13 Secrets

by Michelle Harrison

  “I’m sorry.” Tanya got up and led Oberon to the kitchen door, shooing him into the hallway. “I didn’t realize.” She sat back down to silence, half-expecting her grandmother to start bustling about making tea. But even Florence was subdued and still.

  Warwick leaned across the table. “I’ll get straight to the point. Someone tried to strangle Morag this morning. Tanya and Fabian were in the woods at the time and disturbed them—whoever it was ran off. They managed to get away but Oberon chased them and came back with this.” He held up a scrap of dark material. “Until we know why, Morag’s staying here with us. Now, I’ve tried to get the truth out of Fabian and Tanya about what they were up to in the forest, but all I’m getting is a poppycock story that Oberon ran off.” He pushed the fabric into his pocket, and Fabian and Tanya shared an uncomfortable glance.

  “POPPYCOCK!” the General shrilled from his perch. A bark from Oberon outside the kitchen door silenced him.

  “I suspect they’ve been holding out until you got back,” Warwick continued, a challenging look in his eye. “Something tells me you haven’t been studying today. So where have you been? Because I know something’s going on with you three, and none of you are leaving this table until I get the truth.”

  Rowan nodded. “I was coming to tell the truth, believe it or not.” She motioned across the table. “This is Sparrow and Suki. I’ve been with Sparrow all day, and another boy, Crooks.” She glanced at Nell. “The boy you saw me with before.”

  “The shifty-looking one?” Nell queried.

  “Yes. All three of them, plus nine others, are part of a group I used to… that I’ve belonged to ever since I ran away.”

  “What kind of group?” Rose asked, but Warwick shook his head, and Rowan carried on talking.

  “I met Sparrow first. I told some of you about him already. He was on the streets, like me, and he soon realized I had the second sight. After I told him what had happened to me he said he knew some people—people who might be able to help me get James back from the fairies. People who switched changeling children for those they were stolen for. At the time I had no idea of what I was getting into, only that I’d do whatever it took if there was a chance I’d see my… that I’d see James again.

  “He took me to meet a fey man who works in a circus—the circus that’s now over at Halfpenny Field. His name is Tino.”

  “What sort of a name is Tino?” said Nell. “And Sparrow? And Crooks, for that matter?”

  “The sort of name that’s a bit like Red,” Rowan answered. “An alias.” She turned her gaze back to Warwick. “I repeated my story to Tino, but later I found out that Sparrow had already given him a head start. He must have seen something in me that he wanted, needed, for this group of his.” She cleared her throat and looked away.

  “By then, I’d become good at most things I needed to be good at to survive on the streets. Lying, stealing, sneaking about. Staying unseen—invisible—to most, anyway. But the one thing I was especially good at was finding hideouts. I never liked sleeping in parks, or in shop doorways.” She chanced a quick glance at Rose, shamefaced. “So I started to break into places. Empty shops, empty houses, even empty pubs.

  “Tino was impressed. He said he wanted me in the group. Once I’d agreed I was in, he swore me to secrecy. I was to source hideouts for myself and other members, and in turn, I could learn from them. Because that was the thing about the group—each of us had something to offer. As time went on, I got more creative. I found that by listening, and even by researching places in libraries, I could learn things. Valuable things. It’s how I learned about the tunnels under this house.”

  “So who are the others?” Florence asked. She looked at Suki and Sparrow. “And how did you two become involved in all this—what responsibilities do you have?”

  “I first met Tino when I was five,” Suki began.

  “Five?” Florence exclaimed. “Good lord! Surely he didn’t recruit you for this group of his then?”

  “No, I…” Suki faltered, plainly struggling to speak of her past.

  “Suki was one of Tino’s jobs,” said Rowan. “She’d been taken. She’s gifted—like Morag. She sees things. Tino thinks it’s why the fairies wanted her. He got her back from them. But…” she hesitated, looking to Suki for permission to recount the tale.

  “It’s all right,” Suki said softly.

