Disclaimer: Zorro belongs to ZPI and "The Arrival" was written by Robert L. McCullough and Philip John Taylor. Anything you recognize from the episode isn't mine.

Summary: The arrival of the King's Emissary causes trouble for the pueblo in general and the de la Vegas' in particular.

Author's Notes: Here we are at the beginning of the end of this nearly-eight-year-long journey and around eighteen months since I last posted a story. My apologies for the long delay, but real life got very much in my way for both good reasons and not so good ones. In any event, I hope this will be a worthy ending to this ridiculously long saga.

Also especial thanks to pamz for her transcripts. This time more than any other as it's only through them that I have any idea about the extra scenes that were in the movie version (Conspiracy of Blood) of this four part story line, since I've never been able to see it.

Also, for this last story, I thought I needed to have information that the heroes wouldn't have access to, but I didn't want to break my admittedly arbitrary rule about sticking to Victoria's and/or Diego's point of view. I hope my solution doesn't seem too odd or jarring.

For the posting schedule. "Arrival," "Death and Taxes," and "Conundrum" are divided into two parts, while "Discovery" has three. So the plan is one full episode per week, with a Tuesday/Thursday posting schedule for the first three, and a Monday/Wednesday/Friday one for the last.

And as always without Ghetto Outlaw's invaluable help, this would never have been completed or at least would have been much worse without his help.

A Question of Loyalty

(The Arrival)

Part 1

Letter to Ynez Risendo

Madrid 7 June 17–

My dear Ynez,

I have the information you seek; however, I am unconvinced that it will do you any good. You have been ill and grieving for too long. What good will it do you to confront Don Alejandro de la Vega for the wrongs you feel he has committed? The past is done; the man is in service to the King, married, and, if rumors are correct, expecting a child with her. What difference do you really think you will make with a man with his connections? Let the past go. Return to your avocation or find something else to fill the emptiness in you. You are young enough to find another husband, perhaps a widower with a child in need of a mother.

Vengeance is not your place. Let the dead rest in peace.

However, if you insist on confronting the man despite my warnings, he and his wife are currently residing with her parents at - street here in Madrid. Still, I advise you to not make this man an enemy. It will do you no good. Let the dead rest in peace.

Your uncle,

Severo Delgado

~Z~Z~Z~

Los Angeles. 18–

"Come, children," Don Alejandro said as he pulled on his riding gloves. "We might as well get to town. It wouldn't do to be late and miss the king's emissary." He impatiently mounted Dulcinea.

"Does no one know why this one is coming?" Victoria asked, as she mounted her own horse.

Felipe was already waiting a bit ahead of them.

"I doubt it's anything to do with that business of the Carvajal brothers," Don Alejandro said. "Not that he deserved the praise he got for it." He looked at his son. "I don't know what Zorro was thinking to encourage it."

"Yes, you do," Diego said evenly as they started riding. "No easier way to get the man to drop his accusation that Zorro was responsible for the whole debacle, including the brothers' deaths, and maybe no better way to get him another assignment."

"I still can't believe that it all had to do with something Luis Ramone did so many years ago," Victoria said. "The man is dead and yet still managed to cause trouble."

"And if anyone could overcome such a handicap, it would be him," Don Alejandro said.

Felipe nodded in agreement, making his sign for Ramone.

"So," Victoria said, not willing to let her original question drop. "Since it's unlikely to have anything to do with water poisoning and probably not the Indians as with the last emissary, what could this one's purpose be?"

"Could be anything," Don Alejandro said. "The last letter I got from Cecilio mentioned meeting the new emissary at a reception of the governor's but said he was more interested in asking questions about Los Angeles than going into details about why he was in California. And if the governor knew he wasn't saying anything. And that was with Magdalena doing the questioning."

"Well, then, no one was talking," Victoria said.

"We'll find out why he's here soon enough," Diego said. "Provided he's prompt in his arrival."

"Indeed," Alejandro said as he spurred his horse on, "so let's not be late in ours."

~Z~Z~Z~

"The alcalde's certainly gone all out on the decorations," Diego said as his family stood outside the tavern, watching De Soto getting prepared to speak to the lancers.

The plaza was filled with streamers and a welcoming banner, as well as a large crowd many of which Diego did not recognize.

"Yes," his father said, "though I doubt it will do much to impress the emissary. They don't get their positions by being easily impressed by anyone except possibly their betters."

"True," Victoria said. "We can only hope that this one's visit is brief and for some good cause."

"You mean for a change?" Diego asked sarcastically.

"We can hope," Victoria replied as she took his hand in hers.

Their attention turned to the alcalde who was now addressing the lancers.

