Solomon stared at the skeleton and processed the profound isolation of the sealed, pitch-black chamber.
"Was he dumped down here alive, or did they place his body here after he died?" Solomon wondered aloud. He looked at the casual, leaning posture the bones had retained. "A dead man does not pose like that. And that red-eyed figure I saw earlier cannot be a coincidence. He was definitely locked inside this chamber while he was still alive."
Solomon knelt down on the stone floor. He reached his hand out to pull the crown from beneath the skeleton's heavy boots. As he crouched, he looked up at the empty neck cavity and suddenly realized the deliberate intention behind the placement.
Whoever eventually managed to bypass the divine seal, unlock the indestructible doors, and come down here to claim the royal crown would be forcefully required to kneel down and touch this man's boots to retrieve it.
