User blog comment:Toymakers Creation/The Shattered Crown/@comment-1920550-20150713220102/@comment-1920550-20150714021432

Hum, so you are not portraying the Ruined King as the ruler of the Isles, but having Morde filling that role...it does have an appeal to it. With the hunt for Mao i'd always picture having the King hunt him to cure Eve, while his subjects (Morde working as a double crossing right hand of the King in a sweet irony) believe that he's leading the hunt to give them the power to conquer the world and spread the Mist. On the other hand having Morde hunting Mao to become a ruler, while the King hunts him to save a loved one creates a rivalry aspect to them.

Also i imagine Eve would actively resist the King trying to cure her. Given the likely centuries she's been like, plus the unique vampiric nature of her transformation, she's like a drug addict (which i imagine you can see the parelel bewteen vampirism/blood drinking/pain siphoning and drug addiction) that can't kick the habit.