Tales from The Castle (Short Stories)

The Blue Rose (BATB)

Spoiler Alert - Advised to read Beauty and The Beast first

About this short:

This was a bit of information that never made it into the Beauty and The Beast novel. There was no time and there were more important things to talk about but it concerns something we saw near the start of BATB. 

This scene is set some months after the end of Beauty and The beast (before Sleeping Beauty)

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Beldon glanced up, watching the teetering tower of books that loomed over him for a moment, before stepping back, just in time to avoid being crushed as the entire pile came thundering down right where he'd been standing.

He let out a sigh.

Honestly, these rooms were a disaster. How Luka had lived in them for so long without allowing any of the servants to tidy up the place was beyond Beldon's understanding.

He had barely survived a couple of months in the castle before he'd gone to work cleaning up the West Wing – though boredom had played a large hand in his decision to do so.

He crouched down by the pile and started lifting up the dozens upon dozens of books in the small room off Luka's old bedroom.

Beldon knew it would have been a long shot to find the book he was looking for but he'd nevertheless thought to try.

Luka, as it turned out, was not tidy. Not when it came to things like books and papers.

His office – if left unattended by the servants – resembled a scene of organised chaos. As opposed to Beldon's office which was immaculate. (Their use of personal space in areas such as the bedroom was a different matter of course.)

Beldon clambered over the pile that had tried to flatten him and rummaged further into the depths of the room, going as far back into the darkness as the candle would let him.

He was just about the turn back and retrieve another candle for the empty wall holders when something caught his eye.

Something was glowing at the back of the room.

Frowning, Beldon picked his way into the shadows, reaching forwards to feel his way to the light, careful not to trip and crash face first into the ground.

More books hid the source of the light from view and he quickly hauled the towers aside.

The light was emanating from under a cloth. It was a ragged old thing and Beldon grimaced as he took hold of it, sliding it away and tossing it aside.

He looked back to what he had revealed and his eyes widened.

A table stood before him and a large bell jar sat on top of it.

And under the bell jar lay a blue rose.

It was vivid, bright blue, almost like his own eyes, and it was the source of the light. It gave of a soft blue glow, brightening the darkness.

It should have been beautiful.

But the rose was crushed.

The petals were mangled and cracked. The stem was broken in two places. It was like someone had stepped on it.

Frowning, Beldon carefully removed the bell jar and picked up the rose, examining it.

Had he seen this rose before?