Chapter 5

When Diego woke, it was the next morning and he shook his head sharply to get rid of the disoriented feeling. When he attempted to sit, he found his body stiff and unaccommodating. After a few cautious movements to stretch his uncooperative limbs, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood.

Glancing down at his appearance, he grinned wryly. He looked around the room for a shirt, but then remembered that his had been cut, and covered in blood. It was likely Victoria had taken it and he would never see it again. Which was just as well; he didn't want to be reminded of yesterday's events.

Diego frowned when he was unable to locate his trousers. Vaguely, he remembered Felipe helping him to remove them. But where were they now? Diego shook his head, wishing he could remember. Victoria might have taken them to clean, but they had been covered in blood as well, likely the stains would not come out.

He checked his wounds and found them to be healing satisfactorily. They were a bit red, especially the one on his cheek, but not dangerously so. Diego paced the room, and considered sticking his head out to see if he could get someone's attention. He wanted to go to his father, but walking around the tavern in his boots and drawers would only give him added attention he did not need.

A soft knock on the door startled Diego and he made for the bed, not wanting to get caught pacing the room in such little clothing.

But Victoria didn't wait for him to invite her in. She simply walked into the room and closed the door behind her, grinning at the large man trying to quickly hide himself beneath the covers.

"Such modesty?" Victoria set the tray on the table and grinned at him. "After last night?"

Diego's brows knitted together as he pulled the coverlet to his waist. "Last night?"

Victoria gasped and stared at him, hurt filling her eyes. "You - you don't remember?"

Diego let his gaze travel the length of her body before settling once again on her face. "No. Victoria. . . I don't. . ." After a moment of silence, he asked, "Tell me we didn't?"

Victoria watched him, an unreadable expression on her face.

Diego stared at her, horrified that he couldn't remember much of the last night. Damn that tea! He was suddenly very sorry he'd ever discovered its medicinal purposes.

Victoria turned away and began arranging the food on the tray.

Diego's heart constricted. What had he done? "Victoria?"

"Yes, Diego?"

He could barely keep his voice steady as he said, "Please tell me nothing happened last night."

"A lot of things happened last night."

Diego closed his eyes but he could hear her moving the plate from one side of the tray to the other clearly annoyed that he didn't remember. He had to make this right. Somehow.

"Victoria?"

"Yes?"

"Come here," he implored softly.

When Victoria looked up at him, the hurt in her eyes nearly tore out his heart. She lifted the plate from its tray but he held up a hand to stop her.

"No, not the food. You." He held out his hand and she stared at it for a few silent moments before taking it and letting him lead her to the bed. "I'm sorry. Please forgive whatever I did last night. I don't remember. The tea - it must have a side-effect I have not yet discovered. I -"

Victoria placed her fingers over his lips to silence him. "I remembered that day in the cave even after I'd had some of that disgusting tea."

Diego shook his head, wondering, then, why his memory was so foggy. "I don't know. Victoria, please forgive -"

"Then you'll just have to ask me again. Properly this time." Her eyes twinkled as she took the keepsake box from the tray and held it out to him.

Diego hesitantly took the box and, with a questioning look at Victoria, opened it. One look inside was all it took for the memories of the previous evening to come back to him in a rush of emotion so strong that he gasped aloud. "Oh, Dios. Victoria." He reached for her hand and brought it to his lips. He wisely didn't voice another excuse, simply held her hand within his much larger one and looked into her eyes. "I will ask you again, and again, if you require it of me."

A small smile spread across Victoria's face. "Ask me as many times as it takes you to remember."

Diego leaned forward, ignoring the pain, and pulled her down to sit beside him on the bed. "Victoria Escalante, I love you. Will you marry me and let me spend my life making everything up to you?"

Victoria tried to wait, tried to make him nervous, but her excitement burst through her eyes and from her lips as she happily exclaimed, "Yes, Diego! I will marry you."

Diego slid the emerald ring onto her finger once again and drew her into his arms, uncaring as to his state of undress.

Victoria rested her cheek against his bare chest, sighing deeply. She remained in that position for a long while, simply enjoying the privacy and the feel of his warm skin beneath her cheek.

