Chapter 9
Outside, many of the señoritas converged on the spot where Zorro had been seen. Gossip spread quickly about his sudden appearance and disappearance. The ones who had been fortunate enough to see him with their own eyes told their tales, and the ones who had not listened enraptured to every detail.
De Soto swore in disgust. He had dreaded the first sighting of Zorro by the señoritas. Having to compete with de la Vega was insulting enough. But being compared to a nefarious outlaw and coming up lacking was almost too much to take!
"Break it up, ladies. Break it up!" De Soto had dusted himself off, straightened his jacket, and was once more the alcalde doing his duty. He braved the harsh looks from some of the señoritas stoically, before finally retreating to the sidelines of the dance area. When he glanced up to see one of the señoritas holding up a length of black silk, he never even made the connection with the outlaw, so great was his own misery at having lost his chance with a good many señoritas.
The mask was held high above people's heads as Andrea made her way across the plaza toward the tavern with her prize. She wanted to show the trophy to a certain person and couldn't wait to see the reaction it would produce.
"Señorita Escalante?"
Victoria turned from her conversation with Don Emilio at the sound of her name, smiling graciously. But her face darkened as she saw Andrea. "Si, Señorita? Is there something I can do for you?"
"Oh, yes. I have something to show you."
The girl started to continue, but Victoria felt a warning tickle up her spine and quickly said, "Then come inside with me. I have something I need to do in the kitchen." Without waiting for an answer, Victoria went through the door.
Irritated, Andrea followed. She had wanted to confront the woman in front of her friends, but she found herself following Victoria up the short couple of steps and into a building she had never entered.
Inside, Victoria continued walking along the bar toward the curtained entrance to the kitchen, but Andrea caught up to her and grabbed her shoulder roughly to spin her around.
"Señorita!" Andrea called in a mocking sing-song type of voice. "Look! Zorro's mask!" The girl held up the black silk cloth in front of her face and sneered. "He gave it to me. What do you think of that?" Andrea smiled wickedly. "All those years as his woman, and he never let you see the face behind the mask. One evening with him, and he gives me this!"
Victoria's mouth fell open as she listened. Her first thought was How could he! But her mind answered quickly, He wouldn't! She sized up the girl facing her. Andrea was at least a head taller than she, and right now, she looked more than formidable.
A sudden, uncharacteristic rage seized Victoria. For one brief moment she thought very seriously about breaking the offending arm holding up the black mask. It would take very little effort. The bones would snap, and…
Andrea's face paled as she saw the look of sudden, unbridled, fierce anger facing her.
The moment passed. Victoria's conscience took over and pushed the tempting thought aside. Instead, she calmly asked the girl, "What did you do?"
"Do!" Andrea gulped, then looked at Victoria with a surprised pity. "Why, what do you think we did!" Her head tilted to the side, her cheek almost grazing her shoulder as she held the black silk to her bosom. "But then, maybe you never —"
Undeniable shock swept over Victoria.
Andrea laughed cruelly. "Oh, my! You haven't, have you!"
A loud crash came from a room at the top of the stairs, causing both girls to turn and look. Victoria was puzzled; the tavern had no overnight guests tonight. But Andrea looked back at Victoria wonderingly.
"Then again…" She pursed her lips and cooed, "Oh, I think I'll take my —"
"That is not yours!" Victoria reached for the mask and pulled.
Andrea squealed and held on tight. Victoria pushed her back, trying to get a firmer hold on the cloth. Digging in her heels, Andrea pushed back even harder. In seconds, the two girls were fighting over the piece of black silk with a fury. They pulled and pushed, grabbed any lock of hair within reach, and clawed at each other's arms, all in trying to gain the mask.
With one last great tug, Victoria felt the silk give way and heard the unmistakable sound of tearing as the mask was rent in two. Andrea went flying backwards, the wooden door breaking her fall.
Victoria froze, suddenly fearful that the girl was injured. But Andrea picked herself up, held up her half of the mask with a defiant look and ran out the door.
Victoria looked down at the small piece of the mask she still held. Torn and useless, the cloth lay there in her hand and seemed to shout at her that she had failed Zorro in some way. With a heavy heart, she turned and mounted the stairs up to her room. She certainly didn't have any desire to rejoin the celebrations. All she wanted was the solitude of her own room.
