Don Alcides had no intention of sharing his discovery with his men, so he made them stay in the mine for several days, while he was cooking up a new plan. He trusted them. The men were indebted to him. Yet, they were also criminals and he couldn't risk the duo deciding to take the reward money for themselves…or do something stupid that would give away a carefully-considered plan.

Yes…Diego had to be Zorro. The more he thought about it, the less he doubted he was right.

But Diego de la Vega was also Alcalde, thus, in command of the soldiers who should arrest him. That was a difficulty; though, a temporary one. At some point, De Soto would return and De la Vega would no longer have any power. Indeed, the real Alcalde would have no doubt in ordering the caballero's execution.

The real problem, however, was proving that the pueblo's coward was, in fact, the famous masked outlaw. That was what required planning because, after having saved his life, De Soto might not be inclined to believe the truth, unless he saw it for himself. Oh, he will get a surprise to find out he had named the man he has spent years trying to kill as his temporary replacement! Don Alcide smiled at the thought of seeing De Soto's face displaying a mixture of rage and consternation at first, both emotions to be soon replaced by that vengeful smirk of his. Diego would lose his life, Don Alejandro his properties – maybe his life, as well –, and that taverness would be forever disgraced. The perfect revenge, he thought. I won't even have to lay a finger on any of them, thus, there will be no risk for myself. And I would even make 6,000 pesos, which I could later use to buy some of the De la Vega best horses at a discounted price.

Yet, Diego had been accused of being Zorro before, and the charges had been easily dismissed. Is it all in my mind? I can't afford to be wrong about this! He considered. I need to set him up. Force him to reveal himself! That is how I'll know I am right and then I can move to setting a trap for him.

ZZZ

"Eighty-two? You can't possibly be serious, Father!" Diego uttered, looking over the guestlist for his wedding. "That's just too many people from outside the pueblo! We have no way of hosting all of them!"

"Don't worry so much, son! We have five guestrooms. We can, thus, easily host five families here. The tavern also has three free rooms, so six people can stay there, and seven of my friends have also agreed to host some of the guests. I will discuss with a few more tomorrow, and I am sure they will also agree to help."

"You have invited the Governor…" Diego stated, looking closely at the list.

"Of course I did! He already accepted the invitation and will be staying here with his wife."

"Father…"

"I have also invited De Soto, and he'll also attend if he'll be back in time! After all, he did save your life and pushed you to enter this marriage…not that you needed pushing, but, let's admit it: he played an important role in making it possible this soon!"

"Well…the only one missing is the King of Spain, and all the men trying to capture and have me hanged will be right there, at my wedding!"

"That reminds me! I have sent the Royal House an invitation, as the custom dictates, not like I'd expect the King to actually be here, especially considering the current situation in Europe. To be fair, I didn't even expect more than a letter of congratulations from one of his secretaries but, to my surprise, King Ferdinand sent a personal message, informing me that he had decided he would be represented at the wedding by a special Emissary, who is already in California, on a different assignment. He also sent a present for you and Victoria." Don Alejandro stated, giving Diego a wrapped box. "It just arrived with the mail."

"Special Emissary…" Diego stated, looking inquisitively at the King's gift. "Excellent! I was looking forward to the next one."

"Oh, Diego! What happened with Gilberto…"

"I am not just talking about him, Father. I remember more than one Emissary. What I don't remember is any of them ever bringing good news."

"Alright…But this one will be here for the wedding, so I am sure you have no reason to worry. The King doesn't often make such a gesture, son. You must realize this is a true honor!"

Diego frowned and left his father to continue attending to the wedding preparations. He did not consciously avoid getting himself involved in organizing his own wedding but, the truth was, he hated the logistics of it. About half of the guests were people he cared about: friends, close family members, employees. The other half, however, he barely even knew and he couldn't help but wonder why so many of them were coming, from so far away, just to see him wed Victoria.

If it would have been only his decision, he would have chosen to have a private ceremony and focus on the being married part, rather than on the getting married one. The idea of the first caused him no trouble at all since there was nothing more he wanted than to finally be with the woman he loved, in every way a married couple should be with one another. The ceremony did worry him, though. It worried him because of that strange feeling of dread he still couldn't shake. After years of dreaming about his wedding with his beloved, nightmare-ing really, since most dreams usually ended with either him or both of them arrested and executed shortly after being pronounced husband and wife, he found it impossible not to dread the chance, minor as it was, that the nightmares could become reality.

It was a good thing De Soto had left him as temporary Alcalde since, that way, he could occupy his mind with other problems and not focus too much on the very small possibility that there was a price to pay for having spent the last seven years of his life being a caballero by day and an outlaw by night. After all, the three people who knew his secret - his family and the woman soon to become his wife - he trusted with his very life; and nobody knew except them.

ZZZ

"Patron, why do you want us to abduct that man? Has he done something to you?" Vincente asked.

"Hardly. The man is a writer of no consequence. The only one who will care about him is Zo…I mean, De la Vega. There is something I need to be certain about and, for that to happen, I need a victim. Since neither of you will be able to get anywhere close to the Escalante woman or the De la Vegas, he is a good alternative. Don Diego seems to have befriended him, thus, he will do his best to find him. When that happens, you'll make sure to force him to fight you. Am I clear? Not the lancers, although I doubt he will risk bringing them! De la Vega must fight you! Here is part of the money I have promised for your trouble. I will give you the rest when you accomplish your mission. Are we all clear on the details?"

"Claro, patron!" The two vaqueros replied in unison, as Luis took the moneybag.

