Author's note: Thanks for your comments! And now... the game begins.
Chapter 6. The investigation
The next day, those who entered the pueblo square were greeted by the gloomy sight of eight bodies hanging from the garrison wall. The white-uniformed sentry standing next to them was an obvious indication of who ordered the execution of the bandits in custody. The colonel's lancers also kept watch on the inn's porch, and two of them approached each new arrival, courteously but firmly telling them to go inside.
As don Alejandro, Diego, and Victoria crossed the threshold, the young de la Vega struggled to keep calm. Inside, most of the local caballeros, a dozen small farmers and peons from the nearby haciendas were already waiting. The room filled with people unpleasantly reminded the tall caballero of Colonel Palomarez's first visit to the pueblo, and the lottery he held at that time, especially when one looked at Mendoza's mournful expression. Victoria must have thought the same, too, because the young de la Vega felt his wife's hand tighten on his sleeve. But she shook herself immediately and headed for the kitchen. There were cups and jugs in front of most of the crowd, so she wanted to make sure Pilar and her helpers were handling this gathering.
Don Esteban waved urgently for don Alejandro to join them and the young de la Vega was left alone for a while. Mendoza looked so unhappy that Diego started walking towards him.
"Are you alright, Sergeant?" He asked softly. "He threatened you with a criminal..."
"He's already dismissed us all. He did an inspection of the barracks, then a weapon inspection and…"Mendoza paused, sighing heavily.
"Your men didn't fare well?" The caballero guessed.
"No, don Diego".
Mendoza cringed slightly at the mere mention of how things went. The young de la Vega could only guess what the good-natured sergeant commanding a garrison in a tiny pueblo, where life revolved around the porch of the tavern, heard form a colonel sent from Spain, commander of the elite unit of royal lancers.
"But it's not that bad. We had our weapons taken, and we are to stay in our quarters, that's all." The mournful note in Mendoza's voice contradicted his words, but he also sounded not so much depressed as scared.
"Sergeant?" Diego did not raise his voice so as not to attract the attention of other gathered people, but he wanted to know what the sergeant was afraid of. The rebuke alone shouldn't have scared him so much, not after all these years of service with Luis Ramone as commander.
Mendoza hesitated for a moment, nervously tugging on the collar of his uniform. Finally, he took a deep breath and looked at the young de la Vega with a strange determination.
"I know they were bandits," he said, "but it was hard to watch them hang them like that. Those lancers…" he hesitated again. "They didn't care at all!"
"What are you talking about, Sergeant?"
Mendoza looked at the front door and gestured for Diego to lean over.
"The colonel called the padre at dawn," he said softly, "and gave him a quarter of an hour to pray with the desperados. And then his men took them to the wall and…"He broke off and swallowed convulsively. "These soldiers... It was as if they didn't feel anything. He ordered it to be fast, it was fast, none of them got tired."
Diego felt a cold shiver running down his spine.
"They are very, very dangerous, Don Diego, and he..." The sergeant paused because the colonel had just stood at the door of the inn.
The hustle and bustle in the hall ceased in an instant. The royal envoy walked slowly over, looking around at the people there. For a moment, to Diego seemed he seemed to be paying close attention to him, but maybe it was an illusion, because Risendo looked at everyone for a moment, as if trying to remember the faces of Los Angeles residents.
"Sergeant, to me!" He ordered as he stood at the bar counter.
Mendoza jumped up like a needle and hurried to the colonel.
"Sergeant, who is missing?"
"Nobody, Excellency!"
"All the caballeros from Los Angeles and the surrounding area are gathered here?" Risendo asked.
"Yes, colonel," don Alejandro replied. "And we would love to know..."
"All in good time, señor de la Vega," interrupted the envoy. "All in good time. For now, I am the person asking the questions here."
He waved his hand and, at this sign, the soldier standing next to the door joined him at the bar. He held a bundle of pages in his hands.
"Read on, corporal!" Risendo leaned against the counter and folded his arms over his chest.
"In a pueblo named San Luis Obispo, on the sixteenth day of this month, a man named Adan Vidal, wearing the uniform of a lieutenant in His Majesty's army, and eight soldiers accompanying him were arrested by the commander of the Presidio..." The lancer began to read the first lines on the pages. "Accused of desertion before the court of His Excellency, the Governor, the same Adan Vidal testified that he and the soldiers accompanying him belonged to the unit of captain Rodrigo Monsangre and, after the death of the latter, were on their way to Monterey to receive new assignments there..."