The room was totally dark when she opened the door. The light from the lanterns in the plaza could not reach her window at the back of the tavern, and tonight there was no moon. Her hands reached by habit for the tinderbox she always kept on her dressing table.
It was not there. Before her surprise even registered, she heard the familiar rustle of silk from behind her.
"I did not want you to light the candle." The deep voice came from the corner of the room behind her. "I think you know why."
"Yes." A calmness came over her and she did not even turn around toward the voice. "Your mask," she held up the small piece of cloth, "or what's left of it."
Unbelievably, she heard him chuckle. "I heard."
"Did you really let her see…" she began.
"You know better than that, I hope," he said.
Then she felt his hands on her waist and his warm breath on her right shoulder. The day's troubles dissolved into nothingness as he kissed her neck softly. For once, there was no mask in the way and she felt that, if she turned and looked, she'd know who it was that held her love, darkness or no.
"But would like to hear it from you. Did Andrea see your face?" Hating to sound like she didn't believe him, she added, "She said she did."
"Yes, she has seen my face," he whispered in her ear and felt her slump away from him. "But so have you, Querida."
"No, I haven't. The room was too dark when I entered."
"You have seen me more times than you can count."
"I have?" Her voice was full of excitement.
"Of course. And somewhere, deep inside of you, you know who I am."
"But I don't!" she objected.
In the complete darkness of the room, he turned her around to face him. "Just think, Victoria," he whispered as his arms enfolded her. "Who am I?"
He kissed her passionately once, twice, then paused for her to answer. When she didn't, he kissed her again, with a passion that bordered upon reverence. Still, she was mute, basking in his kisses.
"Do you still not know?" His voice was insistent, pleading.
And he kissed her once more, willing her to guess the answer to his question. For some reason, it was important to him, here and now, for her to finally realize what he had been trying to make her know for years without actually telling her. "You know me, Victoria. You do know me."
"I do?" It was a question, an echoing of his own words, and it was all she could manage. Her body was reeling as she wanted so much to give in to his passion. Her reserve was wavering with her desire for him.
"You know me, Victoria," he whispered with a ferocity seldom heard from him.
Even as he spoke, thoughts flitted across her mind, vying for her attention. There was something about his voice tonight, its timber, its register. There was also something about the slight scent of him as she inhaled his presence. Something so familiar…
She let her hands travel up his chest and on up to his face. For the first time, Zorro was unmasked before her, and her fingers lightly touched his face, his features still hidden to her sight.
Her fingers entwined in his hair, feeling the length of it, as she imagined its color. Dark, most probably, much like her own. It was rather straight, not curly, that she could tell. Her fingertips traced across his forehead. A little high it was, with strong brows to shade those deep blue eyes she knew so well. A strong jaw line led her fingers down to and across his mouth.
When he reached up and held her hand there so he could kiss the palm, she could feel the desperate longing in his lips for her to know him as himself. He was willing her to see his face as much as she was wishing to have it revealed to her. With eyes unseeing, she let her other senses give her information she had perhaps, until now, ignored. Pleasurable moments went by as she stood there in his arms, drinking in his presence as she'd never done before this night.
"You know who I am," he said, and as he finished the words, her eyes flew open in the darkness.
"Madre de Dios!" she uttered as recognition fired in her soul.
He smiled as she drew away from him, knowing that she had finally made a connection. Then his expression turned to confusion as she turned and walked toward her dressing table.
For a brief moment, he thought she was going to light the candle. Then she bent forward and opened one of the small drawers. When she came back to him, her hands held cool folds of silk, and he could guess what it was. This was the mask he had left with her so long ago, in the de la Vega garden.
"Here," she said simply. "You'll need this to get back to Tornado. The other one is ruined." When he hesitated, she prompted him, "Put it on."
"Victoria —"
"I think I need, for many reasons, to go back out there."
There was a pause before she heard him chuckle and say, "You are not going out there to finish your fight with Andrea?"
She laughed. "No, although she'd deserve it, the little minx."
"Victoria, you haven't said —"
"Nor am I going to. It's time you learned what it's like to be kept in the dark. Now go! I need to get ready to go back out and …celebrate."
Then he slipped out through the window with almost no sound. She waited a few minutes before feeling for the tinderbox and lighting a candle. Looking about the room, it seemed the same as she had left it a lifetime ago. But, oh, how much had changed since then!