SUMMARY: While Tessa is having thoughts of her father's death, Grisham is looking for opportunities elsewhere as Mary Rose is savoring the taste of revenge.

Disclaimer: They're still Fireworks'. Just playing, here.

NOTE: The beginning of this story might be familiar as parts were posted as challenge responses. Thank you so much Eliza for your expert eye.

[Archivist's note]: Adapted for QoS-VS by Paula Stiles. Jo will be posting her original version on QoSff in the near future.

Prologue

As her hair flapped under her in the wind, she could feel her mask slipping up her sweat-slicked forehead. If she didn't do something quickly, Grisham might actually see her true identity. That damned captain's weight was heavy on her. One of his hands was pressing down on her neck and chin, forcing her head over the edge of Montoya's roof, while the other tried to wrench the sword out of her grip. If she could get leverage without toppling over the side, she could kick him where he lived. Fear that she'd fall to the stone balcony head-first made her not even try. Her body slipped farther over the edge. Her shoulders felt air as Grisham maintained an even pressure on her neck and chin. Leave it to Grisham to turn a sword fight into hand-to-hand combat. The world was upside-down as she ran out of breath. The bright midday sunshine was dimming.

The white curtain below her fluttered out of the window, followed by Montoya,  staring up at her with piercing eyes. "Up there," he commanded his troops. She had evaded them earlier, in her escape from Montoya's secret room, but Grisham's appearance prevented her from getting to Chico and riding to the security of home. "Get her!"

Montoya climbed out the window and onto the balcony; he wrapped his fist in her hair and declared, "You will not get away again!"

"Colonel!" a female voice called out amidst the hubbub of soldiers scattered in the town square and clambering up a ladder to the roof.

Grisham's hand eased from her neck, letting her blood and breath flow again, and she saw an upside-down Mary Rose run up the steps to Montoya. "Now is not the time, Senora," he said, taking better hold of the Queen's hair.

Suddenly, his grip disappeared. Mary Rose said, "I do not care how much you hate that woman, I cannot allow you to treat her like an animal!"

She had to do something with this opportunity, fear or no fear. Since Montoya didn't have her hair and Grisham's attention had lessened, the Queen rolled her and Grisham over. She heard heavy footsteps behind her on the flat roof and knew there had to be at least five attackers honing in on her. Out the corner of her eye, she saw one soldier with his sword in the air just behind her, ready to take a swipe. The Queen rolled off Grisham and got to her feet as Grisham yelled angrily. She swung out at the offending soldier, then kicked at another soldier who fell back on another. As she ran to the side of the roof on the rose courtyard side, she looked back over her shoulder to see Grisham sit up, holding his stomach. "You idiot!" he screamed.

Knowing that the last place they'd all look was back in Montoya's quarters, she climbed partway down the trellis, slid through an open window , and scrambled under Montoya's bed. She could hear shouts and orders, and men making their way down from the roof. Then the noises started to ebb; with each passing moment, the Queen became more confident that no one would look in her hiding place. She tried to work out the kink in her neck and wondered if she had Grisham's hand marks on the bottom of her chin. "Well, look on the bright side. I actually have a reason to visit Doctor Helm...." she mumbled.

Not knowing when she should take the chance of moving from her hiding place, she decided to take a breather and stretched out her legs. When she lifted her head, the ropes of Montoya's bed frame snagged some of her hair. As she quietly untangled it, she wished she had a pillow, and remembered the soft, fluffy ones that Montoya had on his bed, just above her. Should I chance it?

Do not be ridiculous, the authoritative voice in her head told her.

Get the hell out of here, the fear in her moaned.

Go on, no one will catch you, the part of her that took risky chances called out.

I am too tired right now, the Queen told them all. There was a deep scrape on her knee that had to be bleeding, and her back was racked with pain. She couldn't wait to get home and have Marta tend her, take a bath with a glass of wine, then come back into town under the cover of night for Helm to examine her injuries.

The door to Montoya's bedchamber opened, and she heard two sets of footsteps enter the room. The Queen turned her head; from her vantage point under the bed she could see Montoya's black boots and a pair of light-suede, feminine knee boots. Their toe tips were pointed at each other near the bureau across the room. "Better luck next time, Colonel," she heard Mary Rose say with a intimate quality to her voice.

"I would have had her if you had not interfered. Give me a reason why you should not be spending the rest of the evening in jail for obstructing justice."

Mary Rose became all business. "You want your cannon, and I want El Risa del Diablo. We were to discuss how this will come to pass."

"El Risa del Diablo will most certainly have patrol boats sailing beside her."

"Your men and my men should be able to handle it. Captain Mazar does not know his ass from a hole in the ground. That ship will be easy pickings, much easier than capturing one lone woman," Mary Rose needled him.

"The woman who is 'not an animal'? Ask Sargent Martinez, Corporal Armendariz, or any of my men whom the Queen of Swords has injured, as you cannot talk to the men who have died of their wounds. I will raise the reward for her capture or death. La Reina will rue the day she ever raised a sword against me."

"So, you will kill her, string her up and feed her body to the coyotes?"

"The sooner the better."

"It requires more courage to suffer than to die," Mary Rose said.

"What do you know of her suffering?"

The Queen wondered if the Colonel had ever once given a thought to the reason she was driven to don black and play vigilante. She was struck by Mary Rose when the woman asked, "Something must have made her need to fight you, Colonel. What her driving force is, I can only guess. Have you ever thought about what makes her your enemy?"

She hadn't known she had an ally, another who inquired the same, and wanted to hear Montoya's reaction, since he had to believe he was alone with Mary Rose.

"I do not need to waste my time on such matters. She is a criminal, pure and simple, who must be stopped, or she will topple the whole fabric of this community."

