Kidnapping of Montezuma

January 15, 1520
I have done something that might very well tip the balance of peace in the city of Tenochtitlan. It seemed that they were slowly trying to trap us, so I made a rash and quick decision. I took their king, Montezuma, as my leverage. They know as long as I have him with me, there is nothing they can do to me without them losing their great and noble leader. As I think about it, there are many ups and downs. Many a night I have laid up and consulted Dona Marina about this problem. She agrees with me that this was the right to thing to do to secure my men and my safety. I have been here for over a year and a half and there has been no important word from Cuba. This makes me think that something not so good is going to occur that might disrupt the peace even more. Maybe this is the fact that I am supposedly a descendent of a god, or maybe it’s just dumb luck, but I feel something is going to happen.