I helped my friends run a winter court fae dinner theater event thing on Saturday, which, more or less, is what this song is about. A selection of the attendees (with their permission), were declared to have arrived without an invitation, which means the law of hospitality that would let them leave freely at the end of the night didn't apply to them. They had to hunt for their true names, using hints found in memories that they had to earn from the fae around them - find your memories, solve the puzzle, earn your freedom.

It was interesting seeing who offered what in trade for a memory, and the interactions varied widely - from helping the fae pull pranks on each other, offering trinkets and flower seeds, jewelry, to poems, jokes, hugs, etc.

This song feels like a waltz, to me, with a dark minor key turn at the halfway point as hope starts to shift away, but....time ticks on, so the lyrics are what they are, melody-less.

What would you give for a memory Lost to the hands of your host If gaining it back means you could be free From the clutch of winter’s ghost

A trinket, flower, lemon drop A story swapped in kind A piece of your inheritance Your hope and fear, combined

What would you give for identity Plucked from your mind like a thread Your name the key that keeps you locked In the halls of Winter dread

A bottle of your favorite wine, Your voice lifted in song They don’t want coin or wealth from you For mortal worth they long

What would you give for contingency When the evening clock strikes ten? A plan to mold yourself into The person you were back then

Or will your mind start twisting Towards your new and sudden fate Helping those who trapped you here Their cruelty to abate

Their eyes are too unhuman To see with empathy The cold unseelie nobles That live in infamy

You entered in their company Unwanted, to your strife Forsaking hospitality That would just save your life

The magic that they wield here, Within their ancient hall Will bind you to their service From this day until your fall

So trade away what’s needed, And feel your morals slip For if you’re smart, you might avoid The fae king’s frigid grip