  “A few months ago the fairy who took Suki found her again, and killed her family. Tino heard about it, remembered her, and recruited her because of her ability.”

  “I can use it to find out about children who’ve been taken, among other things,” Suki mumbled, looking pale.

  “And you?” Florence asked of Sparrow.

  “I’d been on the streets awhile,” he said, fiddling with the tablecloth. “Met Tino by chance, really. He knew I was second-sighted straight away, but he didn’t ask me to be part of the Coven for another year or so.”

  Rose looked alarmed. “The Coven?”

  “It’s just one of the names for the group,” Sparrow explained hastily. “Nothing to do with witchcraft. It’s an old word for ‘gathering.’ ”

  Rose nodded, her green eyes flitting to her daughter’s.

  “I’d been doing a bit of work for him here and there, and he grew to trust me,” Sparrow continued. “Said I was honest. He also told me I was brave, and good-hearted. That’s when he told me about the Coven. He said that at times it was hard to keep sight of the good in the world, and that the Coven needed someone like me in it.” He shrugged and gave a slow smile, his chipped tooth peeking out under his lip. “No one had ever told me I was good for anything before that.”

  “So, this Tino recruits people on their qualities and abilities,” Warwick said, frowning. “Presumably that’s his role in things? And—”

  “Actually,” Suki put in, “it isn’t Tino’s role to recruit, as such. That job was someone else’s. Luckily he wasn’t precious about it—Tino found all three of us by chance. It was Cobbler who looked out for new members, and he told everyone to keep an eye out.”

  Warwick’s eyes narrowed. “Was?”

  Suki bit her lip. “Three of the Coven members have been murdered. Three more of us have been attacked.”

  A stunned silence hung over the table. Rose was the one to break it, her face crumpling despite her efforts to remain composed. “That means whoever’s doing this… they’re going to come after you, Rowan. Aren’t they?”

  “Yes.” Rowan let out a shaky breath. “They’re going to come after all of us. And there’s something else.” She looked at Warwick. “Eldritch has escaped. He’s tracked me down… like he said he would.”

  “Eldritch? That’s not possible, Rowan.” He glanced at Rose, and Tanya remembered the conversation she had walked in on. “Whatever you think you saw… the mind plays tricks….”

  “I’m not making this up!” she said sharply. “Or imagining things. His hand had been cut off—that’s how he got out.” She glanced fretfully about her, as though she was afraid he would come bursting into the room at any time. “He nearly caught me—if it hadn’t been for Sparrow, I wouldn’t have escaped. It’s only a matter of time before he finds me again.”

  The lines in Warwick’s face deepened all of a sudden. “You saw him too?” he asked Sparrow hoarsely.

  Sparrow nodded. “So did Suki.”

  “Then could he be the one that’s targeting you all?”

  “We don’t know,” said Sparrow. “It’s possible—Rowan says he was part of the changeling trade. The fact that we work against it could be a motive for him to attack us.”

  “He was there the night James was stolen,” Warwick remembered. “But he wasn’t actively a part of it. He was adamant about that.”

  “He’s our only lead so far,” said Rowan. “It doesn’t mean he’s our only enemy.”

  “Or that he’d be the only one with a motive,” said Fabian. “There are also these thirteen secrets—whatever they are—that you’re hiding.
And they must be pretty big if someone is hunting you down for them.”

  Morag reached a bony finger toward Sparrow, then Suki. “That’s right. I saw you in my vision….”

  “ ‘The thirteen secrets have been found out,’ ” Tanya repeated. “I was there. I saw your faces in the water. And Red’s… and all the others.”

  To her surprise, Sparrow shook his head. “You’ve got the wrong end of the stick,” he said softly. “And that was the whole point. There are no thirteen secrets—not in the way you think, anyway. I mentioned earlier that the Coven is one of the names for the group.” He paused, glancing at Suki and Rowan. “Well, the thirteen secrets is another. It’s a newer name, one we’ve been using to protect the Coven. See, the Coven has been around for hundreds of years, doing what it does. Over time, that name’s been compromised. ‘The thirteen secrets’ is a code between us. Because if anyone overhears it, they’ll be led away from the fact that the ‘secrets’ are, in fact, people. We are the thirteen secrets.”

