Chapter 08 – Enacting the last plan.

“We will need a plan. Can you trust your men? But there is one more important question that you will have to answer.”

“Only the young maid. I’ll have to leave her here. The others think I trust them, but I’m using the chance to double my revenge. They know only the doctored version of the story. They’ll take the blame when I flee. They were plotting against my husband, stealing from him and lusting after me, treating me with mock respect.”

“Can’t say I dislike what you plan. But was it wise to leave your land? Don’t you have heirs?”

“No, we didn’t manage to have children, sadly. The Count had a younger brother, though. He’s a good man, and if I had met him before the Count, I would have married him. It could never happen now, since I know that he loves his land, so I left a letter to my lawyers back in the homeland that will be given to him six months after my departure, so in three more months, saying that I give up any pretence on the property, even the title, and give it all to him, as rightful heir.”

“But what will you do then?”

“I never thought about the ‘after’, only about revenge. After losing my brother and, shortly after, my husband, there isn’t much in my life other than revenge. But what about that question?”

“Well… I know what I’ll do after; you will be free to join me, if things go as planned. The real question I wanted to ask is… will you be able to do what’s needed? Killing a man, especially in cold blood, isn’t something easy, and we may have to kill a few, maybe young guards or servants that we never met and did nothing to us, but would betray us without a second thought.”

“Don’t worry. Wouldn’t be my first. I’ll do what’s needed to do.”

“Very good. Anyway, I want to introduce you to another person.” I called Robert to us.

“Robert, you can speak freely. She knows. John was her older brother.”

“Milady, it’s an honour. Captain Hood was the best captain we could hope to serve, and has been a friend for many of us, always ready to risk life in the first person to save the lives of his men.”

“Thank you, Robert, it warms my heart to know that I was wrong, and that his men are actually trying to avenge him.”

“Milady, if it wasn’t for him, most of us would be a bunch of drunk sailors, most of whom would already be dead for years. We owe him at least this. He would have done it for us. Actually, he did it for those of us who have been captured, when possible.”

Then we started making plans, creating a new story for me, and at last, we decided that I would act as her personal maid, one she hired in the New World, from a fallen family of average merchants, so the Alcalde wouldn’t expect loyalty between us, and maybe would try to corrupt me, against an English enemy. Her maid would be left in the custody of my men on the Dolphin. Yes, I now trusted them enough. And they trusted me enough to know that if they touched her, I’d follow them to the edge of the world and beyond, after they witnessed the determination and ruthlessness with which I butchered the Spanish nobility that betrayed my father. Between John and me, we almost made decent, civil people out of our crew. She would be safe with them.

We sailed a week later, on a fast frigate that would reach La Havana in a week, and the travel was good. The Dolphin would wait for us at large, not far from La Havana. Once arrived, Susan managed to get a meeting with the Alcalde under the guise of looking for information about her lost sister, who was seen on a ship toward La Havana one year before.

When we arrived in the rich carriage, followed by our big wagon of chests, I could recognize many of my men scattered along the main path and ready to move and tail us any time we would move out of the palace. At the gate, the guards started to make a fuss about all those unknown people wanting to enter the palace, but the captain of the guards, called, saw Susan and me, and smiled, allowing us all in.

Susan was introduced in a wide room, richly furnished, with me at her side of course, appearances of decency were very important in such ambient, and had a quick talk with the Alcalde, in English, pretending that she didn’t know Spanish, but while I was used to face direct threats, she was used to political games, so at a certain point she surprised me a lot when she said to the man “Do you think I’ll be allowed to meet with the Alcalde soon?”

The man remained surprised, and then we heard a booming laugh from behind the corner of the room, and the real Alcalde showed up. “Milady Countess, it’s a pleasure to find a sharp mind in such a beautiful woman, you can’t imagine how rare it is to find beauty and intelligence paired together in a single woman!”

“Thank you, Alcalde. Let me introduce my personal maid, so you will know how to address her. She’s Señorita Consuelo Alonso. I hired her when I arrived in the New World, after the one I brought with me fell ill of some strange fever.”

“Señorita Alonso, your beauty matches that of your employer. I hope we’ll all get more acquainted soon. There will be an official dinner this evening, and you are both invited, of course. Obviously, you’ll be housed here in the palace, as honoured guests. Next week there will be a big party, a celebration for my fifteenth year as Alcalde. The city will be celebrating, and we will have here all the nobles and notables of the Island.”

Susan. “It will be an honour, Alcalde. May I ask, meanwhile, if I can have access to the registry of the people authorized to settle on the Island in the past year, please? At least here in La Havana, so I can see if my sister’s family moved here or went somewhere else?”

Alcalde. “Oh… of course, you can, Señora. I’ll give the orders tomorrow morning as the first thing, and ask for a valet to escort you to the archives as soon as you are ready.”

Susan. “Oh, you are so very kind, Alcalde. Thank you. We’d like to refresh some now, please?”

