only claimed she knew he was Zorro a good while, but also knew about Bernardo not being deaf, scared him. Bernardo's expression betrayed matching emotions whereas Raúl looked thunderstruck. Either his bride was extremely perceptive to figure out all these secrets in such a short time, while he managed to keep everyone else off his trail, except perhaps for Monastario, or they were getting very careless, presenting a real threat to their lives.

"I didn't," Soledad confessed. "I admit, I was suspicious once or twice when I thought Bernardo reacted to something that was said that he couldn't have understood if he were deaf, but he played his part so well at other times, that I believed I was seeing things. But the moment you started to talk just now, I knew where you were headed." She smiled at Diego reassuringly, reveling in the stunned expression on his handsome face.

"Wow," Raúl managed to squeeze out. "That's a real... shocker. I just don't know what shocks me more, the fact that Bernardo is such a good actor or that my sister seems to know everything."

Diego began chuckling at Raúl's words and Bernardo and Soledad joined in. Finally, even Raúl couldn't keep a straight face anymore. "Alright, is there anything else I should know?"

"My father doesn't know," Diego said, sobering. "And I would like to keep it that way, for the time being at least. He doesn't know any part of this." The siblings exchanged a glance and then nodded, giving a silent promise to keep the secrets quiet.

"Last one to reach the plaza buys the wine," Raúl suddenly shouted, pulling his horse around, galloping ahead. His friends gave chase immediately, trying to catch up with his chestnut steed.

***ZzZ***

Raúl returned to the table with two bottles of wine and four mugs. He might have had a head start in his little race but he hadn't considered the fact that his horse had had a hard and long ride earlier in the day. Smiling at his friends, he put down the items and sat next to Bernardo, who started pouring for everyone.

"I asked Teo to bring a big platter of tamales for us, hope it meets your agreement," Raúl started. Soledad nodded eagerly, she was really hungry, since she'd had an early breakfast. Raúl and Diego were equally famished as both of them didn't have breakfast at all. "So, to start off, I would like to know how it came to my sister wearing your ring, my friend," Raúl demanded playfully, grinning at Diego.

Diego shot a brief glance at his fiancée and at her smile began the story. "Well, you could say, your sister and my father trapped me..."

"Wait a minute," Raúl interjected. "Trapped you? As in, you didn't want to?" He frowned.

"No, no," Diego quickly added, holding his hands up in an apology. "I did want to ask Soledad. I've been wanting to ask her for quite some time already, but," he sighed, looking around in the not yet overly crowded tavern, "I didn't really know how to go about it, due to you know what." Raúl bobbed his head in understanding. Diego proceeded to tell the rest of the story, taking Soledad's hand into his all the while. When he had finished, spot on, Maria arrived with the tamales and the conversation at their table died down for a good while.

***ZzZ***

Arturo Toledano entered the tavern, Sergeant Garcia and the corporal in tow, quickly scanning who was there. His gaze fell on a foursome sitting at a table in the far corner of the tavern and the capitán smiled, recognising Diego de la Vega. It was a smile of pleasure to see his friend as much as seeing him obviously being alright. He gestured his fellow soldiers to take a seat on another table and strode over to greet the young don.

An unknown man sitting with them looked up as he approached, and the conversation ebbed down. Seeing his companion staring at someone behind him, Diego turned and smiled.

"Capitán Toledano," the young man greeted him with a smile, "it's a pleasure to see you." While speaking, Diego had risen and stood to shake the capitán's hand. Taking it, Toledano smiled back at Diego.

"It's even better to see you, Don Diego," he said sincerely, glancing at the rest of the party. He knew Don Diego's manservant Bernardo, and the señorita at the de la Vega's side he recognized as his fiancée. He couldn't miss the anxious flicker in her eyes. The fourth member, the man who had noticed his presence first, seemed to be scrutinizing him. Diego, noticing the stare between the men, piped up.

"Forgive me, Capitán, where are my manners? You know Bernardo, and this here is my fiancée, Soledad Fabregás...," Diego noticed a smile exchanging between the two and trailed off.

"We've met, Diego. Your father introduced her when we encountered her while retrieving the body of the man who caused the attacks on the garrisons. I had no idea that you've finally met your match." Diego stared a moment, not knowing what to make of this. He caught Soledad's giggle and shook his head, smiling.

"I should forego reading past my bedtime," Diego said ruefully, "maybe then I could have introduced my bride myself. As things are, I hope I can introduce her brother, Raúl, to you. He'd been serving in the army a while back, but now he's serving his rancho."

Raúl rose and took Toledano's hand, smiling. "It's good to meet you, Capitán." Toledano nodded, sizing the man up. Going on first impressions it was a pity the man had ended his military career prematurely. He seemed to have everything to become a high-ranking officer.

"As much as I would like to have a talk with you, Señores, Señorita, I've promised the good men over there lunch. I hope to make up for this another time. Con permiso?" Toledano smiled again and, turning, he patted Diego on the shoulder. The man stiffened and paled slightly, sucking in a breath. A frown appeared on Toledano's forehead.

"Are you alright, Don Diego?" His concern was audible even to Raúl.

"It's nothing," Diego replied tightly. "I must have dozed off while reading and fallen out of my bed," he came up with the first best explanation his pain-filled brain could conjure up.

Toledano nodded, thoughtfully. "I hope the soreness will pass soon," he expressed and finally left to join Garcia and Reyes.

"Diego?" Soledad hissed, her voice low.

"I'm alright, it will pass," he tried to reassure her, mustering a smile. Yet he couldn't keep the pain out of his eyes.