Story for a Heartless King

[Murvoen]

The image below is one I stumbled across and squirreled away in my Finders and Keepers thread as a potential story hook. Now it's decided to keep nagging at me and making my mind twist and turn it every possible way to find the story in there. I've come to the conclusion that I need some help with that.

To that end, here's what I have so far:

• I think there will be a fairy tale sort of vibe to this (Think Brothers Grimm)
• Could have vampires or some sort of unliving race
• Love the idea of him being literally heartless
• Might be the cause of a curse leading to epic curse breaking quest
• Some kind of odd or dark romance would be fitting
• Think he'd make for a great king of a land in suffering

If any of that triggers something for you and you'd like to play out whatever plot it inspires send me a message! I am really itching to give this image the story it deserves.