"Don Gilberto Risendo will be arriving here shortly," he said as he stood before his men. "He is a special emissary from the King himself. Now, I do not know the exact nature of his mission here. But it is vital . . ."

"Importantísimo!" Mendoza exclaimed.

"Thank you, Sergeant," De Soto said dryly before getting back to his point. "That he take back to Madrid with him glowing reports of Los Angeles. And I want you to bear that in mind during his entire stay here in our charming little pueblo..."

Suddenly a voice interrupted De Soto's speech. "Charming pueblo?" a stranger in a light grey suit exclaimed. "I've seen better dung heaps in the slums of Madrid."

Like the crowd Diego was taken aback but also immediately on guard. Such an obvious blatant insult was meant for a purpose, and he had to wonder what that purpose was. He stepped closer to Victoria as he looked around the plaza trying to spot anyone who might be with this loud stranger and noticed another man in a tan suit who kept close to his side and walked like a trained fighter. This was not looking good.

The alcalde responded as indignantly as expected. "How dare you, Señor?" he exclaimed. "I beg your pardon. Identify yourself immediately."

As if he had been waiting for it, the man in the tan suit pulled out a rolled parchment and handed it to the first man who extended it to De Soto with a mild flourish. Watching as De Soto read through the document, Diego didn't need to do more than to see his changing expression to know that the insulting gentleman had to be none other than the expected emissary, Don Gilberto.

What was more painful was seeing De Soto trip over his own tongue when trying to recover from the unexpected shock. "Emissary Risendo, we... uh... we... we expected you to arrive by coach. We had a big welcome planned."

Over Risendo's sarcastic response, De Soto urged Mendoza to have the band start playing, as if that in any way could stop the disaster unfolding before them all.

However, Diego would not have predicted the next words out of the emissary's mouth.

"Arrest him," he said to his companion, who immediately started towards the alcalde.

De Soto immediately began protesting. "Emissary, I'm the alcalde of this pueblo, appointed by the King himself." He gasped as Risendo's man grabbed and twisted his arm behind his back. "Aah! Lancers!" he called out. "My men are loyal to me."

This unaccountably made the emissary more smug. "Tell that to my Royal Guardsmen," he said loudly as he turned around in the plaza.

Soldiers with weapons began emerging from the tops of the roofs of the church and other buildings, while others came rushing into the plaza from every direction. Diego was shocked at how quickly it happened and how not even he had seen any signs of such a force as they had come into town. Of course, he had not been expecting anything, but that was no true excuse to be caught so unprepared.

The Emissary apparently thought so as well as he turned on De Soto. "For a leader of a colonial garrison, you were too easily surprised, Señor. And such incompetence in service to the Crown is a felony."

While it was shocking enough to see De Soto arrested and hauled away to the cuartel, what the Emissary said next went even beyond that.

"Your alcalde will be executed at sunrise."

While the crowd was shocked into silence, Diego felt that he should have expected Victoria to jump in. She rarely reacted as others would, and it was more in her nature to speak out than be silent, even when that was the wiser decision.

"Executed?" she exclaimed as she rushed forward. "On what grounds?"

Diego, knowing there was no chance to stop her at the moment, moved up behind her preparing to do what he could to soften or divert attention from her as best he could.

"Perhaps you'd like to join your treasonous, inept alcalde?" the Emissary asked sharply.

"Treason?" Victoria asked. "What are you talking about?"

Diego wondered as well, though he wished that Victoria would calm down as things could only get worse. De Soto had done many bad things, but treason was not one of them. Not with his particular ambitions.

"Spain is embroiled in a war with France," Risendo said. "An expensive war. And your distance from Madrid does not excuse you from your obligations to the King."

"Obligations?" Victoria exclaimed. "Well, excuse me, but we pay our taxes. We pay taxes on our homes, on our crops...We pay taxes on everything."

Indignantly she looked around. Diego caught her eye for a second, but she was too furious to catch his warning as she swung back to look at the emissary.

"You will now pay a special war tax," Risendo said. "I am authorized to collect a total of ten thousand pesos."

"Ten thousand pesos?" Victoria's outrage was explosive. "On top of what we already pay, that's... that's..." Her words petered out as the emissary's companion pulled a pistol out and aimed it at her.

Diego immediately moved in front of her. This was getting too out of hand.

"Ah, Señor Emissary, I must apologize for the señora," Diego said, deliberately not identifying her as his wife, as he wanted to put the appearance of a distance between them as he worked to draw the man's attention from her to him. "She's a modern woman. Argumentative, perhaps, but fiercely loyal nonetheless."

