Tadeo Céspedes is a military man who has dedicated his life to the civil war and leads a band of soldiers. He rides into the town of Santa Teresa to “wipe out the leaders of enemy factions” (219). One such leader is Senator Anselmo Orellano. Tadeo’s men destroy the town and the church, killing the priest before riding toward the Senator’s house on the hill.

The Senator locks his daughter, Dulce Rosa (recently crowned as that year’s Queen of Carnival), into the furthest room and stands with his servant to defend the house. He tells his servants that the last one standing should kill Dulce Rosa before she can fall into the hands of the enemy. It turns out that the Senator is the last one alive. Shot in the stomach, he retreats to the room where Dulce Rosa is hiding and unlocks the door. He prepares to shoot her, but she asks him not to, declaring that she wants revenge for what has been done to them.

Tadeo breaks into the room and kills the Senator. He sees Dulce Rosa in her Carnival crown and dress, holding her dying father, and he rapes her.

Dulce Rosa refuses to leave her father’s home when people advise that she go live with family.