Diego stopped listening to the monotonous voice of the soldier for a moment. The fact that lieutenant Monsangre had been mistaken for a deserter was not so much of a surprise. Padre Benitez and the abbot made efforts to have the governor stop the captain's actions, and Diego saw in the papers remaining after de Soto a letter sent from Monterey, ordering the arrest and trial of Rodrigo Monsangre. The same letter mentioned that the soldiers of his unit should report to the nearest garrison so that they would not be considered accomplices, but Diego doubted that any of them was looking for such a chance. Monsangre gathered around him people he could trust because, like him, they did not follow the law or discipline very well. Even if they knew that their commander was in danger of being arrested, they stayed with him, presumably hoping that they would collect the profits together again before venturing into friendlier territory. But when Rodrigo died, and this Vidal took command… The lieutenant did not seem to agree with the actions of his commander, and his death could be considered a chance to return to the ranks of the army. After all, it was only Monsangre who was wanted, and only he was responsible for the kidnappings...
Movement at the far end of the inn caught Diego's attention. Pilar, Tereza, and Alicia, so far circulating with trays of cups among the guests, returned to the main hall. As they entered, they opened the curtain, and the young de la Vega saw the kitchen door behind them and two lancers standing there.
The inn was surrounded by guards.
Despite the stuffiness in the crowded room, Diego's fine hairs on the back of the neck stood on end as if ravaged by a chill. The feeling that he was trapped was so strong that he could hardly refrain from instinctively glancing up at the window under the roof, by which Zorro usually escaped. It was only now that he realized that, since the reader was a corporal, Lieutenant Hidalgo was somewhere outside, probably following the colonel's other orders. Such as making sure no one snuck out of the building. And the only question was whether the royal envoy had given such orders out of sheer prudence, taking into account the possibility of Monsangre's supposed killer escaping, or whether he wanted to keep everyone gathered inside, because he had planned something else besides an investigation...
The young de la Vega forced himself to remain calm and saw Risendo looking at him again. They met each other's eyes for a moment, but it was the envoy who looked away first.
"…was sent to investigate the circumstances of Rodrigo Monsangre's death." The corporal finished reading and put the papers back on the counter.
"So?" The colonel looked around the room openly this time. "Who will be the first to tell me how the man died?"
"Tornado killed him." Don Esteban did not hesitate to answer.
"You rebuilt houses quickly after the storm." Risendo raised his eyebrows mockingly.
Somewhere down the hall, someone snorted a nervous laugh and then fell silent. Mendoza, who had returned to his seat on the bench, shifted uneasily and looked behind, then looked back at the colonel.
"Tornado, Zorro's horse," replied the caballero. "You can ask Dr. Hernandez." He nodded at the elderly doctor sitting in the corner of the room.
"I was the one to examine the body of the deceased," the doctor said. "He had a broken neck and a crushed back of the head..."
Diego didn't listen to the description. Victoria had returned from the kitchen just before the colonel entered, so now he put his arm around her, trying to reassure her, as Hernandez related something she had witnessed.
"He got what he deserved!" Someone said from the far end of the room as the doctor finished mentioning Monsangre's injuries.
"Did he?" Risendo turned quickly in the direction from which the voice was coming. "And what did he do to deserve such death?"
"He kidnapped the children from the church's school." This time Jose Macias spoke up. A few peons echoed his affirmative grunts.
The colonel nodded as if he expected such an answer. He reached for the papers and chose one of the sheets.
"From what his lieutenant testified," he said slowly while thoughtfully rolling the paper, "Monsangre and his troops kidnapped and sold into slavery children from the Indian villages."
"Maybe they did that the second time they were here!" Another farmer's voice mingled fear of the royal envoy with anger. "But I'm no Indio, and this man took my son! If not for Zorro and señorita Escalante..."
Risendo looked towards the de la Vegas.
"So Monsangre had been here before, hasn't he?" He asked, playing with the rolled up paper.
Diego moved quickly to put himself between Victoria, his father, and the colonel. If Risendo was a good investigator, their reaction could cause him to ask questions; questions that should not be asked publicly for her sake.
"Yeah, he had been here a few weeks earlier." Don Tomaso anticipated the elder de la Vega's reply. He must have seen Diego's maneuver from his seat at the table. "It is our padre Benitez who went to the Governor after those bastards kidnapped the children."
