In honor of the release of Beauty and the Alchemist this month, I’m letting the characters take over the blog. Today’s post comes from Luca, town historian and enthusiastic bookseller. Enjoy! –Elle
So, I know last week Red said that she thinks Beauty and the Alchemist is really all about me, but I’m not so sure. And it turns out there’s not a lot that I can say about it that wouldn’t give things away. But I can tell you all about the castle, or at least everything we know about the castle–and who better to do so, since I’m officially the town historian now?
Belville is a small, alpine town, and it’s always been independent–so the arrival of a castle took us completely by surprise. I couldn’t find any record of it in the town archives at all (of course, my old boss Owl had a tendency to throw away records, it turns out, so maybe that part isn’t surprising). Anyway, the castle showed up last spring. Dusty, the local handy-gnome, was the one to find it. See, there’d been a pretty violent storm, and while Dusty was out repairing a bridge on the forest road, he noticed a downed tree–a tree which had crashed through the outer walls protecting the castle. Probably there was some kind of magic protecting the castle before that, but the storm and the tree created a hole through which we could see the castle and enter its grounds.
And, of course, Red and William did that almost immediately–go out and explore the castle, I mean. (Red’s saying that Officer Thorn told them to, and that it wasn’t her own idea, but still.) Belville’s castle is unique because, while most castles in the nearby mountains are made of stone, this one’s made almost entirely of wood. Instead of wallpaper or paint on the inside, the walls are covered with intricate carvings–most depicting natural scenes and trees. The castle features a large, circular main hall and a very advanced glass greenhouse, too (although I don’t want to talk so much about that).
We’re fairly certain now that the castle was created by a society of forest elves. But since most of those elves have now moved away, the castle remains an abandoned building on the outskirts of town. The perfect place, as Red says, for anyone hiding from the law to hang out . . .
But don’t you worry; everything turns out just fine! 😀
