Maria Theresa Alvarado - Swashbuckling masked heroine seen on the adventure series QUEEN OF SWORDS/SYN/2000-2001. Maria Theresa "Tessa" Alvarado is a Spanish aristocrat who returns to California in 1817 after many years of living in Spain to claim her family's birthright. Unfortunately, she learns that the land is being ruled by an iron-fisted military dictator, since her father's suspicious death from a fall from a horse. In the tradition of Zorro, Tessa dons black fencing clothes and a mask made from a piece of her mother's lace shawl to become The Queen of Swords, an avenger for the downtrodden who uses her sword and whip to battle the local tyrants. Marta is Tessa's gypsy governess and confidante who aids her with her with mystical powers.