The Twisting Path

See the path, there, that winds between the patches of marsh in the shifting shadows? That is the path that will take you back, and past this Court, though you will never be able to unlearn what you have seen here. The dangers of the Court are not removed from you when you leave this forest wanderer, they are just more veiled than they are here. The bobbing lights in the corner of your eye is still leading you to sink, the voices that whisper sweetly of logic and reason and atrocity are still there in the noise of the world. Desire will sing in your blood, laughter will draw you to the reconstructed new, the lines between what is and what could be will blur. That is the way of this Court and its affects on your world, that is how it has become, how it will continue, until members of the Court can work among mortals without notice. They are close, they are sitting on shoulders and in pockets and playing on the minds of the many.
Perhaps it will come to a time when the reality you believe, the one that tugs at your heart and brings emotions to the surface, that creates bonds stronger than acquaintance despite never having met. Perhaps those fae who live on illusion will find their way into your world so thoroughly that you will not care when they are between you and another person. Perhaps it will come to a point where it is the illusion you desire. It has happened before, in small ways, in subtle ways, and in the rejection of a country for the idealistic presentation of another. And that is where this Court will thrive, in the desires left unfulfilled by reality and the world of mere mortals. It is this world, the world that is concrete and logical and bound by rules, that the fae thrive in, because they are formed in the gaps of rules and logic where what could be lingers.
Walk carefully wanderer, and be aware of your desires, your dreams, and that there are those in the shadows who feel those dreams as a calling in their bones. They will offer you escape, more chances, what you want most and what you think you need. And for a price, you can have it. For a price. Perhaps then this is what the Court is about, the price of things. And when you have to pay them.
Travel safe, walk only on the solid earth, and carry your lantern high and clear, wanderer. Remember, no matter how enticing and illusion, how real it seems and feels, its price is taken from the tangible world. Remember, wanderer, that in all shadows this Court waits. And sometimes, it is the light that shines as well.