Kings symbolize control, discipline, resolve and mastery.  Swords are associated with reason, thought, logic, will, courage, verbal skills, matters pertaining to the mind and survival in the world, and the element of air. The keywords for this card are authority and practical intelligence. 

"Old philosophical ideas have finally exhausted themselves.  It's time to trade them in for a new point of view.  Your habitual communication pattern is no longer appropriate for your life; it's time for a change.  You may need to complete some communication with someone.  You may have reached and end in a training or learning period.  You know that your old lifestyle is no longer meaningful or interesting to you; it's time to take some definite action to reach closure on old activities." - Gail Fairfield

I found the images on both these cards very interesting.  The Metamorphosis King seems to incorporate the images of others Kings of Swords on his clothing.  Maybe these figures are not literal kings but they certainly seem to exhibit talents one might ascribe to the King of Swords.  On the Paulina card the King of Swords seems to be at one with his environment.  He almost blends into the background except for his sword.  Something about both images suggests to me that the King of Swords may be someone who does not stand out in the crowd until he wishes to do so.  It is someone who does not need to show his weapon (his intellect and skills as a communicator) until the need arises.  He is not a show off but is low key and comfortable with himself.  He is well aware of his gifts and of his place in the world and does not need to impress others by boasting about his skills.

Perhaps this is a quality I need to incorporate more into my own life.  I don't need to brag about my skills and abilities.  Instead I should allow others to discover them in their own time.  Maybe I should try to become a bit more of a mystery.  Instead of blurting out and revealing myself immediately I should allow others to unwrap me like a gift.  This can be very hard for me because I often prefer to let people know who I am right away - that way if they decide they'd rather not spend time with me I'll know it sooner rather than later.  Of course the flip side is that often people are turned away by my bombastic approach to things and they might actually like me if they got to know the quieter, less boisterous side of me.

We are all multi-faceted but we tend to favor one or two facets over others.  The King of Swords may be telling me that it's time to let all the facets glow with a quiet luminescence so that others want to keep turning it around and looking into its depths.  I think I am often viewed as a noisy brook that doesn't have much depth - which is of course my fault because I often use just that term to describe myself.  It's time to stop downplaying my other sides and allow folks to explore the hidden depths that I guard a little too well.