Captain from Castile Page #10

by whose help the victory

at Cempoala was ours.

That manThat swine

put my mother on the rack...

tortured her until

she prayed for death.

That man is a fugitive

from justice

a murderer a matricide.

He strangled his own mother.

In the name of the Santa Hermandad,

I demand that he be placed under arrest.

Yes, I did it

killed my own mother

to keep this dog and his henchmen

from burning her alive at the stake.

While she was dying

she blessed me for it.

- Captain Sandoval.

- Yes, sir.

Put this man in irons

and take him away.

We'll hear his case in due time.

A thousand pardons, Seor de Silva,

for this regrettable incident.

The man shall pay

for it, I assure you.

Put your faith in Jesus Christ,

our Lord and Savior.

In him you will find strength.

Just a moment, Captain Cortez.

Here is another man

who carries in his mind...

- a grievance against me Pedro de Vargas ofJan.

- Pedro de Vargas?

He's a gallant soldier.

He's won promotion in my company.

It distresses me to bother you

with these personal matters...

but de Vargas has already made

one attempt upon my life.

I have no doubt his grievance

will be increased...

when he learns that I have married the lady

of his choice the Lady Luisa de Carvajal.

Seor de Silva has come to us

as an emissary of His Majesty...

and as my personal guest.

Under the circumstances,

Captain de Vargas...

I shall hold you personally

responsible for his safety.

If any harm comes to him...

the penalty will be nothing

less than death... by hanging.

Come with me, Seor de Silva.

Forget your vow

and God will forget you.

Seor.

Pedro.

Catana.

Moctezuma's city is no ripe plum

ready to fall into our laps, gentlemen.

It will require a deal

of cultivation.

But thanks to our victory at Cempoala,

we'll soon be ready for the harvesting.

But of our plans, more later.

You left His Majesty well, seor?

In excellent health,

Captain Cortez...

but deeply concerned for the safety

and well-being of this company.

How concerned, seor?

His Majesty is convinced

that the seeds of heresy are everywhere...

and that they need investigation

in this new land as well as in Spain.

He especially enjoined me as supremo of

the Santa Hermandad, to look into the matter.

You would bring the

Santa Hermandad here?

There was a letter,

Captain Cortez

an order of arrest sent by me

concerning a certain heretic in this company.

- It remains unanswered.

- I know of no such letter.

- It's possible for a letter to be lost.

- Or stolen.

However, it's of no consequence.

I myself shall hold an examination.

Have you ever attended an examination

of the Santa Hermandad, Captain?

- No, I have not.

- It's a valuable experience.

I remember one examination

of a supposedly honorable family ofJan.

One would have thought

them above suspicion...

though the evil treachery of the father and son

became clear enough later.

There was, I believe, a girl of about 12,

outwardly very fair and innocent looking...

but so deeply had the detested roots ofheresy

been implanted even in this child...

that she refused to bear

witness against her parents...

and it was necessary to hoist her

onto the strappado where she was

Murdered.

I compliment you on a noble feat

the death of a 12-year-old child.

Who spoke of a feat, Captain?

A stroke of policy

perhaps, but

A stroke of inhuman fiendishness.

Careful, seor.

I'm His Majesty's emissary.

Do you take refuge behind that?

Refuge?

Yes, refuge! Or have you the stomach

to meet me man to man?

If not, then without picking words,

I'll ask you, who's the coward here?

And the time and place

of this meeting?

- Here and now.

- You, sir! Do you forget where you are?

You dare draw your

sword at my table?

But, sir, the family this man speaks of is my family.

The murdered girl was my sister.

I am not concerned with private feuds.

I thought I made it clear we'll have no brawling!

Are you a soldier, Captain de Vargas?

If not, hand me your sword.

Sir, do you realize

what this man represents?

With him, the Santa Hermandad

with all its evils has come to the New World.

A kingdom within a kingdom.

A despotism so strong, so powerful...

that it paralyzes

the human soul with terror.

Already he speaks of the strappado

and tortured children.

That will do, de Vargas.

We have no need of oratory here.

This is not oratory, Captain Cortez.

That man is a fiend without honor,

an assassin of infants.

Captain Cortez, may I remind you...

that this man is a criminal

under sentence of death in Spain.

I crossed the ocean in behalf

of His Majesty's affairs...

not to die at the hands of a fugitive

who'd so greatly benefit by my death.

My life, valueless as it may be,

is your responsibility.

A thousand pardons for this regrettable

incident at my dinner table.

However, I must make

one thing clear.

The charges you have made against a loyal

officer of my company carry no weight here.

Those are matters for

an ecclesiastical court...

and the testimony of witnesses,

and we have neither the one nor the other.

Father Bartolom is in charge of

the spiritual interests of this enterprise.

And as long as he vouches for Captain de Vargas,

that is enough for me.

I must ask you to accept those terms,

or return to the coast.

I accept the terms.

But will Pedro de Vargas abide by them?

My word on it.

Doa Marina, will you

entertain my guests?

I have some matters of state

to discuss with Seor de Silva.

Yes, milord.

- Captain de Vargas.

- Yes, sir.

If it is necessary to teach

20 rebels the lesson of discipline...

that lesson will be taught.

Carry that thought with you.

Who is it?

- Father, help me. Help me!

- Hup.

Father, they arrested Pedro.

Diego de Silva has been murdered.

No. No, Father.

It isn't dying that matters.

I've faced death many times.

But it's leaving you.

What's going to become

of you, my beloved?

I shall die too.

No.

You must live.

You must live for our son...

who hasn't yet been born.

Oh, Catana, how are you ever going to tell him

that his father was hanged?

You must go back to

my father and mother in Italy.

They'll take care of you.

But promise me

that you'll never tell them how I died.

My father's a soldier.

If I died in battle,

he'd he'd grieve for me, yes...

but he'd be proud too.

But to be hanged...

and for a crime I didn't commit.

Deliver us, O mercifulJesus...

from that place of

darkness and torture...

and receive us into thy paternal bosom,

there to love

- Padre.

- And praise and glorify.

- Padre?

- Yes, my son?

- Seor Pedro die at dawn?

- That is the verdict.

Seor Pedro not kill de Silva.

Seor Pedro my friend.

- I know who kill de Silva.

- Yes? Go on.

You Christian priest.

I tell you,

you not let Seor Pedro die?

In God's name, man, speak.

In a few minutes

a man is going to his death.

If you know who killed Diego de Silva,

it is your duty to save Pedro now.

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