On the wall of his chamber hung a dark and elegant painting. It depicted a shining skull atop an elaborately carved pillar. The painting itself seemed to move and shift subtly, and each person who looked upon it saw something different, never able to agree upon the background of the image. Some saw a jungle, while others saw an open field. The skull’s location seemed perpetually shifting. The one-eyed king was likely the only living person who knew the significance of the painting. He had purchased it from a young woman in the countryside during one of his long excursions beyond the walls of his kingdom.
