It has been said that, as human beings, we are hardwired to believe that objects speak to us. Lucas Steiner, Luke to his friends, is a PhD candidate at one of the larger universities. On his last term extension and running out of time to complete his dissertation, Luke comes to believe that a five-hundred-year-old unknown, and undocumented drawing is talking to him. He is surprised that no one else can hear it. He believes that this drawing is the work of Pieter Brueghel, The Elder.
In his effort to prove the existence, establish the provenance, and make known to the world Brueghel's lost drawing, Luke will experience loss, separation, and conflict. Amid the morass of structured bureaucratic lethargy and the extreme animosity of a department superior, Luke will confront the persistent presence of a pernicious evil stemming back to 16th Century Belgium and the blood-stained legacy of the Duke of Alba-the Iron Duke.