"How long has he been here?" Diego inquired when he returned to the cave, at being informed by Felipe that Gilberto waited for the Count in the library.

"For about an hour. He refuses to leave until he talks to you!" The boy signed his reply. "And has been wandering around the house until I sent Quaro to make sure he stays put. He's planning something!"

"I see…" Diego uttered. "And Emmanuel? He's not back from San Pedro yet?"

Felipe shook his head.

"Alright," the caballero said. "I guess time has come to confront Risendo… I'll go talk to him. Please make sure Tornado is properly stabled and gets some food."

After washing himself, Diego put on his fake beard and wig, as well as one of the Count's suits he kept in the cave, then exited through the back, heading for the house.

" Don Gilberto!" The Count greeted the visitor at entering through the main door.

"Your Excellency," the young man said, standing up after having just sat down.

The servant, who had let the former Emissary in and was now guarding him, bowed at his master and left the room.

The Count glanced at him as he left, then invited Gilberto to sit down again. "Are you here to see me or Don Alejandro? I fear he hasn't returned yet…"

"Oh? May I ask where he is?" Risendo asked out of pure curiosity.

"Some friends of his arrived yesterday, and they decided to head for El Canyon de las Piedras to capture a man they had been pursuing since their youth. Some traitor responsible for the death of Don Alejandro's brother."

"Cordoba?"

The Count looked at him attentively. He didn't expect Gilberto to know the name of the thug, but he wasn't very surprised that he did, either. "Yes. I believe that is his name."

Gilberto also looked carefully at him, his eyes sparkling as an idea came to him."What if I told you I have it on good authority that it was not Cordoba but Don Alejandro who shot his brother in the back?" He asked.

The Count chuckled, then suddenly seemed to become confused. "Oh…" he said, "you're serious? You want me to believe that it was not a criminal pursued over the entire territory of Nueva España, a man with a 2,000 pesos bounty on his head, the one who shot Don Alfonso, but his own brother? Well, then, both he and his men, who have all offered me detailed accounts of Cordoba's deeds, must be very convincing liars, I must say. Not to mention they surely wasted all those years pursuing the man…"

"There were witnesses?"

"Yes. Four former soldiers in the unit he had once commanded. The friends I have mentioned earlier. They very clearly remember how Cordoba betrayed them, shot Don Alfonso de la Vega in the back, then ran away from the battlefield."

Gilberto shook his head a few times, then leaned back in his chair, pensively.

"So, you see," the Count continued, "I fear your source of information might not be very trustworthy, Don Gilberto."

"I trust it far more than I trust yours –"

"Yet my source are direct witnesses. Can you say the same?"

"No… No, but –"

"In my experience, the more convincing someone tells a lie, the more of an expert said person is at lying," the Count cut him off to utter. "Take you, for example," he continued.

"Me?"

"Yes. Not long ago, you told Señorita Escalante that you wanted to talk to her about Don Diego. You were convincing enough for her to believe you, though, what you truly meant was to poison her."

"What are you talking about?" Gilberto asked, outraged, leaning forward. "I never tried to do such thing!"

"Yet Zorro brought me a small vial he had found on you that night. I am a bit of a chemist, you see, and –"

"So you truly are in league with that outlaw… I should have known it all along…" Gilberto interrupted him to say.

"Perhaps you haven't heard. Zorro is no longer an outlaw," the Count stated. "You, on the other hand, will soon be one… It's the least you deserve, after all…"

"What I deserve?"

"Yes." The Count answered calmly. "For all the harm you have caused, in Spain and here."

Gilberto stood up at that. "So… You finally reveal yourself!" He said. "You are the enemy lurking in the shadows, set about to bring my demise…"

"Your demise will not be my doing, but your own, Señor! Not that I will enjoy it any less…"

Risendo let out a short, frustrated chuckle at that. "I doubt you'll be alive to see it!" He said spitefully. "Name a time and a place!"

The Count laughed. "You wish to challenge me to a duel?"

"A man of honor would accept!"

"Very well… Then, how about here and now. My gardens would do nicely… I assume you prefer swords?"

Gilberto nodded and, after the Count asked Quaro to bring him two swords, they both exited to the courtyard, and headed for a large meadow among some nearby trees. Felipe and the servant followed them worriedly.

After saluting, the duel started, both men attacking at once. For a couple of minutes, as they were assessing each other's weaknesses and strengths, it seemed as though they were just practicing, their movements faster with each passing moment.

"I'd rather you stayed away from my Blush Noisettes," the Count uttered at some point, after Gilberto accidently cut off some pink roses, then found himself tangled in the bush.

