Queen of Swords

Awaiting her father's return from California, a young Spanish aristocrat, Tessa Alvarado, is shocked when she learns of his death. Sailing for the New World to assume control of the family hacienda, Tessa and her confidante and servant, Marta, find the once beautiful country in the hands of a military dictator who rules with an iron fist, taxing his subjects to the point of starvation.

When the men begin to disappear, the Queen of Swords springs to action. She discovers that the peasants are being framed for crimes they did not commit and sentenced to work in Montoya's mines. Montoya and Grisham hope the Queen will right the wrong and unwittingly fall into a trap they've laid. Will it be death to the Queen?

When a deadly fever grips the town, Doctor Helm's medicine is the only cure. In an ambitious bid to assume power, Captain Grisham steals the antidote, which Montoya desperately needs, and frames the Queen of Swords for the crime. The dark beauty is forced to unmask the real culprit - or watch Marta, Montoya and many of the townspeople die.

An assassin disrupts the Harvest Festival, when his crossbow fells Don Aguilera, the father of Tessa's childhood friend, Ramon. The grief-stricken son swears vengeance, which Tessa more than understands - until she, as the Queen of Swords, discovers that the shooter's target was not Don Aguilera, but Dr. Robert Helm.

A peasant girl lays dead by the hand of her well-moneyed lover, Anton, and the only witness is Tessa, who vows to testify against him. But Anton's mother, ranchero and former pirate Mary Rose (played by special guest star Bo Derek), is determined to save her son from the hangman's noose - even if it means murder. This time, the one who needs the Queen's protection is Tessa herself.

Montoya commissions Spain's finest swordsman to strike down the Queen of Swords. Unbeknownst to Antonio, his target is also his long-lost love, Tessa. The two long to pick up where they left off years before, but both have been changed by the sands of time. Tessa puts the Queen's life in Antonio's hands - does he have the honor left to protect it?

During a spree of burglaries, Tessa's godfather, Don Federico, is killed, robbing the young woman of yet another loved one and providing the Queen of Swords with a very personal reason to stop the bandits. The personal vendetta becomes even more so, when her oldest friend, Ramon, and his lover, Isabelle, are exposed as two of the thieves.

The Queen of Swords risks life and limb to liberate two men captured by Montoya. The first, Raul, knows who murdered Tessa's father, and the second, Churi, knows the grief of such a loss. Breaking the two out of prison is just the beginning. Raul, a man motivated by greed alone, learns of Tessa's secret identity and uses it against her, putting Tessa and Marta in the line of Grisham's fire.

A woman dressed in black wielding a sword robs the payroll gold, and news of the Queen of Swords' treachery and betrayal quickly spreads. Montoya captures the culprit, Carlota (played by special guest star Elizabeth Gracen), keeping her real identity a secret and pocketing the gold. This time, instead of saving lives, the Queen must expose the imposter to save her own good name.

An infamous bandit, El Serpiente, targets Santa Helena, inadvertently pitting the Queen of Swords and Doctor Helm against each other. The Serpent, injured by the Queen, has the doctor kidnapped. Helm feels bound by his professional oath to save his life, while the Queen cannot understand helping a killer. Can they save Santa Helena from El Serpiente - and themselves from one another?

Grisham gets wind of an old plot hatched by three Dons, including Tessa's father, to keep their friend's wealth from Montoya. The three buried the fallen man's possessions and divided a map revealing the treasure's whereabouts into three parts. As the Queen of Swords races against time to recover the fortune, she inadvertently throws Tessa in the path of Grisham and Montoya.

An Ambassador to the King of Spain arrives in Santa Helena with only one thing on his mind - the Queen of Swords' head. Plotting to destroy the Queen, earn a King's reward and, perhaps, assume Montoya's command, Ramirez is quite the ambitious politician. But he's grossly underestimated both Montoya and the Queen - and he'll be lucky to return to Spain with his own head.

A man from Vera's past comes to Santa Helena, threatening to topple her carefully constructed house of cards. When Bernardo kidnaps her, ransom is not his prime objective. He wants to keep Don Hidalgo's gold, as well as his wife. It's up to the Queen of Swords to save the girl, the ransom -- and Vera's reputation.

Tessa's uncle, Don Alejandro, arrives from Spain, vowing to bring justice to his brother's killer. Montoya bends the "evidence" in his favor, but as Alejandro is about to kill the alleged murderer, Tessa steps in to vouch for the accused. Don Alejandro is shocked by his niece's actions, accusing her of betrayal. Will Tessa risk losing the only family she has left to save an innocent man?

An Englishwoman, Camilla Wentworth, and her two slaves escape her abusive husband by hiding in Santa Helena. But Captain Wentworth claims his wife was kidnapped, bringing Montoya into the already messy situation. And when Camilla turns out to be Doctor Helm's former fiancée, it goes from bad to worse - especially for the Queen.

When Montoya and his men depart Santa Helena for Monterey, leaving Grisham in command, the Captain's former nemesis, Krane, sets his sights on the pueblo. Blackmailing Grisham and jailing the Dons, Krane and his desperados leave the Queen only one option. Unable to take them all on her own, she's forced to enlist some unlikely conscripts - the town's women.

Leonardo sails to Santa Helena to reunite with his long-lost love, Marta. After his friend recklessly shoots a soldier, Montoya uses Leonardo to lay deadly traps for both Don Hidalgo and the Queen of Swords. The Queen is in a tight spot - she doesn't want to see Leonardo harmed, but if she saves him, she'll surely lose Marta forever.

A horse rides into town carrying a wounded stranger, whose last words accuse the Rey family of lies and murder. As Montoya and his men try to piece the puzzle together, the Queen turns to Andreo, the son of Claudio and Paloma, suspecting that he's hiding something. When mother and father accuse their own son, she knows without a doubt that its time for the Queen of Swords to ride to his rescue.

Roman and Fenner, two con men riding through town, convince Montoya that they can catch the Queen of Swords - for the 1000 reales reward. After the Queen saves Roman, the criminals have trouble keeping their word. But when Montoya sets a human death trap for the Queen, it'll mean teaming with a couple of thieves to beat Montoya at his own game.

A clipper ship delivers strangers, a Samurai master and his apprentice, to a strange land. After the master is murdered, the young initiate, Kami, vows to avenge the killers - and walks right into one of Montoya's traps, one pitting the Japanese warrior against the Queen of Swords. Will Kami seek the truth, or be blinded by revenge?

Cornered by Captain Grisham and his men, the Queen of Swords escapes into an abandoned mine, and is followed by Grisham himself. Just when he's got her where he wants her, an earthquake traps them inside. With a dwindling air supply, the two foes vow to keep up the good fight - until the bitter end.

When Grisham causes Vera to fall from her horse, the unscrupulous Captain blames the Queen. Montoya calls for martial law to stop the avenger once and for all, and it seems that everything is finally in place for Montoya to succeed. How can the Queen possibly escape this time?