Disclaimer: All the characters from the "Magnificent Seven" T.V. series are property of Trilogy Entertainment, The Mirisch Group, MGM Worldwide.
It sat in his mind like a splinter.
Bearing almost uncanny appearance to its physical counterpart, the splinter inside the mind of Don Alejandro Paulo had been there for some time, burrowing its way through his consciousness, slowly driving him mad with the insistence of its presence until everything around it festered and decayed. Those in the household of the senior Don Paulo might agree that the same was happening to their master and had been doing for some time now, ever since the news reached that his son was dead.
In truth, no one in the border community of Val Verde was particularly surprised to hear that Don Stefano Paulo had come to a bed end. No one that is, except his father who was blind to the flaws obvious to everyone else but him, regarding his son's nature and character. From his youth, Stefano had assumed the respect garnered by his father for a lifetime of honour and regard for those around him, was Stefano's to expect as well. When the young man learnt otherwise, he was often capricious and cruel in the methods he employed to redeem his wounded ego and while the older Don would always ensure those harmed were duly compensated, he did nothing to penalise the son he adored so much.
The gossipmongers who whispered their stories about Stefano's behaviour blamed the cause of his inherently sadistic nature on the lack of a mother in the boy's life. Donna Paulo had died giving birth to her only son and her loss had broken the heart of the husband she left behind. Thus Alejandro felt perfectly within his rights to give the child that was as all he had of her now, everything that love and money could buy. In doing so, he unleashed a wolf among them. Those who knew both father and son felt upbringing had nothing to do with it. Stefano was just one of those unfortunate realities of life where greatness was known to have skipped a generation and in Stefano's case it was a bad thing for everyone involved.
By the time the boy had reached his manhood, the people of Val Verde had learnt well enough to keep their daughters from his notice. With his father's men ever at his side, loyal to the son as they had been to the father during the Don's time in the service of Santa Ana and the Mexican Army, he strutted through the small village and took what he wanted. Before they learnt better, many young girls had been defiled and violated, mostly against their will. The families that Alejandro could not compensate, he coerced with subtle threats against their livelihood until he was assured that his son could not be harmed or held accountable for whatever crimes the boy committed.
Alejandro was by a nature, a fair man. Most of the Val Verde held him in high regard even if they disliked his son intensely. For most part, the Don managed to keep his offspring under control, sending him away to school in the larger town of Ciudad Juarez for most of the year. Unfortunately as time grew and age caught up with Alejandro, there was no longer any way to keep the boy from his home. The ranch and estate through which Alejandro had made his fortune required youth to maintain its upkeep and finally when the boy turned twenty, he was recalled to take his place at his father's side.
For most part the reunion and the months that followed was happy ones, there was no sight of the behaviour that had made Stefano so hated prior to his exile. Alejandro contented himself with the knowledge that his son's youthful indiscretions had faded away upon reaching manhood and there was nothing to fear. Stefano proved himself to be responsible and dependable as he took on the part his father required of him and after awhile, even the villages of Val Verde had decided that perhaps the young man had changed for the better.
Until Inez Rosillos began working at the main house.
Her mother, Paloma had been a trusted and faithful employee of the Paulo household for many years and the Don had to confess that from the lady's homely features, he would not have guessed her for producing such a beautiful daughter. And there was simply no denying it. From the moment she had blossomed into womanhood, Inez had been one of the most sought after maidens in Val Verde. Men had asked for her hand from the moment she had been considered old enough to marry but Paloma would have none of it and neither would Inez for that matter. Like her mother, Inez was proud and she was filled with the youthful ideal that one must loved the man she wedded. As a man who had adored the wife who had left him, Alejandro admired that in the girl and was more than happy to provide her with employment when she wished to make her way in the world.
It was only after he had seen how Stefano regarded the young lady that Alejandro began to perceive a problem with the decision he had made. The boy was more than infatuated with her, he was obsessed. He made several entreaties to woo the young lady but while she was polite in her refusals, it was still a rejection and Alejandro could only watch helplessly as disaster prepared itself to strike. He did try to stop the situation from spinning out of control by informing Inez that her services were not required at the house, hoping her absence would take Stefano's attention from her. Inez had accepted the situation, aware of the danger herself and had gone quietly, not wishing to provoke Stefano into something they would all regret.
Unfortunately, neither of them could count for Stefano's reaction to their efforts.
Of course he said nothing to let on that he was displeased and waited until the night of a village festival to act. Alejandro did not witness the events himself but when he was told later on, was able to have a good idea of what had transpired. His son had broken into the Rosillos home during the celebration and had dragged Inez out of her home and then attempted to violate her before half a dozen witnesses. No one of course dared to stop him and the young woman was forced to defend herself, using a broken bottle as her only weapon. Tearing a sizeable gash in Stefano's throat, she climbed onto the first horse she saw, nearly hysterical, Inez rode out of town into the night and did not come back.