Felipe had brought Diego some extra clothes, and he changed quickly, eager to see how his father had fared through the night. Victoria shot him a teasing look before she left, clearly indicating that she would have much preferred to stay and help him dress. It would take a good long time, Diego decided, before he would get used to Victoria looking at him with more passion and desire than she had ever bestowed upon Zorro.

Now, Diego sat beside his father, watching the older man as he slept. He had checked the dressings on his father's back and was somewhat satisfied that they would heal, even though they would leave nasty scars. The older man's skin was still a bit damp, indicating that he had a slight fever but Diego was confident that the medication the doctor had prescribed along with his own indian remedy, would combat the infection appropriately.

He sat for a long while, guilt at his inability to stop what had happened, warring with the anger that it had happened at all. Despite his father's assurances to the contrary, he still shouldered the blame for everything that had happened.

When a soft knock distracted Diego from his guilty reflections, he stood and moved to the door, hoping his father would not wake. Diego's mood brightened when Victoria greeted him from the other side, she stepped in and gave him a swift kiss in the privacy of the room, before drawing him outside so they could speak without waking his father.

"Mendoza wants to speak with you. He was nervous about interrupting."

Diego nodded, conscious that the taproom downstairs was full of people. He could feel their eyes on him, but when he glanced down, no one was paying any attention to what was going on above them. Diego shook his head and followed Victoria down the stairs, realizing he was imagining things. No one else knew he was Zorro; he knew Mendoza hadn't said a word.

A few people turned to look at him as he passed but just as quickly, they returned to their conversations and Diego disappeared behind the kitchen curtain while Victoria returned to her customers.

"Oh, Don Diego!" Mendoza hastily dropped the tamale he had been enjoying and wiped his hands on a nearby towel. "How are you feeling?" He nervously glanced at Diego's cheek.

"Oh, far better than my father and the alcalde." Diego smiled kindly, remembering that he didn't have to pretend with the Sergeant anymore. The man knew his secret.

"Oh, sí," Mendoza said, glancing at his feet.

"What was it you wanted to speak to me about?" Diego asked after a moment of silence.

"Oh, well," Mendoza began uncomfortably. "Thackery, I can't keep him gagged forever. I have to feed him."

Diego grinned wryly. "Don't starve the man. I think we should just let him say what he wants. You, Victoria, my father and myself were the only witnesses. And if we -" Diego broke off as Victoria slipped into the kitchen and then continued when he knew it was safe to do so. "If we can keep our stories straight, I think the alcalde will believe us over Thackery."

"What story are we going to give him?" Victoria asked, stopping beside Diego and sliding her hand into his.

Diego let his gaze linger on her face for a moment before squeezing her hand.

"Well, since the alcalde was unconscious when the second duel began, we can just say that Zorro dropped in and finished it for me."

"And then left before the lancers burst through the doors," Victoria added with an excited bounce. She pulled her hand out of Diego's as Pilar hurried into the kitchen, carrying a tray full of bowls.

Victoria took them and dropped them into the water heating over the fire pit while Pilar ladled more soup into waiting bowls and returned to the taproom.

"That sounds like a good plan," Mendoza agreed.

"Then go relieve your guilt and feed your prisoner." Diego clasped Mendoza on the shoulder.

"Sí, I feel bad about starving him. But - until we came up with a plan, I didn't want to remove the gag."

"We have one now," Diego forced a smile to his lips. "Don't worry about anything. It will turn out the way it is supposed to."

The moment Mendoza hurried out of the kitchen, Victoria turned toward Diego, an accusatory gleam in her eyes. "You may be able to fool Mendoza, but I know what to look for now - you don't believe it will turn out all right, do you?"

Diego gave her a wry smile. "We will cross that bridge when we come to it. If Ignacio chooses to believe Thackery -"

"He won't." Victoria stepped into his arms and hugged him close. "I am not letting you go so easily."

Diego lifted her chin with his finger and stared into her eyes. The words he'd thought to say to reassure her were lost as she leaned against his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist.

He backed into the doorway to the storage room so they would not be instantly seen by anyone walking into the kitchen. He craved the closeness, but knew that if they were caught, it would raise more questions than they were prepared to answer.

When Victoria's hands snaked around his neck and slid into his hair, he leaned his forehead against hers and sighed.

