The Last of Sansora

THE CONDITION

[EVA'S POV]

Hudson drives in silence through the cold night as I stare out the window, trying to ignore his presence. For some reason, I don't want to go anywhere with him. He no longer feels safe. And one more detail: I'm still wearing my pajamas. We don't talk to each other through out the journey back to his house in Pinefort.

He pulls over in his driveway, removes his seatbelt and turns to me, ready to break the still silence.

"Eva, whatever happened...I didn't mean for you to see that." he says softly, reaching for my hand, but I pull away.

"How did you find me?" I mutter, still not facing him.

"I tracked you down...there's a tracker in your engagement ring." he tells me.

This time I look into his face with my eyes narrowed. "You put a tracker in my ring?"

"Look it was for your..."

"For my protection? Of course, you'd want to protect me from going anywhere so that you could turn me into your baby making machine. So that my babies could grow up and use their abilities to make you and your people immortal." I snap.

"It's not like that. I can explain." Hudson sighs.

"You don't need to. I've seen everything. I already know who you are."

"Eva, I was planning on telling you everything at the right time."

"Oh great Hudson." I chuckle humorlessly. "You were planning on telling me you had ALS after we got married? Or that I had healing powers that could heal you and make you immortal again?"

"Those were not my intentions, Eva." Hudson coaxes.

"What exactly were your intentions? You knew who I was, so you decided to take advantage of me. Why didn't you tell me who I was?"

"It's not my duty to tell you who you are. It's your duty to find out." he states it like some principle. It makes me shut up and look out the window.

"Listen, love, when I first saw you, I first saw hope for me to live longer. But as time went on, I saw more than that. I wanted to be with you forever. I love you, Eva. I wasn't only with you because of my ALS."

"Did you destroy Sansora, Hudson?" I ask out of the blue. "Did you do it?"

He faces the windshield and doesn't look at me, sighing as he hangs his head.

I shake my head in disgust and chuckle. "You know, every time I slept, I would dream of a cold hearted man, slaying thousands of people like pigs. He was relentless, there was fire in his eyes. He slayed everyone, man or child. He was only in my dreams but I hated him for his brutality." I say.

"I almost didn't believe Ace, Hudson. You may have known me when you met me, but I knew you before you met me. I just didn't know what you were. But I know it now. You are still the heartless, fiendish man from hundred years ago who cares about no one but himself. And I need protection from no one but you." I verbalize with great emphasis, get out of the car and walk into the mansion.

✴✴✴✴✴

The morning sun blares against my eyes, causing me to wake up. I'm in the same old Hudson Lockmore mansion where I used to live before, except I'm not sleeping next to Hudson, I preferred sleeping in the guest room. It feels depressing. I only wish I woke up to Baxter's screaming or even my annoying alarm.

There's a knock on the door. I go to open it. There stands Hudson with a tray in his hands and a small smile.

"Breakfast in bed." he says.

"I don't want it." Yes you do. Food decreases depression.

"Please. I made it specially for you." he coaxes. I leave the door open and walk over to my bed. He enters the room and shuts the door behind him.

"I'm so glad you're okay. My brother Ace, he's..."

"He's a good guy, Hudson. He treated me well. At least he didn't lie to me." I roll my eyes.

"Ace said what he knew. Not what I truly felt." Hudson says.

"Why did you destroy Sansora? Why did you take the jewel?"

"I was... I was..."

"Stupid?" I cut in. "You didn't know what came over you? Well, that's too cliche, come up with something else. After all, you're a great actor."

Hudson sighs. "Look, we needed that much power. We had to go for battles against other supernaturals like the werewolves, the vampires and the dragons. So we requested the jewel from the people of Sansora."

"I thought they were already protecting you. They were using their healing powers to make you immortal."

"I know that. The people of Sansora always used their divine powers to resuscitate the knights of Exyclott who died from the battles, giving us a strong army force. But my subjects, they...they felt it made us look weak and dependent."

"So that's why you slaughtered all of the people of Sansora? Including my parents' parents?"

"That was the only choice. My subjects pressured me to do it. One problem with governance is public opinion. At first we asked for the jewel, but they wouldn't give it to us. So we had to use coercion."

I shake my head. "It doesn't change anything."

"I know." he sighs miserably. "I deeply regret my actions. It has caused a lot of mayhem. But understand me, as a king, it was my duty to..."

"It wasn't your duty. You aren't the true king. Ace is. How would you explain putting Ace in the dungeon and giving him a scar across his chest? Or killing your own father to get the throne of Exyclott?"

"Eva it was..."

"More and more excuses." I shake my head. "I don't want to hear them."

"I know. But it's all in the past. I'm a changed man, I promise. I know I was a monster."

I chuckle. "Was? You practically almost killed your brother to bring me here so that you could get me to heal you."

Hudson sighs deeply and looks up at the ceiling. "I brought you here because I love you. And I always did. I want to be with you, not because of my ALS or the endemic affecting Exyclott. It's because I love you."

"If you love me, I want you to do the right thing."

Hudson takes both my hands. "Tell me."

"I will heal you and your people on one condition." I say. "I want you to renounce your throne."

🎵
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