Risendo's man lowered his pistol after a sign from the Emissary. Diego wondered if what he was about to do was incredibly foolish but he felt it would be best that if there was a de la Vega the man was to focus on, it would be him. If he made himself seem weak enough, the emissary would probably simply lock him up rather than execute him. Still...

Diego took a breath. "It's, um, a shame the war with the French goes so poorly," he said, in what he hoped was a mild and conversational tone, without the intention to offend.

Risendo rose to the bait. "Poorly? We are close to victory."

Diego assumed a confused expression. "Well, but just yesterday I received a letter from an old friend, a captain in the cavalry. He tells me that our armies are being routed."

"And just what would be the name of your friend, this captain?" Risendo demanded.

Diego ignored the question to continue. "He says that his men are laying down their arms in surrender," he said, and then an edge he had not entirely intended entered his voice. This might be going too far, but still... "After all, he should know what's he talking about. He's in the front lines, not collecting taxes in the colonies."

Risendo turned red. "I'll have his name!"

Diego shrugged. "It's really not important." Now, he could only hope his gamble would pay off.

"Lieutenant Hidalgo," Risendo said to his companion, "take this arrogant caballero to the cuartel."

Without looking around, Diego calmly walked toward the lieutenant, relieved that things had not gone worse. For the moment. Though considering that De Soto was under threat of execution, he could only hope that he would not be in jail for long.

~Z~Z~Z~

Victoria cursed herself as she saw Diego led towards the cuartel, and the emissary's men clearing the plaza of people. So much time spent learning to control her temper, and she simply lost it at the worst possible time. At the end she had managed to choke back the worst of her thoughts, but it wasn't enough. Not if Diego felt the need to draw attention to himself rather than her with the man who had condemned the alcalde to death without any trial.

She drew back, even as Don Alejandro rushed forward. She could only hope his actions wouldn't be as problematic as her own had been.

Señor!" he called out. "It's my son you have in jail."

"Then you should teach him to keep a tighter rein on his mouth," the emissary said impatiently.

Don Alejandro didn't let that stop him. "De la Vegas always speak out!" he said, then added, "I never thought I'd see the day when free speech would be denied in Los Angeles."

"De la Vega?" Don Gilberto asked, with a strange expression on his face that Victoria could not interpret. "And you would be..."

"Alejandro de la Vega, friend to the royal family," he said with pride. "Perhaps even you have heard of me?"

Don Gilberto stared at Don Alejandro for a long moment before replying. "Oh, yes, I've heard of you, Señor. I've certainly heard of you."

Victoria froze at the tone. She had hoped that her initial impression of his recognition of the de la Vega name would be in their favor, but now there was something sinister there. Or so it seemed for a long moment before with an utter change of tone the man started talking about how well remembered he was in Madrid. Victoria was bitterly reminded of De Soto's compliments to Don Alejandro when he arrived before showing his true colors. Here Don Gilberto had already shown himself to be a man of cruelty, so why the sudden warmth directed to Don Alejandro?

One of his men approached him and said something in his ear. Don Gilberto flashed an insincere smile. "Excuse me for a moment," he said. "I've something to take care of and then we can speak."

Don Alejandro huffed and turned toward Victoria. "This man is playing at something," he said.

"Yes, but what?" Victoria asked. "One moment all threats, and now... it's like some kind of game."

"Well, I'll play his game if it gets Diego out of jail," Don Alejandro said. "Just so far though." He snapped his gloves.

Victoria nodded, but then caught the eye of Felipe who was standing well back near the tavern, away from the soldiers. He made a small signal to her, "retreat."

"Excuse me, Father," she said before crossing over to Felipe.

They stood in the shelter of the porch. "What is it?" she asked.

Felipe made the sign for Diego and pointed to her and then himself and then the sign for hidden and dangerous.

"He wants us not to draw attention to ourselves," she translated. "Or in my case no more than I already have." She didn't bother asking how he'd gotten the message to Felipe. It could have been on the way to jail or even after he'd been put into it. They had a shorthand all their own that she had never been able to understand, and Felipe had already mastered the art of going unnoticed when he wanted to.

Felipe nodded. Victoria sighed. She had made too many mistakes today; she would try not to make any more. She looked across the plaza and saw the emissary emerging from the alcalde's office. He was now wearing a uniform.

"All this..." Victoria just managed to only look around the plaza rather than gesture. "... and he has to change clothes."

Felipe shrugged and signed that maybe he was hiding behind the uniform.

"You might be right," Victoria said quietly as she watched him speaking with Don Alejandro in a rather boisterously cheerful manner as they walked across the plaza and into the tavern. "He's definitely hiding something."

