13 Treasures Read Online Free PDF

room. She was almost upon the first stair when she noticed that the door to a room on the right that was usually locked was ajar, allowing a chink of light into the darkened hallway. She drew back from the stairs and crept toward the room. There was no sound from inside. Tanya pushed the door open gingerly and stepped into the room, then met with a wonderful sight.
    Books by the hundreds lined the walls from floor to ceiling, covering almost every subject imaginable. A huge writing desk sat in the corner by the window, thickly coated in a layer of dust. Stacked on top of it were even more books.
    She pulled several out from the shelves. Clouds of dust flew up as she flicked through them; it was obvious that they had remained untouched for many years. As her finger trailed the spines she saw that some of them were extremely old, dating back to the late eighteenth century. She opened the first, curiously titled
Myth and Magic Through the Ages,
and searched through the index until she found what she was looking for.
    “Faeries,” SHE WHISPERED ALOUD . “M YTHICAL BEINGS OF LEGEND AND FOLKLORE, ALSO KNOWN AS FAIRIES, FAYRE, FEY, OR THE LITTLE FOLK . T HE WORD ‘FAERIE’ COMES FROM THE F RENCH, AND FIRST CAME INTO USE IN E NGLAND FROM THE T UDOR PERIOD, WITH REFERENCES FEATURING IN LITERATURE THROUGH THE AGES .
    “I T WAS WIDELY BELIEVED THAT IF A FEY CHILD WAS BORN UGLY, SICK, OR DEFORMED, THE FAERIES WOULD STEAL A HEALTHY MORTAL CHILD AND LEAVE THE FAERIE CHILD IN ITS PLACE . T HESE STOLEN CHILDREN WERE KNOWN AS CHANGELINGS .
    “I N PAST TIMES IT WAS COMMONPLACE TO LEAVE GIFTS FOR THE FAERIES . P EOPLE BELIEVED THAT IF THEY LEFT FOOD OUT FOR THE LITTLE FOLK, THEIR KINDNESS WOULD BE REPAID WITH GOOD LUCK .
    “P ROTECTION FROM BOTHERSOME FAERIES INCLUDED VARIOUS SIMPLE METHODS AND DEVICES SUCH AS CARRYING SALT, WEARING THE COLOR RED, OR TURNING CLOTHING INSIDE OUT, KEEPING AN IRON NAIL IN THE POCKET, OR BEING NEAR RUNNING WATER .”
    “Faeries,” Tanya whispered, running her finger lightly over the old-fashioned spelling on the page. It seemed to suit them somehow, these strange creatures that hounded her.
    She fumbled in the top drawer of the desk, finding nothing but some old papers and a few curled-up insects. She slammed it shut. The second drawer of the desk was either locked or jammed, but in the third she found a scrap of paper, a pen, and an antiquated silver charm bracelet. Intrigued, she lifted the strange piece of jewelry from the drawer.
    It was heavy and cold to the touch; and though it was tarnished, the fine workmanship was clear to see. Each charm had been beautifully and lovingly crafted. She set it on the table, wondering how long it had lain in the drawer, undisturbed, and who the last person to wear it had been.
    She turned back to the scrap of paper and began to write, then hesitated. If the fairies found it there was no telling what they might do this time. She did not doubt for a second that Gredin was capable of turning her into a gibbering wreck with no memory.
    But I didn’t write it,
she told herself.
I’m just copying it. He didn’t say anything about that.
    She scribbled down the passage from the book word for word, then folded the paper carefully and put it in her pocket, before casting her eyes hungrily down the rest of the page. “
See also Faerie Glamour, The Thirteen Treasures, Faerie Courts: Seelie and Unseelie.
All right… let’s see,” she murmured, turning the pages once more.
    F AERIE G LAMOUR: A MAGICAL ILLUSION SO POWERFUL IT CAN FOOL ONLOOKERS INTO BELIEVING WHAT THEY SEE IS REAL; A MASK OF DECEPTION WHICH CAN MAKE THAT WHICH IS HIDEOUS A THING OF BEAUTY . G LAMOUR ALLOWS FOR CHANGE OF SHAPE, SIZE, OR FORM; THE ABILITY TO MASQUERADE AS AN ANIMAL—COMMONLY BIRDS OR CREATURES OF THE AIR—OR EVEN HUMANS .
    F OR A FAERIE TO SUCCESSFULLY POSE AS A MORTAL REQUIRESACONSIDERABLEAMOUNTOFPOWER, YET OFTEN IT IS THEIR BEHAVIOR THAT MAY ALERT THE MORE WARY HUMAN TO THE DECEPTION . S