"Interesting..." The colonel tapped the rolled-up paper on his hand. "So this is where the stubborn padre who brought the indictment against Monsangre comes from…" he said thoughtfully. "What happened to those kids? He asked unexpectedly sharply, almost growling. "You let him take them away?"
Don Tomaso straightened, but before he answered, the responses of the assembled caballeros and peons spilled over.
"They are safe, with their families..."
"Thanks to Zorro and señorita Escalante!"
"They saved them and drove that captain away!" The crowd shouted.
The memory of the kidnapping of the children unraveled the languages of their families and family friends. Though earlier distrustful and scared, now each explained why Rodrigo Monsangre deserved to die under Tornado's hooves. Victoria stood by Diego's side, erect, with her head held high, but found it more and more difficult to keep appearing calm when talking about kidnapped children. No one had mentioned what the captain and his men had done to her yet, but she was sure someone would say it sooner or later. The shame she felt at the mere thought of those events was one thing, but de Soto used her then as a weapon against Zorro. This colonel couldn't find out about that.
Diego was still hugging his wife. He could feel the he was forcing himself to stand still, and knew what he was probably afraid of. At the same time, he could see the story tellers still glancing at him, and he tried to keep an indifferent expression on his face and not betray himself with grim amusement. He could have expected it. After he killed de Soto, no one was tempted to even mention what happened to Victoria in the garrison.
For a long time, Risendo listened to the buzzing in the room with his arms folded.
"Enough!" He slapped his hand on the bar with a crack.
There was silence.
"Am I to understand," he asked Don Tomaso, "that the children of your tenants were abducted and your alcalde did nothing about it?"
"He was in league with Monsangre," replied the caballero, and people around him echoed his words in approving grunts.
"They had an old acquaintance," added don Esteban. "The second time Monsangre came here, his troops rode into the garrison unhindered, and the captain and alcalde came together to the inn. They were… They seemed friendly."
"Let me add that only after de Soto's death, in the documents that remained after him, did we find the governor's letter ordering Monsangre's arrest. The alcalde knew he was to imprison the captain if he returned, but he did not," said don Alejandro.
The previous day the envoy had not taken the best of them taking over the alcalde office, and the elder de la Vega felt he had to make him realize that by so doing, they were not going to rebel. On the contrary, the caballeros tried to rectify what de Soto had failed to do.
The colonel nodded, his lips twisted into an unpleasant scowl.
"Did I get it right?" He uttered. "Is was the innkeeper who went to demand the release of the children?"
Diego felt Victoria clenching her fists. If this envoy demands that she tell what happened in the garrison, in the face of so many people gathered...
But Risendo didn't finish speaking.
"You mighty caballeros," he looked around the room. "You're carrying swords. You got your lands from the Crown, sometimes for your war merits. Have you completely rotten here, or do you care not for the children of your tenants? In this pueblo, was only a woman brave enough to demand that the alcalde obey the law?"
"If I were in the pueblo at that time," replied don Alejandro angrily, "I would have been the first to protest!"
"But you weren't here then, right? How convenient!" Risendo sneered. He looked at the elderly de la Vega for a moment. "Who is the lady behind you, señor?" He suddenly asked.
Victoria froze for a moment. But immediately she took a deep breath and came out from behind her father-in-law, her head held high. Only Diego saw that she was holding his hands behind her back, clenched so tight that the knuckles of his fingers turned white, to still keep at least a trace of peace.
"I am doña Victoria de la Vega," she replied, forcing herself to speak loudly and confidently. "Former Victoria Escalante, the owner of this inn. And yes, I went to demand the release of the children," she added to forestall the colonel's question.
Risendo straightened and bowed unexpectedly to Victoria.
"Forgive me, doña," he said. "I should have known who you are."
He stumbled back to the counter and picked up the paper again.
"So, Monsangre showed up earlier and stayed in the garrison, and your alcalde didn't say a word when the captain's men took the children from school?" He asked. "Will someone tell me about this?"
There was no more mockery or threat in the colonel's voice, just what seemed like a friendly interest, but for a long moment there was silence in the inn. People looked uncertainly at each other and at the de la Vegs until one of the peons pushed forward. Victoria recognized him as the father of little Pablo, a boy imprisoned that day.
"I'll tell you, señor," he said. "My son was at the padre's school, he was studying..."
The peon spoke simply and clearly, determined to tell everything that had happened to his son and himself.
