Chapter 11

Don Pedro blinked into the morning sun, and it took him some minutes to grasp the situation. On the ground before him lay Don Diego, pressing a bloodied cloth to his shoulder where his white shirt was turning red. Surprised, he dropped his sword that he had been holding loosely in his hand.

"Don Diego, what happened? How did you get there?"

"Aren't you satisfied yet, Don Pedro?" Diego snapped at him. "First, you challenge me to a duel, and now after you nearly killed me, you ask me how I got to the ground?" Diego had risen from the floor, and with a painful look he pressed his right hand with the red stained cloth to his left shoulder.

"But, but ..," he stuttered, "somehow my memories are blurred about the duel. I know we fought and then …, somehow it feels strange to me. There was your sword and its hilt was reflecting the sun..."

"The hilt was reflecting the sun? I don't know what you are talking about," Diego showed him his sword with its round hilt that was ornamented with an intricate design and didn't reflect at all.

"I don't know what came over you, Don Pedro," Don Alejandro came over to stand by his son. "Are you alright, Diego?"

"I'll manage, Father," Diego grimaced.

"It happened exactly as my son said, you wounded him in the shoulder during your fight, because my son was no match for your fighting abilities. I think you can be satisfied now - you got what you came for, my son's blood. In the name of all de la Vegas, I apologize again for the insult to your daughter, but I must ask you to leave now. I have to take care of my son."

Still shaking his head, for he couldn't imagine what had happened, Don Pedro mounted his horse to ride back from the hacienda to the tavern. Something seemed to be wrong, but he couldn't imagine what. Don Diego had no skill with the sword and he had obviously been wounded in his left shoulder, bloodying his shirt. Why should it have been different? Shaking off his thoughts, he rode back to the pueblo where he could tell his daughter and the rest of the pueblo how he had bested and injured Don Diego in the duel.

Z Z Z

At the hacienda, only the de la Vegas and Victoria knew what really had happened after Diego had disarmed Don Pedro and threatened to kill him - while the memory was lost to Don Pedro.

Diego had continued to move his sword in slow constant movement from right to left, talking to Don Pedro. "Look at the hilt, Don Pedro, as it moves from right to left and from left to right..."

It hadn't taken long until the man, captured in fear of his imminent death, was in trance by the reflecting object and Diego's mesmerizing voice, staring unfocused in the air without realizing what was going on around him.

"Do you hear me, Don Pedro?" Diego had asked him.

"Yes..," the answer had come in a monotone voice.

"You will now do as I say," Diego had commanded.

"Yes..," Don Pedro had kept on staring.

"I will now tell you what has happened this morning and it will be the truth for you - you have never been beaten by Don Diego, his talk at the table was only a trick to make you fear him."

"yes.."

"You went outside the hacienda, and then, you dueled with Don Diego. It took some time, because he was able to defend himself clumsily. Then, you unarmed him and his sword flew to the side, and then, you stabbed him in the shoulder nearly missing his heart..,"

"yes..."

"Don Pedro, when I snap my fingers you will wake up and everything will be as I told you."

"yes.."

Don Pedro continued to stand, motionless, without noticing what had been going on around him. Diego had given Felipe his sword and had signed him quietly to exchange it with another. While Felipe had fetched one of Alejandro's swords, Diego had pulled out the bottle from the laboratory that Felipe had brought him earlier. He had applied the red liquid on a cloth that he had pressed on his left shoulder, staining his white shirt with the red color. When everything had been prepared, he had lain down on the ground and had snapped with his fingers.

"Wake up now!" he had gotten Don Pedro out of his trance.

ZZZ

"Do you think Don Pedro will ever find out what really happened?" Alejandro asked his son after Don Pedro had left.

"No, he won't. I told him to forget everything, and even if he remembers he won't believe it, since it is impossible that a man without fighting skill should beat him. The outcome fits his expectations and he will be convinced that it happened exactly as we told him. This mental mind magic is a dangerous thing, and I would never have used it on anyone if I didn't have to. But it was the only way to get out of this without killing him. If he had started talking about my sword skills I would have been discovered as Zorro, and he refused any other offer. I'd never thought he would be so stubborn. "

Diego looked at his shirt and the red cloth in his hand. "Too bad I had to ruin my shirt for this charade." No longer faking an injury, Diego picked up the sword that they had exchanged for Zorro's blade while Don Pedro had been in trance.

"The coffee should be ready now. Why don't we all go back to the breakfast table and I'll answer the questions that you both have?" Diego smiled at his father, taking Victoria by the hand.

"It will be a long breakfast then, you'll have a lot to explain," Alejandro predicted. "I'm proud of you, son!" Happily, he patted Diego on the shoulder. "I never thought my son would be Zorro."

"How long have you known, Victoria?" Alejandro asked curiously.

"Only since last night." Victoria replied quietly.

"I didn't take a walk alone yesterday, instead we had a long talk and worked out our differences," Diego added, not offering any details. "So, I'm happy to tell you that Victoria has agreed to marry me as soon as possible without the alcalde becoming suspicious that I'm Zorro."

He placed a kiss on Victoria's hand, looking deeply into her eyes while she smiled at him happily. Their following kiss was kept short by Alejandro's interruption.

"Harrumph," Alejandro made himself heard. "I can see that, and I'm happy to have you in our family, Victoria." He needed no more explanation about the events of the previous night. To see his son and Victoria happy again was a great relief, no matter what the reason for their split up had been. But, from the way Diego kept Victoria close to him, he decided to keep an eye on them until they were properly married.

"But, I have many questions about Zorro, Diego, and you won't be getting away without answering a lot. And, I assume Victoria has some, too."

It took longer than breakfast to answer all the questions Victoria and Alejandro had about Zorro.

Z Z Z

Later, Diego let them into the cave, showing them the secret passage from the library.

"No wonder you had a meal ready for us that day," Victoria exclaimed, referring to the one time Zorro had brought her to his cave and later proposed to her.

Ignoring Victoria's remark, Alejandro looked around in surprise. "I know this cave. It looks exactly as in my dream. How can that be?" Turning to Victoria he said, "You must know Victoria, I once dreamed I was Zorro and went to the pueblo on Toronado, having the strangest adventure."

Victoria exchanged a look with Diego, not knowing what to say while she remembered the incident all too well. It went not unnoticed by Alejandro and he turned a little pale.

"Don't tell me, Diego, that it was all real and that I actually stumbled into your cave and put on your outfit?"

"Don't you remember, Father, when you asked me if there could be a little of Zorro in you? I told you that even Zorro needed some inspiration. You were a great inspiration to me when I created Zorro, though I could never show you in these years as Zorro." Diego tried to brush over it when he saw his father's embarrassment.

Supported by Felipe's gestures, Diego told Victoria how close she had come to discovering his secret when he had brought her to the cave that day. It was met with some laughter when he recounted all the little mishaps that he could only prevent at the very last minute. Felipe couldn't restrain himself from having some fun at Diego's expense by explaining how Diego, in his somewhat confused state of mind, had forgotten to change back into Zorro when he returned to the cave with the meal tray.

Switching to lighter topics, it became one of the happiest days for Diego. He no longer needed to pretend and hide his true self in the presence of those he loved, talking openly with everyone for the first time in years. Best of all was that he had Victoria at his side.

Victoria stayed for dinner, and they managed to sneak away from Alejandro's supervision for some long kisses in a secluded area of the garden.