Undead Love: A Post-Apocalyptic Romance

by Silvia Rojas

“I told you I would win.” Having taken Alicia along to sit in the private box while he fought, he accepted the towel and sat down on the seat to watch the battle continue. The next match was against Bozo and some random person from Marqueis, undoubtedly rigged so Bozo could win. The man had something under his armor, Quinn just knew it, but he wasn’t going to give up. Quinn had it figured out, the man was cheating, and that was his ace in the sleeve for tomorrow’s party. He looked at Alicia and smiled. “Thank you. Did you bring the sandwiches?”

  “Of course!” Another thing about Alicia. She made amazing sandwiches. She made absolutely delightful sandwiches, so great that he had her make them every day. “I made your favorite ones today, Sir.”

  “*Sigh* I told you, call me Quinn.” The Lord of Suthell sighed. “How many times have I told you that?”

  “I am still a servant, Sir,” Alicia said, huffing at his tone. “How many times have I told that?”

  “So you are saying if you weren’t a servant, you won’t call me Sir?” Quinn asked. Alicia looked at him, surprised, before nodding. “Well, let’s see what we can do about it then.”

  Quinn chuckled mysteriously at the end, making Alicia shiver. What had this man planned? She would never know about it, but she hoped it wasn’t something bad for her. She didn’t want to be punished by Vesille.

  ***

  The Final Party was held on the night before the Finals. The Finals were supposed to take place in the evening before the sunset, so the party could be the most amazing one they could have had, and Quinn had gone in, not with the intention to have fun, but with another intention entirely. But first, though, he had to get through the crowd.

  And what type of a crowd it was. Disgusting, dirty and downright shameless. The people, all around him, would only look at him as if he was a piece of meat, especially the women. They would try to tear him apart with their eyes to see what was inside of his pants and they would try and grab his attention with dresses far too small for them to begin with, but the entire time, Quinn’s eyes were on Vesille, who was drinking more and more of his wine. He needed to strike at the perfect time and he knew it. And he didn’t even have to look for the time because the time itself had come to him.

  “So, Lord Suthell.” Vesille smiled in the most disgusting kind. “Tomorrow you face my champion. Think you have it in you?”

  “Of course I do,” Quinn said. They were in a corner of the room where Vesille had come to him to gloat. “Why won’t I? Bozo might be good but I’m good as well.”

  “Very funny, aren’t you?” Vesille growled. “Don’t try to act smart, Suthell, or you’ll lose greatly! Nothing can beat my champion, nothing!”

  “Ooh, wanna bet?” Quinn teased, his eyes darkening. “Huh? You’re so sure you're oh so ‘great’ champion will win, surely you can bet against me. An official bet, that we both will hold to our promise as noble men, what do you think?”

  “Bah!? A brat like you betting against me?!” Vesille laughed. “Why of course, why not? What do you want.”

  “Let’s see. If Bozo wins, I will owe you a favor,” Quinn said. At that, Vesille’s eyes literally glowed with glee and victory. He was falling right into his trap. “But if I win, you have to free Alicia from her debt to you, remove her collar, and give her to me instead.”

  “Ahhh, of course you would ask for the girl,” Vesille grunted. “Why should I? I can get much more interesting deals for Alicia, she’s a fine piece of meat.”

  “Oh, I know that.” Once again, trying his best not to make himself angrier, Quinn leaned in and went in for the kill. “But does everyone know what’s in Bozo’s sleeve?”

  Vesille paled, gaping at Quinn. Quinn smirked at Vesille, his head tilting in the challenge. Vessile’s mouth opened, then closed, then opened once again before he finally muttered out some words.

  “I pledge on my honor as a nobleman to release Alicia and submit her to you, without the collar or any debts, if you win against Bozo,” Vesille said, still in shock. Quinn’s smirk widened.

  “And I pledge upon my honor as a nobleman that in the case I lose against Bozo I will owe you one favor.” Shaking hands after the deal was made, Quinn tilted his head. “Pleasure to do business with you, Lord Cyzen. I hope your ‘rule’ is eternal.”