He freed himself but the rose also made sure to take its revenge, causing the young man several scratches on his hands and neck.

Furious, Gilberto attacked his adversary with all his skill and might.

Now their swords seemed to dance with one another, as all of Risendo's attacks fell precisely on his adversary's sword as the man seemed able to anticipate his every move.

As he started to tire, though, Risendo's attacks became less powerful, and soon the Count took the initiative. As he did, the former emissary found himself forced back towards the rose bushes. Then, as he lost focus for just one second, the Count drew the first blood. Gilberto gave a short growl at feeling a deep cut in his upper right arm.

"This one is for Victoria," Don Sebastian said.

"I never harmed her!" Gilberto replied.

"No? Did you not arrange for her fiancé to be arrested and sent to Chateau d'If to live out the rest of his days? Did you not order De Soto to release those thugs who took her hostage?"

"How do you know all that?"

The count didn't answer, just smiled, though Gilberto could clearly see the pure fury in his eyes.

"You will never prove a thing!" Risendo said.

"I don't need to. I know what you did, and that is enough."

"Victoria was not hurt by any of my actions!" Gilberto again claimed.

"The wounds of the heart are just as painful as those of the body.… Besides, let's be honest here! Your latest plan, had you been able to go through with it, would have led to her death. So don't claim you never tried to hurt her! You didn't succeed because you were caught red-handed."

"What are you talking about?"

"You wanted to give her Dorodurma…" The Count said as he restarted his attacks.

"Dorodurma?" Gilberto defended himself and tried unsuccessfully to retake the initiative.

The Count parried, and, taking advantage of Risendo's increasingly painful moves, soon managed to cause his sword to fall to the ground.

His adversary looked at it in dismay.

"It's no use pretending," the Count said as he allowed him to retrieve his weapon, then restarted his attacks. "I told you Zorro brought me the substance you wanted to pour in her wine. Doctor Hernandez helped me figure out exactly what it was, so there's no doubt about it."

"It was a sleeping potion!"

"A sleeping potion? True, it does have such effect. After all, it had once been use to put to sleep women who needed to undergo a caesarian while giving birth. But don't pretend you didn't know it was found to be deadly decades ago!"

"Deadly? What?" Gilberto seemed genuinely dumbfounded.

The Count paused his attacks as he replied, taking a few steps back, though never letting his guard down. "Doctors had long since known that Durodurma caused infertility and gut cancer. True, it is slow acting; it allows those taking it 13-14 more years of life. But that hardly matters. It's a death sentence, nevertheless; the reason why no one is using it anymore."

"I…"Gilberto seemed confused. "I didn't know that… I knew it was a sleeping drug, nothing more…"

"Then your mother – for I am quite certain that she was the one who gave it to you – didn't see it fit to tell you the truth about that substance?"

Risendo reacted at that by attacking furiously. "Why would you think it was my mother?" He asked.

"Because," the Count replied as he again drew blood, then caused Gilberto's sword to fly from his hand, the weapon falling some ten feet away, "there is one thing I have been finding strange since having found out about the effects of that powder of yours… I find it strange that Doña Elena, Don Alejandro's late wife, was never able to conceive again after your mother helped her deliver her son, then perished of gut cancer some fourteen years after giving birth. Quite a coincidence, don't you think so?"

Gilberto, who had been putting pressure on his second wound, and was about to retrieve his sword, just remained there, shaking his head. "No!" He uttered just for himself, before turning towards the Count. "I don't know what you are trying to imply but…"

"I am wondering, though…" The nobleman continued his train of thought. "What reason would your mother have had to give that young woman such a substance? There were no complications when she gave birth… I first thought it might have been her intention to steal the baby while the mother was unconscious. But, seeing how she didn't… Well… There must be another explanation…"

The fight was clearly over by this point, as Risendo remained frozen in place, just staring at the Count. "A woman could give birth and not even know it…" He muttered – the words his mother once said as she told him of the effects her "sleeping powder" could have on women.

Fariz was the only one close enough to hear him.

Glancing at his adversary with a strange expression, as if he could not even see him anymore, Gilberto abandoned the fight and hurried toward his horse.

"I thought you wanted to fight!" The Count shouted as he watched him leave. A spiteful look in his eyes, he then recovered the other sword and returned it, together with his own, to the servant who had been worriedly watching the duel.

"Are you alright?" Fariz signed to ask.

"Yes… No… I don't know, Felipe." He said. "I must be going mad. I almost confessed to him who I was. Had the duel lasted longer, I probably would have…"

Again the boy signed.