"The truth is rarely pure and never simple, Colonel. Since you are so feisty, give me that diamond necklace so I can get to work."

"Turn around."

Mary Rose's boots did just that, and the Queen saw Montoya's boots move toward his bureau, heard him open a drawer, and flip a latch. From the sound of it, there had to be a secret compartment there. Interesting. She'd have to search that compartment in the future. How many hiding places did he have?

After hearing the noises of closing the compartment and drawer, she saw Montoya move away from the bureau. There was a pause before Mary Rose's boots turned around.

"Wait," he commanded. "Why do I need to put up the bounty to hire the dregs of society in Beggar's Canyon?"

Mary Rose stated simply, "Your men need reinforcements."

"I meant, why are you not putting up anything to persuade them?"

"That is a beautiful necklace, Colonel, but do you really think it would be enough to tempt fifty men to go on a dangerous mission? I am putting up plenty of wealth. Your end was that necklace and your soldiers."

"All right, all right. I am not used to trusting you."

"And you do not have to after next week. Just as I will never trust you."

"Never underestimate a woman scorned," Montoya mused with a chuckle. "Poor Captain Mazar does not stand a chance against you."

"You are full of insight today, Colonel."

Mary Rose moved toward Montoya. She said, "I will call on you again in two days after I make the arrangements."

"My name will not be mentioned when you deal with those vagrants," he warned.

"Of course not." Mary Rose's lilting laugh colored her words. "They think they are going to come in and steal the ship out from under you and your men as you forcibly seize it from Mazar. I could not get them to do my bidding if they thought they were in league with you. After it all quiets down, you will receive your cannon."

"Cannons. I have decided one is not enough for what I am making my man do for you."

"You know what?" Mary Rose asked. "I do not care that you are changing the terms mid-stream. In fact, you can have all the cannon on board. How does that suit you? Just do not ask for more, or you will know first-hand about women scorned."

Mary Rose turned on her heels and walked out of the bedchamber. Montoya moved to the bed and sat down on the edge, making the Queen crawl back to not get sat on. "I already know about a woman scorned, Señora Guevara," Montoya mumbled.

The lump of where he sat lengthened, indicating where Montoya had lain down on the bed. The Queen's mind was reeling about the news of Mary Rose and Montoya's raid. El Risa del Diablo. A merchant ship? A supply ship? A pirate's ship? She needed to do some asking around. First of all, she wanted to go home and take a long, hot bath, or maybe call on Mary Rose, herself, to coax information out of her. That would remain just a wish as long as Montoya was in his bed. She might have to wait until dark, or dinner, or some emergency happened to pull him back to action and out of the way. For now, after the long day, the Queen just put her head on her folded up arms and closed her eyes.

Act One

Tessa skulked into her hacienda with pain erupting from every part of her body. The ride home had been horrendous. She not only felt every movement she had made during the fight with Grisham and some soldiers, she had been stuck in one position under Montoya's bed longer than any human should have to endure. He had not only had his supper brought in, but decided to retire early.

Only two things made the whole unbearable experience worthwhile. One, she had found out that Mary Rose and Montoya were in cahoots. After she talked to Mary Rose about this turn of events, she would know where Montoya's regiment was on duty that day. Checking that hidden compartment in Montoya's bureau was another item to put on the to-do list. Montoya had had an interesting meeting with Grisham. There were many times when she almost giggled out loud during their conversation of how to finally capture the Queen. Look by your feet, was one thought that had come to mind.

All doubts about whether or not Vera and Grisham were having an affair were put to rest when Montoya asked if Grisham would be able to use his lover as bait. Tessa would have to have a conversation with Vera as well. Not so much to talk her out of finding love on the side, but about her taste in men. Vera was still too ill from her miscarriage for more than perfunctory social interactions, and already, Montoya was trying to use her in one of his schemes. And to think that it had been his nephew who had gotten her pregnant in the first place....

Montoya had ordered Grisham to hand-pick one of his men to pose as a murderous hoodlum and 'kidnap' Vera to demand that the Queen of Swords exchange herself for the beautiful señora. Tessa was a bit annoyed when Montoya had commented, "I am positive the Queen's mind will whirl thinking of all the people who would have a score to settle with her."

I only fight back, never start one, and I only help those in need. Who does he think I am? she had thought.

She didn't have to wonder long, as Montoya's hatred for her ended with him giving a list of what sort of she-devil-in-black she was. If he hadn't been interrupted by the housekeeper with a message that had just arrived from Monterrey, Tessa was sure he would find a reason why the Queen was responsible for the lack of rain as of late.

Her stomach reminded her loudly that she had missed her dinner, so instead of lighting her way to her bedroom to collapse, she decided to forage in the darkness. I know this house by heart, Tessa thought, just before walking into a wingback chair and stubbing her toe.

"Madre de Dios!" Tessa wailed, along with a litany of words that colored the air blue. Marta entered with a lit candle.

"Tessita, you are finally home."

Tessa looked at the furniture arrangement of the drawing room. "You changed things around."

"I had to do something while you were gone so long."

"Could you have not put a note on the door to warn me? My toe was the only thing that did not hurt."

"I hate when you ride as the Queen."

"Well, it has to be done, Marta. You know I would prefer to just sit home and drink wine."

"So, what happened?" Marta asked, trailing behind Tessa, who had grabbed the candlestick from her and was trudging to her bedroom.

"There is a time for explanations, and there is also a time for sleep," Tessa said just before smiling coyly and shutting her door behind her. She opened it quickly to add, "Being stuck in Montoya's bedchamber for six hours has sapped my strength."

Tessa heard Marta's shocked, "What?!" as she pushed the door shut again.  The pounding that quickly followed drowned out her laugher.