  And then Quinn walked off, his smirked turning into an all-out grin.

  ‘Hook, Line and Sinker.’ Quinn thought as he walked off. He had done it, he had succeeded. Now all he needed to do tomorrow, was win, and that was it. The end of Alicia’s treatment and maybe, just maybe, she’d accept him as not only her friend but someone else, something more than that.

  ***

  “Today... is the final match of the Grand Nephlin Sword Challenge!” The judge and the captain of the famous 3rd squadron shouted out loud. “And the final match between the Lord Suthell from Drenston and the Champion of Lord Cyzen, Bozo Marty Jones!”

  At that, everyone’s cheers literally tore eardrums apart. Quinn was especially excited for this match as he sat down on his box. Alicia was standing beside him and so was Azzie, both of the men looked at a pale and nervous Vessile in the crown box. He was looked at Bozo and gulping as if he realized what sort of a mistake he had made. Of course, Quinn wasn’t going to let anything happen now. When they were called down, with a firm and emotionless look on his face, the over 6ft man walked down in the middle of the ring, similarly from the other side, Bozo walked down, wearing a pure golden armor, that literally glinted, and a red colored cape. His sword had an extra luster to it as if the man had polished it just before the battle, and his eyes were absolutely mental as he grinned broadly at Quinn, his yellow teeth making Quinn wince.

  Quinn, on the other hand, was calm and collected, with his usual golden armor polished to perfection and Classico glinting in his hands. He wasn’t even showing any emotions as his eyes never left Bozo’s and that made Bozo panic slightly as Quinn wasn’t even reacting to his presence.

  “The winner of this battle will get eight Kindly Horses!” the judge announced, walking out of the ring and his hands facing forwards. Just at that moment, Quinn’s eyes reached Alicia’s, who was looking at him, biting her lips, as she looked at him. She didn’t know about the wager, nor that he had told her. He was going to surprise her, by taking off her collar when they went home. He hoped she took it positively. “MAY THE FINAL BATTLE BEGIN!”

  At the roar of the crowd, Bozo rushed in, trying to slice Quinn’s head off, but Quinn didn’t let him. He ducked underneath the mad swing and parried off the next few hits, easily deflecting all the hits he could with Classico. Bozo growled, getting frustrated again and again and again as he wasn’t able to land a single hit in, but Quinn was too graceful, to amazing to be hit at. He just blocked all the unavoidable hits and danced around Bozo’s blade.

  Quinn knew that Bozo had a small razor underneath his armor’s gloves, the razor would dig into his own gloves if he grabbed his hand finally, and that was what Bozo was counting to do. One of the rules for the finals that had ‘mysteriously’ popped up, was that the loser would be decided not only by the one who was knocked out first but by the one who first bled out. And that was Bozo’s final plan to win, but Dylan had prepared for it. He had worn special gloves, not that anyone knew what they were, that wouldn’t let the razor dig into his gloves. And he was going to win this no matter what happened afterward.

  When he realized that Bozo was going to come in from the side, Quinn danced around, and slashed him right across the arm, before smashing the plummet into his side, making Bozo fall down. Quinn kicked away Bozo’s sword out of the ring and pointed his sword at him.

  “Yield,” Quinn said softly. Bozo gulped but stayed resolute until the judge announced the victor.

  “WINNER BY OPPONENT UNABLE TO FIGHT....... LORD QUINN SUTHELL OF DRENSTON!” the judge shouted loudly. Everyone clapped and roared, everyone, regardless of who won. The fight was a fair and square match, undoubtedly because he had defeated Bozo without any problems on his side. Wh
en he gave Bozo a hand to let him get up, Bozo struck.

  “He’s bleeding from his hand!” Bozo exclaimed, pointing at Quinn. Quinn raised his eyebrows. “I am sure of it! His gloves are sticky!”

  “It can be sweat as well,” Quinn said calmly, removing both of his gloves and showing off his absolutely bloodless hands to everyone. There wasn’t even a trace of blood on them and Bozo’s jaw dropped. “Perhaps you should learn not to accuse people. In the end, though, I have won, fair and square.”