We were escorted back to our rooms, and as soon as I started to speak, she shushed me. She explored the whole room, behind the curtains, behind the paintings, out of the windows, and such. We were given a room that had a wide window-door with a balcony, and she signalled me to go there after she had watched all around it, and to speak very quietly. So, we did. I didn’t trust the Alcalde, despite his apparent charm. He was making my skin crawl, even if I didn’t think about what he did to John.

The next few days were spent exploring and gaining knowledge of the palace. Save for once, when the Alcalde summoned me, while Susan was officially studying some long list of names.

Alcalde. “Señorita Alonso, la Señora Susan is a very curious woman, isn’t she?”

Consuelo (Cyndria) “I guess so, Alcalde. I don’t know her very well.”

Alcalde. “I understand. I think I can be sincere with you and confide that this will stay between us. I think that her search for her family is a lie. She may be a spy for the British Empire, or have other goals, but I don’t trust her. It would be your duty to Spain and our Queen if you reported to me anything you may find suspicious about her, do you understand?”

Consuelo. “You’ve been very clear, Alcalde. I hope the service won’t be forgotten if I find anything useful.”

Alcalde. “Of course, it won’t. And maybe then we could have some more friendly meetings, what do you think?”

I smiled, lowered my eyes, pretending even a reddening of my cheeks, then whispered, “I must go now”, and left.

Obviously, I reported everything to Susan, and we started to lay down our final plan.

As often happens, luck plays a more or less strong role in everything, and by chance, Robert, who was acting as protector and servant of Susan as well as another two, overheard two guards talking about me.

“I am sure, she’s the daughter of the old Governor of Simòn de Alpeche! I was with Colonel de Villanueva when he relieved him. I was later redeployed here. She’s older, but I am positive she’s her! You can’t forget such a beautiful girl! Even the Colonel changed his plans of hanging the governor as soon as he saw her!”

“Bah… you are being confused. The daughter of a Governor would never accept being a maid to a noblewoman. English, even! You are surely wrong!”

Robert took a good look at the two of them and their post, and then ran to us to report. I swore. With so many around, I had to meet one of the three or four who saw me back then, here? That was really a bad stroke of luck and an unnecessary complication. If they reported me to the alcalde, I would be as well as dead. I sent Robert back, pretending he didn’t speak Spanish, to do some mock chores and try to get more information about shifts, habits, and such. He should try to follow them later and find where they were living.

After their shift, they left the palace. I was quick, with Robert, in following them. They went to a tavern and started drinking. I entered there, pretending to look for someone, and when I was positive that the guard saw me, I left quickly. He took the bait and followed, his friend with him. I turned a few corners, going in alleys where a proper woman wouldn’t dare to go, but I knew that there were my men already positioned ahead and others following behind us. I stopped at a dead end with a small square, where I started to speak with a man with the look of a mercenary. The two guards arrived a moment later.

“Yes, I’m sure more than ever now! You are the daughter of the Governor of Simòn de Alpeche! The Alcalde will be very grateful when I tell him about you!”

I moved a hand, and he heard his friend gurgle. He turned and saw him fall with his throat cut. There were at least five men in the alley behind him. When he turned back to me, there were another ten at my sides.

“And now I remember you. You were immobilizing my father and hit him in the face with your fist, before de Villanueva shot him. Before you scream, you have two choices now. The first is to try and scream. In this block, you’ll likely lure a lot of people who would enjoy seeing a guard being butchered, but they’ll see only you fall next to your friend. The other choice is to challenge me. If you beat me, then you’ll be free to go; the men here have nothing against you, their interest in the matter will cease with my death. If you lose… you’ll be soon after with your friend. What will it be?”

He attacked. He lasted nothing. Despite wearing a gown, I was in another league. I disarmed him, pierced his legs, and when he was on his knees, begging for mercy, I cut his throat, saying, “For my father!”

I quickly returned back to the Palace, after a quick change of the dirtied clothes, in a carriage brought for me for the occasion. My men were very aware of where to make bodies disappear. And it was not rare that soldiers and guards would find a tragic end in the city, when too drunk they would take the wrong turn.

Once back, I reassured Susan.

The evening of the party, the deployment of guards was massive, and at the same time, it was more careless. Nobody would dare to attack with such force in defence, and it was a celebration for the guards too. So, we dined, then went to our room to change, and after an hour or so, we started our acting. We went to the party acting slightly distressed, and as soon as Susan was pretending to be occupied speaking with other guests who understood English, I went looking for the Alcalde. I found him entertaining a few notables, and when he noticed me, he understood I had something for him. He excused himself as soon as it was convenient and came to me.

Consuelo. “Alcalde, you were right. Where can we speak alone?”

Alcalde. “Follow me.”

We moved toward the inner palace, and I knew that the Alcalde would bring me to his private office. Susan would already be there, hiding behind a curtain.

