Alejandro greeted what he thought was his nephew, as Diego brought up a load of fuel for the third time. It would have been rude and suspicious if he wasn't polite and he returned the greeting, using the deep voice of Zorro, instead of his normal voice.
He couldn't believe that his own father didn't recognise him, even though he had prayed that he wouldn't. He didn't want to be doubted, to be underestimated, to be 'Diego'. He didn't want his father to shame him or to send him home, thinking him untrained and incapable.
It was his own fault of course. It still stung, and his heart was heavy. He wanted his father to be proud of him, and he was. Alejandro was proud of all the ways Diego was different, all the ways that were beyond the older man. He was unaware of all the ways Diego was the same, and Diego sometimes longed to ask for advice or to boast of his day's work with someone that knew almost exactly what he was talking about. Something Sebastian and Alonso shared every day, if they wanted to.
"You're doing better than I expected, young man," Alejandro said, peering at the young man nearby. The younger man sat in the shade, a little tired from collecting firewood, a little frustrated that the task had fallen on him.
'Alonso' said nothing. "I believe the fire pit was your own idea. The chimney effect was ingenious. How did you think it up? I have never seen anything similar before. It gives off hardly any smoke, and the flames are hot, even in the snow."
"My training covered it," was the dry reply.
Alejandro paused for a moment. His nephew had a decidedly deeper voice than his son. There was something that seemed strange.
"Have I offended you in any way, Alonso?" Alejandro said, thinking he may have found the problem.
"Offended me?" The man looked startled. "No, Uncle, of course not."
"Not feeling as well as you'd hoped?"
"Yes, that must be it," the man said. "I am feeling rather tired."
"Perhaps you should head back to the hacienda."
"No, I am fit for the mission, I'm sure of it."
He protests too much, Alejandro thought with a smile. In their small group, they would watch each other's backs, and his nephew would be safe enough. He had a sharp mind, like Diego, but unlike his son, it had followed through with action.
"Well, you did well with the firewood, son," Sebastian said, shifting from where he had been scanning the landscape for signs of activity. "The fire burns well."
"I was just saying what a strategic fire pit he made for us."
"Yes, Alonso is very adaptable to situations," Sebastian said thoughtfully. "What of your son, Alejandro?"
"Diego? Well, he is highly educated, and experiments with science and mathematics," Alejandro said thoughtfully. "He should be a fine horseman, and he had the makings of a swordsman before he went to Madrid."
"Why isn't he?"
"I don't know. Perhaps I called him back too soon. Perhaps I should have told him to stay at university, and finish his studies. He seemed to have a touch of fire about him when he first arrived home."
"What happened when he arrived home?"
"The alcalde overreacted and arrested Victoria Escalante, and then promptly arrested me. There was a moment I thought my son would challenge the alcalde, but he held himself in."
"Then what happened, Alejandro?"
"I suppose it was the fact that I am outspoken and Diego is not. He has caution and carefulness, that I could never dream of possessing. Maybe there is only room for one hothead de la Vega in Los Angeles."
"How did you get out of jail? What was Diego doing in your absence?"
"I don't know. Zorro saved me and Victoria, that's how we escaped," Alejandro said thoughtfully. Was his brother prompting him to remember something? What had Diego done in his absence? Paced the floors, no doubt. Perhaps he had penned a letter to their lawyers.
"How long had Zorro been active before this?" Sebastian said, his eyes flickering over to Diego.
"Zorro? It was his first appearance," Alejandro said. There was something in that, if he could only reason it out.
"What was that?" Diego said, in a hoarse whisper. "I'm sure I heard something."
"What? What was it?" Sebastian said, scanning the landscape, grabbing his rifle to prepare for action.
"I'm sure it came from over there," Diego said, running lightly towards the edge of the drop.
The older men joined him, jolted out of their conversation by the alarm. Sebastian shot Diego a frown and hard eyes, knowing that it had been a rouse, a distraction.
"I'm sorry, perhaps I was mistaken," Diego said, dropping his eyes.
"Don't be too angry with him, Sebastian. He's young," Alejandro said, responding to his brother's attitude. "Over excitable, so unlike Diego."
"Impetuous and unthinking, you mean," Sebastian said slowly. "At least your son has the presence of mind to think before he reacts."
"He never reacts," Alejandro said morosely. "How can two boys who seem identical in so many ways seem so opposite in attitude?"
"Go and take a watch, Alonso. I'll talk to you later," Sebastian said firmly.
"When we were younger, we were opposite in attitude at times," Sebastian added, turning to Alejandro with a slight smile. "Do you remember?"
"All those years apart, we should have thought before we reacted."
"We would have never been able to do that, not at that age. I never offered my condolences when Elena died, and I should have. You must miss her."
"She always understood Diego better than I did. He seems to take after her in so many ways, and she always knew what mischief he was planning."
"Yes, Alonso's mother was much the same. Twins often are, you know," Sebastian said, sitting down where he had been resting before the alarm.
"How did Alicia die?" Alejandro asked, gently. "I never heard."
"Bandits," Sebastian said sadly. "You'd think I could have kept her safe, but no. We were travelling with several other families, and we were surrounded. We put up a good fight, men and women too, every adult who could point and shoot. I was injured and I missed seeing the bandit that shot at me, but Alicia didn't. She protected me with her body, and gave her life for mine."
"Brave and stubborn like her sister."
"Yes, I will never forgive myself for letting her down. It was only a moment, but it changed my life forever. I should have protected her."
"I'll go and talk to Alonso," Alejandro said after a moment. "Perhaps an uncle's words will be more welcome than a father's?"
Alejandro made his way up to where they had set up the lookout point, and soon saw that it was empty. He looked carefully around for a few minutes, and went down to Sebastian.
"He's not there, Sebastian. He's gone."
"What?" Sebastian said, crossly. "Stupid fool has gone on his own. He knows where the girls are, and we are being too slow for him."
"Can we track him?"
"It should be easy enough in the snow," Sebastian said, making his way up to the lookout. Another slurry of snow was in the air, and the clear tracks were already being smudged away by the freshly fallen snow.
"Damn the boy," Sebastian said under his breath. He would have known what Alonso would have done, but Diego…? Who knows how that boy thought? He didn't know how Alejandro had missed the clues, and the evidence pointing to his own son being Zorro, but it was clear to him that was the case.
Zorro could have managed the mission well enough, but Diego with his motives so skewed was strange and unpredictable. He wanted to prove himself as Diego, but what would that really entail? Sebastian didn't know him well enough, and it was obvious Alejandro would be the same.