  “Indeed.” The judge nodded, after checking out the claim. “There is not a sign of blood on him. There will be no change in the decision, Bozo, please leave the circle. Lord Vesille will have to give Quinn his prize.”

  Bozo growled and stomped off, the crowd still clapping and cheering for Quinn’s victory as Vesille walked onto the field, his face set in a deadly sneer as he stomped up to Quinn and handed him 3 sets of keys and a piece of paper.

  “You’ll regret this, Suthell,” Vesille said, glaring right at him. “You’ll regret this.”

  “We shall see who regrets what,” Quinn said calmly, contemptuously staring at Vesille after making sure the contract was correct. “Try and see what happens if you do something to me, Azzie or Alicia. I am sure the king of Marequis won’t like an all-out confrontation between you and Drenston, would it?”

  Vesille grit his teeth and turned around, without giving a speech to the crowd and walked off, knowing that he had to do something to save his face. If word got out that this had happened, things would be bad. No, there was no way some snot-nosed jumped up brat was going to defeat the great Vesille Cyzen and get away with it, no way!!!

  Quinn on the other hand, walking off with a great burden lifted on his shoulders, heading straight for where Alicia was standing. He had nodded to Azzie as he winked and walked off, to get the horses of course and they left the room. Alicia silently followed them, unknown to her that her world was about to change.

  Chapter 5- Learning Freedom

  When they entered the home that was given to Quinn for his stay in while he was participating in the tournament, Quinn was silent, all the way to the house and that made Alicia even sadder than she was.

  Of course, she would be sad. She had met a man for the first time that cared about her wellbeing, that made sure she had what she needed first before coming to his own needs, and took care of her the same way a man would take care of someone he loved. That thought made her heart flutter as she looked at his golden brown eyes and he looked into her brown ones.

  “So, this is it.” She said, to break the silence. She didn’t want to do this. She didn’t want to go. She didn’t want to leave his company forever. She wanted to stay in his company forever. But she couldn’t do anything. In her mind at least. “Y You will be leaving.”

  “Well, that is true.” Quinn nodded, his eyes not betraying any of his emotions. “I’ll go back to Drenston, back in Actnare, back home.”

  Alicia gulped at the thought, him leaving her. She wanted to cry at the unfairness of it all, she simply wanted him to finish her off at the very moment so she wouldn’t have to back in Vesille’s arm.

  “You know, it’s a great place. Not as big as Nephil, not as glamorous as Nephil, but big enough for me to enjoy it. I have 20 servants there, waiting for me, to welcome me back.” Quinn said, smiling at the thought of his home. “And I also have my own friends back in Actanre, waiting for me.”

  “I see.” She sighed, bowing. “It was a very good experience to work for you, Master Suthell. I wish you the best of luck on the journey home.”

  “Yeah, it is going to be an amazing journey, especially with you there,” Quinn said. Alicia’s eyes widened as she looked up, looking at him as if he had gone insane. He walked closer to her, and removed a key, inserting it to the hole inside of her collar that kept her as a slave, she watched with wide, watery eyes, as he opened up her collar for the first time in five years, and threw it away to the side. “You’re free, Alicia. You’re free to come with me.”

  “W... What?” Alicia whispered, eyes at the thrown away collar, and at the key that he had on him, and the locker again. He showed her a paper.

  I, Lord Vesille Cyzen, hereby announce that the debt of one Alicia Sarzen, in my possession because her parents weren’t able to pay up her debts, free of any bindings of her to Nephil and to the House of Cyzen. Furthermore, I also promise that this is the same Alicia Sarzen that has served Lord Quinn Suthell for the time he has stayed in during the Grand Nephil Sword Challange. Starting from the moment the collar is removed from her neck and this paper is presented to her, she is no longer a servant of the Cyzen Family.

  Along with the note was a sign of the lord Vesille himself. She looked at the note, and then back at Quinn, then at the note again.

  “I made a wager with him,” Quinn said, tilting his head. “You see, I made a nice wager with him. Bozo had a razor inside of his glove that he slashed anyone with to claim first blood victory, so I tricked him into accepting a bet. If I had lost I’d owe him a favor, if Bozo had lost, you would be freed, without any complications, from all of your debts.”

