Black and grey tattoo on the outer thigh of two skulls, candelabra and hanging chains, shaded with dotwork stippling.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Skulls and candelabra on a thigh

Dotwork · Thigh · Black and grey · Photo

The design shows two skulls, one above the other, flanked by lit candles on ornate candelabra arms, with chains hanging between them and leaves at the centre. The linework is clean and the skulls and candles are shaded smoothly, with stippled dotwork forming a soft halo around the upper skull. The tattoo wraps around a thigh and is shown in black ink and grey tones against a plain light background.

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Hester, the chandelier came down again on Tuesday. The chain parted at the top link with a crack like a musket, and the whole iron business landed on the flagstones of the great hall, the two skulls rolling off in opposite directions as if they had been waiting for the chance. Mr Pryce says it is beyond mending. I told him we have said that about everything in this house since the roof went, and he looked at me as though I had spat on the altar.

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The upper skull was Lady Maud's, or so the family book insists. She asked to be kept where she could see the candles. The lower one belongs to nobody anyone will name. The candelabra arms curl out from both like ivy that has learnt manners, and between the chains hang little beads and jet drops that clink whenever the wind comes through the broken east window. I have counted them every night for a month because the counting keeps me from thinking about the cold.

Last evening I lit every candle I could find, all eleven, and carried them down the long gallery one by one until the hall looked like a ship's deck at sea. I did not mean to stay past dusk. But the leaves at the centre caught the light, and the shadows of the two skulls stretched across the far wall, and for a moment they looked as though they were still hanging over the table, waiting for the first course.

Tomorrow I will sweep up the wax. Come in spring if you can. I will leave the candles unlit for you to choose.

Yours, Eliza

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