  “Which means that if someone is hunting us, it’s not because of what we know,” said Rowan. “It’s because of what we are. Someone knows about the Coven and is trying to finish us—for good.”

  “How far does this thing, this Coven, go back?” Warwick asked. “You said hundreds of years—presumably that means there have been hundreds of members… no wonder word of it has leaked.”

  “There are only ever thirteen members at one time,” said Suki. “As members retire, or die, they’re replaced by new members and sworn to utmost secrecy. But the Coven is always thirteen.”

  “Why?” asked Rose. “Why that number?”

  Fabian pulled his brown book out and rested it on the table. “I think I can answer that.” He flipped the pages as every head in the room looked toward him. “Tanya and I started to figure it out,” he said. “The Coven members each symbolize one of the thirteen treasures of the fairy courts.” He tapped the page as Sparrow’s mouth dropped open. “Suki is psychic—she’s the Cup of Divination. The Dagger was Fix, who was a healer. Crooks is the Key—he can literally open any door, break into anywhere. Tino, we think, is Glamour—he makes costumes for the circus, but I’m betting he’s a glamour-maker as well. Samson is abnormally strong—he’s the Mantle. And Victor is an expert swordsman—he’s the Sword, obviously.” He closed the book, the slap of the pages loud in the quiet room. “That’s as far as we got. But now, after what you’ve just said, I’m guessing Sparrow’s bravery makes him the Heart, and…” he paused, his blue eyes focused on Rowan. “And your knack of finding hideouts, staying unseen, means you’re the Halter—the ring of invisibility.”

  “He’s right,” Suki said, dumbfounded, but clearly impressed. “The Coven was founded soon after the divide of the Seelie and Unseelie Courts. Although there were instances of changeling children before then—usually when fey children were sick, or ancient fairies wanted caring for—after the fall out it became far worse. Children were being switched out of spite, used as weapons.

  “A rebel group formed, made up of fairies and second-sighted humans who’d had their children switched. They started to work together to find the children, but found that as the group grew, it became harder to control. They began to argue, until one of them realized their situation was going the same way as what had happened with the thirteen treasures, leading to the division of the courts and the predicament it had put them into in the first place. They decided to define the roles within the group and link them to the thirteen treasures. Not only did this give a clear definition, and give each of them an identity, but it was felt that using the treasures as a basis balanced the negative effect of what had happened with them in the fairy world. They were using them to do good—and each of the roles, when put together, covered everything, all the skills they needed in order to be able to work together to the best effect.

  “Some time was spent working out the members’ strengths, and any who weren’t selected to act as a treasure became a silent member—a watcher. The watchers were used as spies, and for a while it worked, but over the years it was phased out—too many spies were caught and interrogated. For years now, the Coven has consisted of only thirteen active members—it’s safer that way.”

  Warwick exhaled slowly. “I’ve never even heard of this Coven, only a few rogue changeling dealers, and lone vigilantes getting changelings back.”

  “Up until now it’s been a well-kept secret,” said Sparrow.

  “So why did you decide to tell us?” asked Fabian.

  “Because the truth is out now anyway,” said Rowan. “And with the way things are going, the Coven might not be around much longer. If something happens to me, then I wanted you all to know why.”

  “I think I need a cup of tea,” said Florence, breaking her silence at last. She stood up and filled the kettle. The rattles and clatters of the cups were louder and more frequent than usual as she set about making drinks for everyone.

  “So Cobbler recruited people,” Tanya said finally. “Which treasure did he represent?”

  “The Goblet of eternal life,” Sparrow answered. “His duty was to keep the Coven going indefinitely.” Pain crossed his face. “Perhaps that’s why he was one of the first to die—the start of our downfall.”

  “Then there was Dawn,” said Rowan. “She symbolised the Light.”