"If it hadn't been for the señorita, excuse me, now doña de la Vega and Zorro, the alcalde would have let this captain take our children!" He finished. "And he would have probably flogged us for protesting!"
"Really?" Risendo tilted his head slightly, as if curious. "I haven't found a mention of flogging in this pueblo in years."
"Because Zorro did not allow it!" The peon replied.
"Zorro? That outlaw in black? I had heard a few stories about him before I got here." The colonel leaned back against the counter. "And I saw the day before yesterday how he disarmed those desperados," he added, smiling broadly with obvious satisfaction. "And now you're telling me he saved the children..."
"Not only children!"
"Not only?" Risendo smiled encouragingly. "What else did he do?"
There was silence for a moment, but then Jose Macias began to talk about how Zorro had saved his family a few months earlier. The colonel listened, interrupting from time to time with questions. He moved a few coins across the bar counter, and Pilar and Tereza, who had been standing by the kitchen entrance thus far, began to circulate among the people again, distributing wine and lemonade. The envoy's undisguised interest and refreshments made the crowd forget their fears, and, by the time Jose finished, most of the people present at the inn were simply shifting from foot to foot, impatient to tell the royal envoy more stories about how Zorro had saved Los Angeles over the years and the people who live here. Fake taxes and charges, wrong sentences and fraud were mentioned, not only in relation with de Soto but also with Luis Ramone. Risendo listened, nodding occasionally or taking a sip of wine from a glass.
The caballeros in the hall were calmer, allowing farmers and peons to tell stories about Zorro. Diego, still in his corner by the wall, felt that Victoria, who was standing next to him, was slightly relaxing. No one mentioned what de Soto had accused her of, no one even hinting at it, of what happened when Monsangre and his troops detained her in the garrison. The young de la Vega himself, however, could not calm down. He had an increasingly stronger feeling that what he was seeing was a complicated trap. Mendoza was still on the bench, glancing from the colonel to the next speakers. He had already loosened the uniform around his neck, and although it seemed understandable, as it was stuffy in the crowded inn, Diego could see that the sergeant was getting more and more nervous.
The young caballero continued to stare at the envoy, trying to remember that courtyard in Madrid, and the man he had fought back then, but in vain. It had been one encounter, years earlier; a young determined soldier he had seen for the first and last time… He had no reason to remember him. And if that was the colonel after all… It was too late to run away. It had been too late even before the lancers arrived.
Finally, Risendo raised his hand.
"I've heard enough," he said. "Time goes by, and I have an investigation to complete."
People quieted, clearly expecting to hear the verdict on Monsangre's death. However, the colonel had other plans.
"Hidalgo!" He called the lieutenant.
The front door burst open and armed lancers burst through. A second group came in through the kitchen, and the shutters snapped open as the soldiers behind them shoved musket barrels into the interior.
Smiling, calm people froze in place, not knowing if shots would be fired in the next second. Risendo straightened at the bar.
"I've heard enough," he repeated, and, in his voice, there was not even a hint of the friendly interest with which he had so far addressed his interlocutors. "I came here to find out why the alcalde did not arrest Monsangre, and I see that I have run into conspiracy and murder!"
"Murder?!"
"Conspiracy?!"
As the farmers and peons had talked about the mention of Zorro before, now the accusations made by Risendo outraged the caballeros .
"What are you accusing us of, colonel?!" There was not even a hint of fear in don Alejandro's voice. "What gives you the reason for such a claim?!"
The Messenger took a step forward.
"Hidalgo!" He growled, gesturing for the lieutenant.
Two lancers burst behind don Alejandro, where the young de la Vegs stood. Victoria gasped when the soldiers pushed her away from Diego. The sudden fear, when a man in a white uniform appeared next to her, prevented her from even whispering. Her husband swung out from under the soldiers' hands, pushing the barrels of his muskets away from him, and caught her in his arms, pulling her against him and pressing her face against his shirt.
The soldier pulled the young de la Vega by the arm, but he only shook himself, focused on the trembling Victoria.
"Shh... shh... querida," he muttered soothingly.
The second lancer, seeing that the caballero was unresponsive, turned the musket in his hands and swung the butt, preparing to administer him a blow.
"Stop!" Risendo ordered.
He came closer, staring at the de la Vega couple, or rather, at the pale Victoria. Don Alejandro also pushed away from his son and daughter-in-law, turned towards him. Before he spoke, however, the colonel spoke again.
"I accuse Diego de la Vega, who is here, of the murder of Ignacio de Soto!"