Though she had no intention of drawing the Emissary's attention, Victoria decided to follow Don Alejandro and Don Gilberto into the tavern. With the plaza increasingly clear, it was actually the safer place to take refuge.

As she entered, she heard Don Gilberto saying to Don Alejandro, "And your old friend, Don Jose Cabrillo. He owns five textile mills and half of Barcelona."

While her father in law had his back to her, Victoria could easily imagine the impatient look on his face from the way he set his gloves on the bar.

Don Gilberto continued speaking. "Has four sons and thirteen grandchildren. How about you, Alejandro? Any grandchildren?"

Victoria cringed a little as she made her way around the room, not liking to be the subject however obliquely of the discussion. She could now see Don Alejandro's face and his irritated expression.

"Not as yet, but my son hasn't been married long," he replied.

"Is that so? What a shame," Don Gilberto said, then an edge crept into his voice that Victoria did not understand. "I would have thought as a de la Vega, he would have acted more quickly to extend the family line."

"Well," Don Alejandro said with barely controlled temper, "he won't be doing anything about it while he's sitting in your jail."

With a rather condescending tone, Don Gilberto said, "Look how agitated you are. Something to drink, hmm?" His false smile was back.

Señor Calvillo looked at Don Alejandro for a moment. "Hernando, if you please," he said, with a more controlled tone.

With a nod, Señor Calvillo bent down and pulled out a couple of glasses and a pitcher and set them before them with thanks from her father-in-law.

Still concerned, Victoria went to look over the bottles on the table near the doorway to the kitchen, so that she could still listen without being too obvious about it.

Despite the low tones, she could hear Don Gilberto's falsely confidential tone as he spoke to her father in law.

"Don Alejandro, as a friend to the King, you know that no matter how badly the war with the French goes, we can't go telling such things to every peasant or laborer..."

"Or taxpayer?" Don Alejandro interjected dryly.

"Precisely," Don Gilberto said as if he took Don Alejandro's words as sincere agreement. "You see, we understand each other perfectly. On the other hand, uh... Diego—is that his name?—seems terribly confused by the political realities of today's world."

Victoria glanced over at Don Alejandro. He was clearly trying to keep his temper but not succeeding very well.

"Well," he replied carefully, "the foremost reality is that Diego—and that is his name—sits in your jail, doesn't he?"

"You must hold him very dear," Don Gilberto said.

Victoria wondered if he was planning some sort of deal or bargain. She turned to more fully observe the emissary as Don Alejandro spoke.

"He's my only son," he said. "We're loyal to each other," he lifted his glass in a toast "and to Spain!" He took a drink.

Again, there was a strange expression on the man's face. Was he testing Don Alejandro somehow? "In that case, he shall go free," he said with an air of magnanimity, as he drank from his own glass.

She could see her father in law nod his head before picking up his gloves and walking out the door of the tavern. Bending down to the shelf beneath the table where some napkins were, Victoria glanced sideways at the Emissary who was staring in her direction though not actually looking at her. He seemed upset by something, but what? What was it? He set his glass down on the bar and headed out the door.

Victoria breathed a sigh of relief but decided to not complicate things by following them to the jail. Things were already complicated and confusing enough. There would be time enough to figure things out once Diego was free.

At least, she hoped there would be.

~Z~Z~Z~

As Diego stood in his cell, he began regretting his getting thrown into jail, since it meant listening to De Soto's nonstop protests. Not that he could really blame the man as he was facing summary execution.

"I'm the alcalde. I'm the authority here," he was saying for the fifth or the sixth time. "He can't do this to me."

Diego finally felt he had to state the obvious. "It's my guess he planned to execute you long before he even arrived."

"Why? Why me, hmm?" De Soto asked.

More with the obvious. Diego couldn't really keep sarcasm from his voice though it was to a certain point true. "Because you're the most powerful man in the territory."

Enlightenment seemed finally to dawn on De Soto. "Oh, of course. Of course! If he hangs me, he'll be obeyed and feared by everyone without question."

Exactly. Diego had no idea what Risendo's true purpose was. It could hardly be a simple tax collection for the man to act in such an outrageous fashion. He turned as the door to the jail opened and Sergeant Mendoza entered the room.

De Soto practically rushed the bars when he saw him. "Sergeant, what's going on out there?"

Mendoza looked off kilter and upset. "Emissary Risendo has declared martial law. His men have disarmed all our lancers."

"What?" De Soto exclaimed. "He can't do that. No emissary can have such sweeping powers."

Diego agreed but wondered what they would be able to do about it. He was a little surprised to see Mendoza come over and unlock the door to his cell.