ZZZ

Alberto de Molinas had been in Los Angeles for three weeks at that point, give-or-take a few days. Just as he had previously done, in the other pueblos of California he had visited, the writer spent most of his time researching, making sure to find out all he could about the people of the area, their main challenges, the land itself and its natural resources. Having spent much time discussing with everyone who had the time to answer his questions, he found himself more and more fascinated by the accounts of the Legendary Zorro, the pueblo's now dead hero, who had spent years rescuing people, fighting bandits, opposing tyranny and abuse of power. He was sincerely regretful for not having met or, at least, seen him in action. Had he only arrived a few months before, he would have. As things stood, he had to content himself with listening to the stories – and everyone in Los Angeles seemed to have one.

He was heading back to the pueblo, where he was still residing at the tavern, meditating on the latest Zorro story he had listened to. It was a story recounted by a teenager and his grandfather, who had received the masked man's help at a time when all they possessed seemed lost. Instead of ending up destitute, without a roof above their heads, they ended up as the legal owners of the land the old man had spent a lifetime working, and of Firestar, the beautiful horse the teenager was proudly riding, one of the best mounts in the territory. All their good fortune, the two attributed to the masked legend, who had come to their aid and to the aid of so many others who would have shared their fate were it not for him.

A couple of hours later, the writer woke up in a dark cave, his hands and feet bound, two men discussing some twenty feet away, around a small fire. He could hardly remember what happened. He was riding then he heard a movement behind him and decided to turn his head but never got the chance. A bad ache reminded him of the rock which had knocked him unconscious. What was worse, besides riding and being hit in the head, he could not remember much of anything, really, not even his name. He did, however, instinctively know he was in danger and needed to understand why and what he could do to save himself. So, ignoring the throbbing, he focused on listening to what the two men who were, surely, his captors, were talking to each other, some ten feet away from him.

"Do you think Don Alcides had the ransom note delivered by now?"

"You imbecile! He told us not to mention his name!"

"Sorry, Vincente! I'll be more careful."

"We shouldn't call each other by our real names, either, Luis! Damn!"

"How should I call you, then?"

"Call me Victor, and you'll be Luigi."

"Victor. Victor. Victor…and how should I call our patron?"

"We can call him Don Alonso. Nobody will know that way."

"Don Alonso. Alonso. Alonso." Luis tried to remember.

"Vi…Victor…Do you think the caballero will know to look for him here?"

"Of course he will. The location will be on the note and he was with the lancers when Don Alcides….Alonso had us kidnap Maria Pollo and bring her here to have his way with her…"

"Yes…Too bad that didn't work out. But the one I truly regret is the Escalante woman. That one, he didn't even want for himself. He said we could do whatever we wanted with her and he would still pay up. I had made plans…"

"That taverness would have been quite a nice diversion. I would have not minded getting under her skirt, especially since she is a feisty one! I love it when they fight!"

ZZZ

"Don Diego!" Pilar shouted from the kitchen, hurrying towards the taproom, where the temporary Alcalde was sharing a pitcher of lemonade with his son and his fiancée.

The tavern had just opened after siesta and it was almost empty, so Pilar was moving rather slow that afternoon, still trying to wake herself up. She had just finished serving two patrons, a task which had taken her a few minutes, since they were also friends of hers and she needed to make some small-talk before returning to the kitchen to prepare some more lemonade. Since Diego was Alcalde, the demand for lemonade had increased exponentially, as well as his popularity among the people of the pueblo, so it was important for several pitchers to always be available.

"What's wrong?" He asked, at seeing her.

"Senor de Molinas. He's been abducted. I just found this note on the kitchen table."

"Did you see who brought it?"

"There was nobody there, Don Diego! Poor man! He is all alone here! Why would anyone take him for ransom?"

"Perhaps whoever took him did not know he was a stranger to Los Angeles." Diego tried to find an explanation while reading the note. "They are asking for two thousand pesos or they will take his life."

"They would kill him?" Victoria asked. "Wh…What can we do?"

"The money must be delivered…by me, at sundown, at the…cave where we found Maria Pollo?" Diego wondered, unable to understand why would the abductors give them the exact place where the captive was being held.

Felipe noted the same thing and gestured the same question on Diego's mind.

"I don't know, Felipe! This is most unusual." He stated.

"What?" Victoria and Pilar asked at the same time.

"Abductors don't usually give away their location like that." Diego answered, pensively.

"But why do they want you to go? Isn't that unusual, as well?" Victoria noticed.

"It most certainly is. I need to go talk to Mendoza." Her fiancé replied. "He'll know what to do." He added, for Pilar's benefit. "Felipe, you should finish at The Guardian and then go home. I'll see you tonight when I return with Victoria."

The young man nodded with a sly grin, thus assuring his father that he knew what he needed to do. Diego's suggestion was, in fact, code for "Get some muskets and follow us from a distance, as backup" and that was what Felipe did.

Meanwhile, Mendoza had ordered Sepulveda and Gomez to accompany him and the Alcalde in search of Senor de Molinas and the people keeping him captive. Diego raised an eyebrow when hearing the Lieutenant call for the same two men he had started taking constantly with him. Not constantly. He considered, as soon as the thought came to his mind. Just when they are accompanying me. He usually takes other lancers…more lancers, when going after bandits.

He guided the lancers, which seemed comfortable with following him, despite not really being under his command, towards the cave where they had found Maria Pollo. Diego took the precaution of also taking the requested reward money, if for no other reason, at least in order to stall the bandits for long enough so that either the lancers or Felipe might get a good shot at them.

Once at the top of the hill from which they had been fired upon the previous time they were there, they took a good look around. There was nobody in sight, so Diego took the money and made his way down, towards the cave.