  “But I thought you said she was sensitive to sunlight?” said Fabian.

  “She was,” Sparrow answered. “Which was kind of ironic. But the part she really played was hope. See, Dawn was a changeling—she never found her way back. It’s thought she was switched because of her condition, but by the time she found out what she was, she felt it was too late to go back to the fairy realm. Even though she couldn’t live a normal life, she adapted.” His voice cracked. “She was our reminder of what the Coven was really for—but at the same time a reminder that even if changelings never make it back, they can still survive. She counseled others in the same situation.”

  “We found Dawn this morning,” said Rowan. “She’d been left in the sun to die. Her condition was what killed her, in the end.”

  Horrified whispers went around the table like a ripple.

  “What about Cobbler?” Fabian asked. “Did you… did you find him, as well?”

  “His body turned up in a block of ice,” said Rowan, bitterly. “Whoever put him there even placed a goblet in his hand. The killer knew what he was—which treasure he symbolized.”

  A crease appeared in Fabian’s forehead. “But the ice is symbolic, too. Fix wasn’t preserved like that. Bodies in ice can last forever, potentially.” His head snapped up. “Eternally…”

  “And Fix was poisoned by one of her own potions,” Tanya added, her hand flying to her mouth.

  “All the murders have been carried out in a way that’s relevant to the role of that particular member,” said Suki. “We didn’t see it at first… it was only this afternoon that we realized.”

  Warwick rubbed a hand over his stubbly chin. “That leaves three more people and three more treasures—the Cauldron, the Platter, and…”

  “The Book of Knowledge,” Fabian finished.

  “Merchant is the Cauldron,” said Rowan. “He doesn’t restore the dead to life exactly—but he restores things to how they should be. He makes the actual trade-off with the changelings.”

  “What about the other two?”

  “Nosebag is the Platter. He’s an expert forager. He’s trained us all on plants, roots, and berries in the wild that can be eaten if any of us happen to be stranded somewhere, or hiding out for a long time. He made sure we’d never go hungry.”

  “So that only leaves Peg, the old woman,” said Tanya. “She has to be the Book.”

  “Yes,” said Suki. “Peg is the oldest of the Coven members. Her knowledge is vital to us—not only does she have extensive information on the history of the Coven, but also the history of the fairy world and the human world and their relationship with each other.”

  “So she
’d know of any grudges against the Coven,” Warwick said thoughtfully. “Because that’s what this is—a grudge. If someone simply wanted the Coven finished with, there are easier ways of doing it. But these acts—they’re personal. Sadistic.”

  “We’d hoped that Peg would be able to help,” said Sparrow. “But whatever knowledge she had has been destroyed. Her and Nosebag were the latest targets, just this morning. Peg’s library had been wrecked, and her mind wiped. She can’t even remember her own name. As for Nosebag, he’s alive, but barely. He’s ingested something toxic—Tino thinks it was mushrooms that had been switched for another kind that looks identical. They found him in time to give him an antidote, but he’s weak.” He scratched at his scalp. “Neither of them can help us now.”

  “You said there were three attacks,” said Florence, returning to the table. Her thin face looked drawn, and her lips were tight. It was a look Tanya had grown used to over the years; a look she had not seen for many months, but now it was back. Her hands shook as she set steaming teacups in front of everyone.

  “The third was on me,” said Suki. “My awareness—my powers, have been blocked. I found a strange symbol carved into the ground under my caravan. Normally, Fix would be able to help with stuff like that, but with her gone, Tino thought Peg might… might…”

  “And now Peg’s gone too,” Tanya murmured.

  “I may be able to help,” said Morag. Her voice was a dry leaf crackle, as bruised as the rumpled skin on her neck. “If we can identify the hex, I may be able to work something to lift it if we have the correct ingredients.”

  “That may have to wait, Morag,” said Warwick. “Right now it’s too dangerous for you to return home, until we know why someone tried to harm you. And I can’t help feeling that after what we’ve heard, it’s linked to all this.”