"You are right," his guardian replied. "I no longer have any reason to hide. He is defeated. But men can be even more dangerous when they have nothing left to lose. While I have yet to uncover the reason for his actions; the reasons for his mother's actions against my parents, he must not know who I truly am." With that, he guided Felipe towards the house.

After making himself presentable, the young nobleman sent his ward to have his coach ready to take him to the pueblo.

As for Fariz, as soon as the Count exited the main gate, the boy mounted his horse and headed towards the Risendo's Hacienda.

ZZZ

Gilberto entered his house slamming the door. Glancing around, he called for his mother. She did not reply. Instead, on a table, he found a note from her, mentioning some terrible news brought by a patrol passing by and begging him to go to the pueblo as soon as he saw it.

He read it, then left it back where he had found it, heading towards her room. Once there, he removed a couple of floorboards to reveal the metal box in the space underneath them. Taking it out, he opened it to find a series of letters, all neatly stacked and bound with a cord. Using a dagger to cut it, he started reading them.

The first ones were just simple love letters, though written in bad grammar. They were all signed "Antonio." He perused some of them, then, realizing they were in chronological order, he opened the last one, the one that seemed to have been read the most as the time affected it far worse than the others. After he read it, he put it down, then looked at the other letters there.

Trying to decide which to read and which to ignore, he found one dated February 19th, 1788 – the day of his birth. Opening it, he noticed it was signed "Inez". It was a letter his mother had never sent to her "Antonio", so he started reading it, his mouth dropping a little with every paragraph as the horror of those words became clearly visible on his face. Trembling as he finished it, he crumpled it into his hand as tears were about to fall from his eyes. To stop them, and the scream of pain ready to escape his throat, he took his fist to his mouth, biting on it as he fell prey to despair. When those moments ended, he let the letter fall from his hand, then stood up and exited the room.

ZZZ

Don Alejandro expected the day to end rather differently when he and his friends accompanied Mendoza, his men and their prisoners to Los Angeles.

As they entered the pueblo, though, they saw, for the second time in a fortnight, the Governor's coach and men, right outside the cuartel.

"Is that Cordoba, Sergeant?" The high-ranking official asked Mendoza as the lancer saluted him, pointing at his prisoner.

" Si, Your Excellency," he replied.

"But… How did you do it, Mendoza? How did you capture him?"

" Don Alejandro and his friends did it. But my men of I helped, of course."

The Governor smiled, heading for the haciendado, who were just dismounting their horse.

"Congratulations, Don Alejandro," the official said. " Comandante Antocha and his lancers accompanied me here in the hopes of capturing this gang, yet you and your friends were faster. California has a huge debt towards you for finally bringing Cordoba to justice."

"That man killed my brother, Your Excellency. As witnesses to his crime, it was our duty to make certain justice will prevail," the don answered and several of the people near him cheered.

"And it will, soon enough!" The Governor stated, pointing towards the scaffold the soldiers were just finishing installing in the plaza.

Cordoba growled as he and his men were forced inside the cuartel.

Don Alejandro glanced at him, then looked at his friends with confusion. "Won't he first be given a trial, Your Excellency?" He asked, addressing both the Governor and the Commander.

"He already was tried, De la Vega." The Governor said.

Three years ago," Antocha explained, "he was sentenced to hang for his crimes in Guadalajara, and several nearby pueblos. He escaped justice then, but he won't escape this time. My men are here to make sure of that."

The don glanced at his friends and nodded, a certain sadness in his eyes to realize that Cordoba would never actually pay for having murdered his brother, Alfonso. On the other hand, there was nothing that crime could add to the man's punishment.

Tying their horses in the shade of an old tree behind the tavern, the four of them headed inside, set on drinking to their valiant deeds, their most recent success, and the friends – and brother – they had lost on the way.

ZZZ

The Count arrived by coach about an hour later, and entered the tavern just minutes before the drums started being heard from the plaza.

"What's going on?" he asked after greeting Don Alejandro and his friends.

"Cordoba is about to be executed for his crimes…" Carlos told him.

"Now? Isn't he entitled to a trial?" The nobleman asked.

"He had one, as it turns out. Years ago. But he escaped prison the night before the execution. The governor doesn't want to take the chance to let him escape again." Don Alejandro informed him as everyone slowly headed outside.

When they exited, Cordoba was being escorted, hands bound behind his back, to the scaffold. He tried to escape at seeing the noose, but was easily prevented by the lancers. They had to force him up the stairs as he resisted with all his might. He only relented when he felt the rope around his neck.

The Governor himself read the sentence, then asked the thug if he had any last words.

"Burn in hell," Cordoba said, "all of you! I regret nothing!" Enraged by his words, the official signaled for the lever to be pulled.