Diego pressed his lips to her forehead and whispered, "Soon."

But Victoria had other ideas. She pushed him further into the storage room and pressed her body against his.

With a low groan he gathered her into his arms and kissed her hungrily.

Their moment was interrupted as a commotion began in the taproom. Diego reluctantly released his lady pressing one last, lingering kiss to her lips before pushing her out of the storeroom.

She chuckled and gazed back at him before hurrying through the curtain to see what all the excitement was about.

"How nice of you to finally remove that filthy rag from my mouth," Thackery sneered at Mendoza through his cell bars. "No doubt placed there so I would not reveal Zorro's identity."

"Eat your tamale's, Señor," Mendoza said slowly. "They looked good today. I almost tested them for you to make sure Señorita Escalante didn't poison them."

Thackery glanced down at the fork poised in front of his mouth. "She wouldn't dare."

"Oh, no, probably not." Mendoza shrugged a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "But you never know what a woman threatened with the death of the man she loves will do."

Thackery dropped his fork and pushed the plate as far away from him on the tray as possible. "Get me something else to eat."

"Oh no, Señor," Mendoza smiled politely. "That is what's for breakfast today."

"Then I will starve." Thackery stood and hurled the tray toward the bars.

Mendoza shrugged and turned to walk away.

"Clean that up!" Thackery ordered, as if he were the commandante of the garrison himself.

Mendoza turned slowly, his eyes narrowing. "Maybe you should learn not to dirty your small living quarters. After all, you might be here a while."

"I am an English nobleman! How dare you treat me like this!"

Before Mendoza could answer, another voice, much stronger and more confident came from the direction of the alcalde's office.

"Oh, the alcalde treats everyone in his jail the same. You are not receiving any preferential treatment." Diego de la Vega strode through the door and closed it behind him, smiling as he looked at Thackery's unhappy state.

"What do you want?"

Diego grinned. "Oh, I thought you would want to know that the alcalde will make a full recovery. He's already grumbling about hanging you." Diego cocked his head and glanced sidelong at Mendoza before turning his attention back to Thackery. "I mentioned that a firing squad would be much more painful. After all, the lancers are incredibly poor shots. They could merely wound you so badly you would beg to be put out of your misery."

"He wouldn't dare."

Diego leaned forward and slid his fingers around the bars. "You whipped an upstanding member of this community and you tried to kill the alcalde of this pueblo. Did you expect him to let you walk out without so much as a scratch?"

Thackery glanced down at his own healing cuts and thrust his head into the air confidently. "He will want to hear what I have to say."

"Oh yes, I can't wait to see his reaction when you reveal your news," Diego answered with a confidence he didn't truly feel. It would do no good for Thackery to see how nervous he truly was over this revelation.

Thackery laughed. "It will be you standing in front of a firing squad instead of me!"

"Oh, I doubt that."

Thackery's eyes narrowed.

"You see," Diego leaned against the bars and crossed his arms, oblivious to Mendoza's wide eyed stare. "The alcalde is more likely to believe his own citizens than the ravings of a man bent on providing any name to avoid a death sentence."

Thackery scowled. "What do you want?"

Diego grinned. "I want a great many things. The first of which is for you to leave this pueblo and never to return. But since you chose not to heed Zorro's warning last time, I have no reason to believe you will do so now."

"So you intend to kill me yourself to keep me from revealing your identity?"

"If that were my intent," Diego said with an undertone of disgust, "you would already be dead."

"Coward," Thackery turned to look out the bared window.

Diego said nothing but his lips twisted in a customary self-deprecating smile. Yes, the word had been used to describe him many times. He was used to hearing it now.

Sensing the conversation was at an end, Diego changed the subject as he moved toward the door. "I urge you to eat the meals Victoria provides. She is the best cook in the territory."

Thackery glared at the caballero's back as he walked out of the room, Mendoza at his heels.

TBC

Jkl88 – Yes, I particularly liked writing Victoria's little bit of revenge with the tea:)

Trollie – I'm waiting impatiently for the next chapter . . . :) I wasn't evil in the last chapter, I was nice. But, that will end, don't worry :)

Madamag – Change in de Soto? Of course, but, probably not in the way you anticipate….

Beverly – Thanks for the comments. Glad you're still enjoying this.