[Intro]
[Single guitar chords and bowed lyre leave long spaces between each phrase.]

[Verse 1]
We sheltered that night in a quarry of slate,
Too tired for anger, too cornered for hate.
The children lay wrapped in the cloaks of the slain;
Their sleep came in shivers, then broke into pain.
Our grain filled one helmet, our water one skin.
The pass stood behind us, the enemy within.
I set down the crown on a frost-silvered shelf
And thought I could finish the war with myself.

[Duet]
"You speak as though dying will settle the debt."
"It ends where the crown and its kingdom were set."
"It ends nothing, old king, but the breath in your chest."
"A man who has failed should lie down with the rest."

"The children did not ask to purchase your pride."
"My warriors wait for their king at their side."
"Then lead them where those still alive have to go.
There is No Victory Beyond the Snow."

[Chorus]
No Victory Beyond the Snow,
No golden hall, no horns will blow.
But if one child can cross this night,
Then death alone cannot be right.
No victory waits, yet still we go.
Life may be waiting where cold winds slow.

[Verse 2]
She opened a map on a shield laid flat,
Its ink blurred by weather, one corner blood-black.
"A shepherd's path climbs where the west ridge is cleft,
Then falls to a cove where small fishing boats rest.
Twelve fighters can hold the old ford until dawn.
The rest cross the mountain and carry names on."

[Duet]
"Twelve fighters are lives, not a number to spend."
"They know what it costs and have chosen to stand."
"No father should choose which of two sons will fall."
"No father can save every son, king or thrall."

"Then choose what your title was forged to defend."
"The realm is in ashes. Its borders all end."
"A realm is the people whose footsteps still show.
It breathes in the road that they take through the snow."

[Bridge]
One small hand slipped from a woollen shawl,
Closed round a seed from the warrior's fall.
To stand might be worthy. To flee might be brave.
The measure was not how a king met his grave.

[Final Chorus]
No Victory Beyond the Snow,
No golden hall, no horns will blow.
Yet every child who crosses night
Makes death's dominion less than right.
No victory waits, but we will go
And guard one road till morning shows.