The trap door opened, yet a malfunction caused it to stop midway, which, in turn prevented the thug's neck from breaking. Instead, as the rope cut off his air supply, he fought to hold onto life, his face turning purple and his eyes red during his agony. Most people could not look, and averted their eyes. Even Don Alejandro found himself wishing that the man's torture ended faster.

It was as the man was suffocating that a coach stopped at the edge of the plaza and an older woman, dressed in red, sprinted down from the driver's seat. "No! Antonio! No! It's a mistake!" She shouted as she neared the scaffold, her words resounding in the silence of the plaza. Everyone turned to her as she watched in horror as Cordoba was dying in that manner. "He's innocent! Let him go! It's he the guilty one! He killed his brother!" She said, pointing at Don Alejandro.

At about that moment, Cordoba's body became inert, the sign that his agony was over.

"How dare you, woman!" Carlos exclaimed, outraged by her accusation. "We were all witnesses to that man's crime! We were, all four of us," he pointed at his friends, "there when Cordoba shot Don Alfonso de la Vega in the back, then fled the battle, like the deserter he was! Thirty years my friend has been in the ground, while that thug continued killing innocents. And you have the audacity to accuse Don Alejandro of his crime?"

" Señora, whoever you are, I suggest you shut your mouth, or I will be forced to place you under arrest for calumny. We are all witnesses here!" The Governor warned.

Inez stared at him open-mouthed, then returned her eyes to Don Alejandro. "Lies! You lie! They are all lies!" She roared. Raising her hand towards Antonio's body, while staring at the elderly caballero, she said: "All he ever did was trying to escape your lies! Liar! Deceiver!"

"He's not the deceiver but you are… Mother!" Gilberto shouted with disdain as he also arrived in the plaza on his horse. The people there parted to let him head towards Inez.

"Gilberto, Son… Look! Look at what he did! Look what Don Alejandro de la Vega did!" She said, pointing at Cordoba as the young man dismounted.

He glanced at the dead thug, then at her, hate clear in his eyes. "I am not your son. Nor is he the man you told me he was. All this time, you have lied to me!"

"No… I haven't! All I did was protect you!"

Her words just made him angrier than he already was. Angrier than he had ever been.

"Protect me, or use me in your plot?" He shouted at her. "You stole me! Everything I did… I did because of your lies! All the evil… I am responsible for my brother's death… My innocent brother's death! All because of you! And all in the name of a thug?! Of a criminal?"

"He was set up! They were all lies… All… My poor Antonio, never stood a chance!" She said, shaking her head, eyes glued to Cordoba's dangling body.

"Neither did I…" Gilberto retorted as he took out his gun, pointing it at her. He only hesitated for a moment before pressing the trigger. The shot resounded in the plaza as the bullet made its way toward Inez's heart, missing it by no more than an inch.

Moments later, two lancers deprived him of his pistol, and took hold of him. It almost seemed like they were the only ones able to react there, as the rest of the crowd was frozen in place.

The Count hurried towards the injured woman, kneeling by her side to check her wound.

"I still won…" she muttered, spitting blood with each word she said. "Now he gets to watch his son die…" Saying that, she let out one last breath, and became inert.

The Count stood up to glance at Gilberto who, overcome by grief, seemed unresponsive as the lancers escorted him towards the jail. Then, he glanced at the man who was his father, squinting his eyes as he tried to understand the meaning of Inez's words.

"With so many witnesses, I fear the former Emissary is next in line for the noose," the Governor uttered.

"What in God's name have we just witnessed?" Don Alejandro asked as he approached Don Sebastian.

"I am not sure…" the young man replied.

Inez was dead and Gilbeto Risendo was now in jail, never again to hurt another person.

His father and Victoria were finally safe.

He could finally tell them the truth; tell them he was home; that he could be a son again. Tell them he could finally fulfill his promise and become a husband.

Yet something was still bothering him; still preventing him from taking off the disguise. Deep inside, he knew it wasn't over just yet.

"Are you alright?" He suddenly heard Victoria's voice behind him and realized he was still in the middle of the plaza.

Turning towards her, he smiled. "Yes… Yes!" He replied as he focused on the woman he loved. Caefully considering his next words, he stared at her for a few long seconds. "Victoria," he, eventually, said, "I must talk to you! In private."

"Now?" She inquired, glancing at the very full tavern. "I'm afraid it will have to wait… I have too many customers at the moment."

"Tonight then?" He asked.

"Alright…" The young woman agreed. Then, after offering him a smile, she headed inside.

The young man smiled back, and watched her enter the tavern. After glancing, once more, towards the cuartel, he headed for his coach, ordering his man to take him to the hacienda.