"What are you doing, Sergeant?" De Soto demanded.

Mendoza spoke hesitatingly. "He had given me direct orders to release Don Diego."

Well, at least he had been right that the Emissary wasn't particularly aiming to make too much of an example of him, though he had expected to be held longer. He stepped outside of the cell, wondering what was going on.

"What about me?" De Soto asked, grabbing onto the bars.

Mendoza hung his head a little as he answered. "I'm sorry, Alcalde."

He turned to exit the cell area ignoring De Soto calling after him, though he had not yet reached the door when Diego's father walked through it. He came over and hugged Diego as he stepped out of the cell.

Diego had hardly noticed the presence of the emissary until he spoke.

"Such devotion between a father and son," he said, disdain dripping from each syllable.

His father glared back as he responded. "De la Vegas take great pride in family loyalty."

"How inspiring," Risendo said, his contempt even stronger and more grating. "It should be a lesson to us all."

Diego had no idea what was going through the man's mind, but there was something personal there, and it raised his hackles. Almost forgetting himself, he started towards the man, only to feel his father holding him back.

"Diego. Can we go home?" he said.

Of course, and there seemed to be irony in the fact that it was his father who was better keeping his temper. Diego walked past Risendo, their gazes locked until he passed. He paused outside the door as he heard De Soto asking Risendo what would happen to him.

The response was chilling though not unexpected. "You? Why, you're going to die, of course."

Diego then hurried after his father before the man exited the cells. He had no more desire to speak to him again at the moment. Not until he figured out what he was going to do.

He saw Victoria standing across the plaza and walked to her immediately. He took her hands in his.

"Are you all right?" she asked quietly.

"I think so," he said. "Just wondering what is going on with this emissary."

"I as well," she said, glancing over at the alcalde's office, she could see Don Gilberto looking out at them. She quickly looked away, hoping Gilberto hadn't noticed her looking his way. Victoria took Diego's arm and started leading him toward their horses."Let's try to figure this out at home."

~to be continued~

End Notes:

First, back in October I made a slight change in the after "Turning the Tables" story (Chapter 7). It's a minor change in the conversation between Don Alejandro and Diego about Alejandro's courtship with Diego's mother, mainly just changing it to make the time line fit better (or in other words to correct an error I made earlier).

Here we are, the beginning of the end. It was a great challenge to determine what to keep and what to change. Some problems pretty much persisted all the way up to the time of writing, much to my frustration. I do hope that it's not as apparent here.

Also this was one case where I thought we needed some information from the villain side, but I have had a strict policy of writing this from either Diego or Victoria's perspectives, so I came up with the idea of using letters and journal extracts as a way to get around that this time around. In any event I hope it all works.

As I was rather dissatisfied with the nonexplanation of the madness of Ynez Risendo and her insane plan, I've worked my own in and hope it will make sense in time, as the full explanation will not come out until the end.

And as for Ynez's uncle's name. For anyone who's read my Zorro/Monster Squad crossover, they might recognize the name of Delgado as belonging to Dracula's right hand man Boris who in that story is also Ynez's brother. And though I'm leaving out the supernatural elements and a brother, I am keeping the Delgado name for her uncle.

The reference to the Carvajal brothers and the events surrounding them is referring to the events of the episode "As Ye Sow" which I skipped over as I didn't think there'd be much point, and I preferred to concentrate on these episodes.

Also I hadn't really noticed the fact that Gilberto changed clothes between the moment in the plaza with Don Alejandro and their speaking in the tavern. I'm not sure if that was a continuity error (of which the show was rife) or we're meant to think he went to the trouble of changing before his speaking with Don Alejandro. I actually debated whether or not to have him do that in order to take a break and pull himself together. First I decided against it, but another part just wouldn't let me drop it, so I gave in and went with it.

~Z~Z~Z~

To Lady of Imladris: Thank you for your reviews to the "My Word is My Bond" story. I'm glad you think I'm keeping them in character despite the changes that have happened along the way. And it really was interesting how Beauty and the Beast got altered and simplified over time. Also I do wish I had a better handle on Felipe; it's very frustrating to lose that important connection, yet I really do have a hard time with him. And it's always fun to return to the original.

To Guest Reviewer on Chapter 9: Thank you for your kind words about both this story and our YouTube videos. I hope you enjoy the upcoming conclusion.

To phobicrosebud on chapter 29 Thank you very much for your review. Coincidentally, I was going through a stressful time when you wrote this (including a bout of writing burn out), and it was something that helped cheer me a little and try to get back on track. And the part with the chickens is one of my favorite bits (written almost entirely by my husband; my main contribution was the names).