Diego didn't even flinch when he heard the accusation. Victoria consumed all his attention. She was breathing more calmly, so he hoped she wouldn't get a panic attack as the one his father had told him about...
"It was an accident!" Don Alejandro protested. "And de Soto made the challenge, himself!"
"Really?" The colonel asked. "And I have to believe that Madrid's fencing champion killed his opponent by accident?" He sneered.
"What do you mean, champion?" Don Esteban asked. "Diego de la Vega..."
"This man, Diego de la Vega took part in a fencing tournament. He then defeated not only his colleagues from the university, but also other professional swordsmen." Risendo announced. "A swordsman named Edmund Kendall declared him his best student, and you must know, señores, that Kendall was considered the best of Spain, and indeed, Europe!"
The dumbfounded caballeros looked at the young de la Vega. The colonel, seeing their astonishment, smiled.
"Did you believe it will never come out?" He sneered. "That you can call upon a fencing master to become a masked outlaw to solve your problems with the dishonest alcalde?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I am talking about Zorro!" Risendo snorted.
For a moment, in the inn, one could hear only Diego's low voice, persuading Victoria to open her eyes and look at him because she was safe, but then the room was filled with shouts. People moved forward to protest such an absurd accusation. The lancers between them began to retreat, not knowing if they would be crushed by the crowd despite their weapons ready to fire. In the middle of the hall, Risendo did not take his eyes off of don Alejandro's pale face. He smiled at the older man's horror. Lieutenant Hidalgo pushed his way through the peons and stood beside the commander, pistols in both hands. Unlike him, he scanned his surroundings, as if judging whether or not to give the order to shoot.
"Enough!" The young de la Vega's voice cut through the screams.
The people fell silent. Diego was still wrapping his arms around Victoria, and now, when everyone calmed down, he pushed her slightly away from him.
"Enough," he repeated. "It was a duel, but I can't deny that de Soto is dead. And that I killed him. If I am to be punished for it, so be it. But no one, no one else," he emphasized, "can die because of what I have done! Don't provoke a clash!"
"He accuses you of being a swordsman!" Don Tomaso indicatedto Risendo standing next to him.
"Because I am, don Tomaso," replied Diego. He took a step away from Victoria. "I never said I didn't know how to wield a sword, only that I didn't think one was a good way to deal with conflicts. As you can see", he added with noticeable bitterness in his voice, "I was right."
He gently pushed his wife towards his father. Don Alejandro shook off the first shock and now he put his arm around the woman. Diego himself took a step back, allowing the soldiers to separate him from the people gathered.
It was like a nightmare for Victoria. There was no air in the stuffy room, she had the feeling that her heart was about to burst to pieces, and silver sparks appeared before her eyes. She forced herself to stand still as the lancers led Diego away. Her husband was leaving so calmly, his head bowed… She couldn't believe he'd let himself be arrested.
Don Alejandro also watched the silhouette of his son. He hoped that Diego only wanted to lull the soldiers' vigilance and that he would break free from them as soon as he was outside, where he would be able to jump on the saddle and escape. But something in his voice contradicted that idea, the bitterness with which he responded to Don Tomaso's objection made the old caballero sensed that his son would not run away. Maybe it was better that way, too. Zorro could break free and escape in the blink of an eye, but Diego de la Vega should be defenseless. Only the duel murder charge gave him a minimal chance of avoiding execution. As Zorro, he would be lost.
Risendo looked around at the people crowded against the walls.
"The caballeros gathered here came up with a plot to oppose the alcalde," he said. "And I accuse them that they led to the murder of the alcalde Ignacio de Soto!"
"What?!"
"That is nonsense!"
"You accuse us of conspiracy?"
"The fact that we did not allow..."
The shot silenced the indignant caballeros. Lieutenant Hidalgo, beside the colonel, lowered his hand with the smoking gun. The other one was still holding it significantly up.
"You've set up a conspiracy," Risendo repeated in an icy tone. "Ignacio de Soto may have been a greedy bastard who bent the law to his whims, but you led to his murder."
"We already told you that it was an accident during a duel," said don Alejandro, his tone as calm as possible.
"And I tell you that I do not believe in such a coincidence."
"Diego de la Vega cannot be Zorro," don Esteban continued.
"It will be proved," said the colonel. "Doña de la Vega," he said to Victoria in a much softer tone than a moment before.
She looked at him uncomprehendingly. She managed to contain the impulse telling her to flee the building, but she was still trembling.