Once inside, I spoke again. “Sir, I’m so excited… all this spying thing is making me so hot… were you serious when you said you’d like to have more friendly meetings with me?”

Alcalde. “Of course, that I was, but tell me what you found!”

I played the silly girl who had the hots for the charming man of power. Everybody knew he was still single. But also, that he was a womanizer, and a proper woman wouldn’t fall for him. Neither would he touch one; you never know how many connections they may have with the motherland. A silly maid would fall for it and wouldn’t risk causing a scandal, since he was basically the highest authority on the whole island.

I threw myself at him. “Alcalde, Hernan… I found what she’s looking for…”

He started to be annoyed, but knew that it wouldn’t be wise to piss off a woman in that situation. Of course, he could arrest me and torture me to know what I found, but that would alarm Susan, or be too late to stop the plan. Or he could arrest both of us and torture us to get our plans. Still, it wasn’t wise; something like that without strong evidence could break any fragile peace with the British Empire. When he tried to calm me with some promises, I asked for something to drink, to distract him, and he poured two glasses. I pretended again to lose my mind over him, and he had to put down the glasses to avoid staining the carpet. He was losing patience and tried to restrain himself to the point he turned his back to me to hide his effort of self-control. At that moment, I poured a vial of liquid into both glasses.

“I’m sorry, Alcalde, this is all new for me. I never felt such strong feelings. I see that I’m annoying you, because my mind keeps wandering toward other things.” He turned, forced a smile, and drank one of the glasses of wine all in a single gulp. I took mine, pretended to lose myself in it for a moment, then raised my gaze and repeated. “I think I found what she’s looking for…”

I could see his eyes dropping shut… before it happened, though, I added, loud enough so Susan could hear,

“Alcalde! Are you fine? You don’t seem well… what’s happening?”

He looked at Susan, surprised, in a last effort, when she moved from behind the curtains and moved in front of him. At that point, the drug bested him and he fell asleep.

He had a small bedroom attached to his office, officially for when he worked late, in truth for when he had some woman to blackmail or to entertain. We brought him there, undressed him, to change his clothes with those of a servant, when a knock at the office door startled us. We knew it could happen, and were prepared for the eventuality. Only not so soon. I had to undress quickly, while Susan put him still half naked in the bed, and then I took a sheet and, leaving the Alcalde covered and turned with his back to the internal door, I went to the office and opened that door a bit. The man was one of his secretaries.

“Uh.. oh… I’m looking for the Alcalde.”

I played naughtily. “I see… but he can’t now. He’s taking a nap after we’ve been very friendly to each other.”

At that moment, the Alcalde chose to snore, giving a convincing confirmation of what I was saying. I continued.

“I promise that I’ll tell him as soon as he wakes up, unless he wants to be friendly again. Or maybe you want to wake him up, and have him be friendly with you too?”

“Ehm… no, no. Please tell him that the Alcalde of Pinar is here, and wants to speak with him, as soon as possible.”

“Sure. I’ll see to it as soon as he wakes. Maybe I’ll try to wake him with something friendly, but I’m not sure how he’d take to be interrupted in the middle of a show of friendliness…”

“I’ll go report that the Alcalde is slightly indisposed and will be there soon.”

“Good boy. Maybe the Alcalde will ask me to be friends with you, too, later. Bye-bye.”

“On a second thought… I know the Alcalde was looking forward to this meeting and would be pissed at me if I didn’t wake him up. I must try to, please take a step back.”

I looked at him, with an almost shocked expression, and said, “Oh… of course.” Pretending to make an effort to remain covered by the sheet. He motioned to the guard who apparently accompanied him to come in with him. I guess he smelled something foul. We’ll never know. I obeyed. Susan was hiding behind the changing screen. When the guard entered, I silently closed the door behind them and followed. When the secretary started to try to rouse the Alcalde, he said, “He’s been drugged!” and was about to scream for alarm when he saw the guard falling, the butt of a knife visible in his back. The shock was short-lived, replaced by another stronger shock. The shock of knowing he was about to die, when he felt the stiletto wielded by Susan pierce his back and plant itself in his heart.

We quickly hid the two corpses below the bed, finished dressing the sleeping Alcalde, recomposed my clothes, and moved from the room, moving him with an arm over each of us. At the first turn, Robert was ready to take the load from us. We hadn’t been idle during the week and knew the net of half-hidden passages used by the Alcalde and his staff to move quickly around. Soon we were in the corridor leading to a small door at the side of the palace, giving on the public gardens. He used this door for his spies and his… carnal flings. If my men did their job, they’d be out of that door waiting for us.

I walked the corridor, with a small barrel of wine we had prepared in advance, and when in sight of the door, I saw three guards, very bored. I walked there, smiling. “Hey, big boys! Your Captain knows you are in this hole all alone, while everyone is enjoying themselves, so he thought to send me to bring some fun to you. Some wine, and then… me!”