  “B but..... you..... why?” Alicia asked, still in a dream-like state. She looked at him, right in the eyes. “Why did you ask for it, Sir Quinn? Why?”

  “Because I can’t fathom the thought of leaving this place without you,” Quinn said, grabbing her shoulders. “Please, come with me, Alicia. Please. I don’t want to leave without you, I did this all for you. It's absolutely horrendous for someone like you to live like this. I just wanted to see you smile, all the time, show me what sort of a woman you were, show me what you were capable of and show me what you could do and what you couldn’t do. I want you in my life, please come with me.”

  Alicia looked into his eyes, his pleading eyes. She gulped, the thought that she was free, after 5 years worth of the torture she had suffered she was finally free. She wasn’t a Servant anymore, and it was all because of this man. Without warning, she hugged him.

  “Yes, oh gods yes.” She cried, hugging him tightly. “Thank you, thank you so much! I... I don’t know what I would have done without you, you definitely changed my life. P... Please, never leave me behind! Please! I’ll forever be your servant but I don’t want to leave you!”

  “And as I said, you won’t have to,” Quinn muttered in her ears. “You’re coming with me now, to your new home.”

  Alicia shuddered at the sound of ‘home’, but nodded, releasing him, and looking at his eyes directly. At that moment though, she realized that this was truly happening. Wiping the tears out of her eyes, she looked at him, her eyes firm this time around and waited for him to speak.

  “When do we leave?” She asked. “I don’t have any possessions and all that I can take, is with me.”

  “Well, first of all, you need some new clothes,” Quinn said, looking down at her clothes as if they had done him a personal offense. “And I have prepared them for you, they’re in my room.”

  “You... You didn’t have to.” Embarrassed by the thought of him shopping for her clothes, she gulped and went to his room. Quinn looked at her in amusement and sat down on the couch. “Don’t peek!”

  Quinn laughed at the words as she closed the doors, instead waited for both Azzie and Alicia to come out. The first one to come in was Azzie.

  “I’ve got the carriage ready,” Azzie said, snorting. “The eight Kingly Horses... yeah right, more like about to die horses. All of them are either old or sick and haven’t given any treatment. It was only a show so he could earn more money and take out his garbage.”

  “Can they be healed?” Quinn asked, raising an eyebrow. “Alicia’s getting ready to leave as well, as soon as she is out we’ll leave. I don’t want to be in this city for longer than necessary.”

  “And neither do I,” Azzie agreed. “Neither do I. Now that we have 10 horses, though, our speed will be much greater. I have hired some people, horse riders from Lentan, that will come with us to get the Horses. Y
ou and Alicia will, of course, be in the carriage.”

  “Good.” Quinn agreed, looking at his door. “She took it much greater than I expected her to.”

  “She’s utterly broken and desperate to get out of here, of course, she will take it in stride,” Azzie said, looking around and then whispering. “What about Vesille?”

  “He will have to face his loss. He was telling me how I’ll regret it, but I’ll be damned if I let her go right now.” Quinn muttered softly. The door to the former room of Quinn opened up and Alicia stepped out, wearing the clothes that had been given to her.

  Her black colored gown was sweeping down to her knees, where instead of when there was nothing, now were black heels, going up till her ankles. She had cut off some of her hair so instead of her long black hair, which initially went till her hips, now only went till the middle of her back, and looked much cleaner than before. Alicia Sarzen was a changed woman, no longer a servant, she was a truly free soul. Much of her chest was on view but it was covered with a scarf that had gone along with her dress.

  “Do I look good?” Alicia asked, making turning around once so Quinn could have a nice look at him. Quinn though was driven speechless by her beauty. He gulped and nodded, his eyes fixated on her form. “Stop staring Sir Quinn, it’s making me feel embarrassed.”

  “You really look good,” Quinn admitted. He looked at Azzie, who was also looking at Alicia in appreciation, and then back at Alicia. “Yes, you truly look amazing. Now come on, it is time for us to move, the less we stay in this city the better.”