Stefano's injuries were not serious but the scar left by Inez burned into his mind and no matter how Alejandro tried to convince him to let the matter go, the boy was determined to exact his revenge. Each time he looked into the mirror, Stefano saw the scar across his neck that would remind him forever that a woman had bested him and escaped with her crime unpunished.
As the time progressed, Stefano's hatred grew more intense until finally he announced that he was leaving to find Inez and would not stop until he brought her home to face justice over her actions. Despite the bad blood between their families, Alejandro assured Paloma that Inez would not be harmed and allowed the faithful servant to work in the house still. Determined that Inez would be returned home unharmed by his son, Alejandro sent one of his best men to accompany the boy on his quest. Rafael was a man of honour and a believer in the old ways, if he swore to the Don that Inez would be returned unharmed, Alejandro could be assured that was how it would be.
Thanks to Rafael's reports, Alejandro was kept abreast of his son's activities even if the news was not always pleasant. Inez had been fleeing from town to town like a fugitive, with Stefano never more than a few weeks behind her. Those she had befriended were often killed for their trouble and Alejandro felt a pang of sadness at the actions of his son even though he dreaded the day when Inez would make friends that Stefano could not frighten or kill. Unfortunately that fear culminated into reality with the arrival of the younger Don into the town called Four Corners.
Inez had decided she was done with running from his son and Alejandro could almost envision the look of defiance on her beautiful face when she made that decision. With her lover coming to her defence, the day of reckoning finally arrived for Stefano and he was killed, run through by the sword he would have used to kill Inez's lover. Alejandro accepted the news stoically at first; telling himself over and over again that the deed was done and no amount of vengeance would bring his son back. It added further insult to injury when he learnt that Rafael had fled rather than come home and face his judgement, having been partially responsible for the death.
Don Paulo returned to life in Val Verde without his son, all the while forcing himself not to think of the fact that the boy had been killed in the streets. When the body was returned to him, he felt numb and allowed his most trusted friends to handle the funeral arrangements. Paloma had left his employ then, aware that there was simply too much between their families for her to continue working for him. Don Paulo made no effort to stop her and spent much of his time alone, ruminating on the lonely years ahead with no wife or son to mourn him when the end finally came.
He did not know what inspired him to keep tabs on Inez's progress. He had told himself over and over again, that he was beyond the petty needs of vengeance, that what was done was done. There was point in lingering on the notion of such a thing when it served no purpose. Revenge would not restore his son to him and would only complete the descent into darkness that Stefano had embraced so willingly until he became consumed by it. However, as the days of loneliness seemed to stretch with no end inside, the old Don started thinking about Inez and the part she had played in the death of his beloved. She and her lover.
Then he learnt about the baby.
At first he was outraged by audacity of her. How dare she presumed to bring life into this world when she had been the instrument of seeing his son's ushered out of it. For the first time in too long, he began to feel the waves of anger churning inside his gut until his fury was a fire stoked from embers of defeat and despair. Suddenly, reality began to shape differently in his mind. It was not Stefano that had pursued Inez but she who had lured him with her heavy lashes and her coy smile, teasing his desire into an obsession he was not responsible. It was Inez who had dragged him to that gringo town across the border. It was Inez's lover who had murdered his boy.
Suddenly, the idea of vengeance did not seem so foolish and began to take shape in his mind as he thought more and more about the life she was leading while having denied Stefano his own. The Don smouldered at the idea that Inez was playing whore to the man who had taken his son away from him and was not bearing his bastard child. A child who had no reason being alive when Stefano was dead. With each passing day that he envisioned the child growing and slumbering inside Inez's belly, Don Paulo became angrier, his hatred for her becoming a kind of sickness that was reaching critical mass.
When the house of Paloma Rosillos, occupied by the lady herself and her younger daughter Calla was razed to the ground, every one in Val Verde knew that the Don had been responsible even if no one was brave enough to say it out loud. Paloma and Calla had managed to escape the fire in time but were not foolish enough to remain in town if this was the first expression of the Don's long dormant need for vengeance for the death of his son. Before the embers of the home she had raised two children in on her own had become cold, Paloma and Calla were already riding hard towards the border. If this was only the beginning of the Don's revenge than Paloma did not anticipate a lot of time to pass before he would go after her daughter.
As they left Val Verde behind them, possibly forever, Paloma Rosillos could only hope that Inez still had her guardians in the town of Four Corners.
She was going to need them soon enough.