"You said you owned this inn. Do you have your room here?"
She nodded silently.
"Señor de la Vega, go there with her," Risendo ordered. "And stay in this room until I call you in for questioning. Same with you, señores." He gestured towards the caballeros. "Now you will go to the rest of the rooms in the inn and stay there until I call you. Without leaving the rooms and without talking between yourselves."
"What?! Are you gonna lock us up?" Don Tomaso said indignantly.
"I'm going to find out if you are colluding or not!" I will not allow you to hide any evidence behind my back, the colonel growled impatiently. "So appreciate that I chose these quarters for you, where you will have meals and wine while you wait, instead of handcuffing everyone and having you all taken to the barracks' stables, each with a gag, so you don't talk to each other. Appreciate that I will listen to you and your arguments one by one, instead of tidying up this pueblo with one quick execution! Of course," Risendo smiled unpleasantly, "if you think this is a waste of my time, I can still order it and save myself the effort. It's noon. By dusk there's still plenty of time for the gravedigger and the padre to do their parts!"
Don Tomaso'svoice was filled with uncertainty and fear, but he still challenged the emissary. "Do you really think this is how you'll get to the bottom of what had happened? By locking us up and…"
"Tomaso, for God's sake!" Don Alejandro exploded. "Don't provoke a massacre! These are reasonable conditions! We can wait here for a few days until this is cleared up and we are freed!"
Don Tomaso lowered his head and headed for the stairs. The lancers standing there pushed a few peons away for the caballeros to climb upstairs. Legs buckled under Victoria and don Alejandro had to almost carry her. They were already at the door of the room when he heard Risendo address the remaining peons and small hosts in the room.
"I want to hear all these stories about Zorro again before I let you out of here. This time with all the details..."
X X X
In the silence prevailing in the prison, the crash of the grating behind the back resembled the crash of thunder, and its echoes between the walls seemed to reverberate endlessly. Diego walked unsteadily through the cell and fell on the bunk by the wall, as if hearing the clang of hanging keys and the creak of the prison door. He looked down at his hands and, for a moment, was surprised that they weren't trembling.
He rested his hands on his lap and slowly forced himself to relax his muscles so as not to allow an uncontrolled shudder to betray him. It wasn't easy. He had managed to hide his reaction at the inn, but now every nerve felt like a pulled string. Zorro felt he was in danger. They could lock him in a cell, he might have allowed himself to be arrested one day, but then it had been on his terms, and, before the bars were slammed behind him, he had a second exit prepared. This time, there was no way out, and he had never been called by that name before, without a mask on his face, so now his every impulse ordered him to run away.
But Diego de la Vega did not want to run away. When his wildly beating heart slowed down, and the tense tendons finally relaxed, the young caballero realized that besides the panic of being captured for being Zorro, he was also relieved that fate had decided for him. He smiled mockingly. Father and Victoria tried to make him come to terms with de Soto's death. That he would stop worrying about being a murderer. Neither of them could have expected such a turn of events. One meeting, years before, had turned against him now, and everything he had been torturing himself over during the last few days had turned out to be irrelevant.
Fate's irony! If he had not been in such a hurry with the wedding, if they had both waited a dozen more days, de Soto would have been sitting in that cell instead of him. Alive, but accused of collaborating with Monsangre and disregarding the governor's orders. Together with the evidence of the alcalde fraud, it would have put an end to his rule in Los Angeles and he would have left in chains, humiliated… just as Diego had planned. And he and Victoria would be safe, because there would be no clash between Zorro and the bandits in front of the inn, and the colonel would have never seen the black-clad rider.
If only they had waited... Diego curled up and rested his head on his hands. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that one of the lancers had remained to guard him and had no intention of letting him see what he was feeling. After a while, he lay down on the bunk bed, turning to face the wall.
Despair felt like a crushing weight as he realized the magnitude of his mistake. He and their father had wondered what might be the consequences imposed by the governor after the captain's death. They considered whether de Soto would end up recalled from Los Angeles. Zorro was one step away from a safe, peaceful life. He had a chance to live peacefully with Victoria. He wouldn't have had to kill to save her, his father, and himself from imminent execution. But he hurried up and...
Victoria was probably on the brink of collapse. His father must have been terrified of his arrest and feeling helpless… And Felipe? What would he do when he found out that he had been imprisoned, and the reason why he had been detained? He could only hope that neither of them would commit some kind of madness that would endanger their lives.
TBC.