[Intro]
[A sword taps nine beats against the rim of Mara’s broken shield.]
Nine boats left and a hundred in line,
Black arrows falling from ridge and pine.
The river took horses, the bridge took flame;
Every frightened mouth called the paladin’s name.

[Verse 1]
A father held twins beneath one torn cloak,
A baker dragged flour through arrow smoke.
[Choir]
The ferryman shouted, “Nine crossings remain!”
[Narrator]
Beyond the east ridge came the king’s iron train.
Mara saw red corners through sackcloth and cord,
A clean little answer no general could afford.
The crowd saw her stare and began to implore:
[Choir]
“You carry a miracle—what are you waiting for?”

[Pre-Chorus]
One throw might widen the river or sky,
One throw might teach every arrow to fly
Back toward the archers—but who would be charged?
What unseen village would wake old and scarred?

[Chorus]
I am the paladin who learned to kneel,
Not to a crown, not to sacred steel.
I kneel where my choices have broken the ground,
Where prayers have no loophole and dead stay down.
I cannot make innocence pay for my shield;
I am the paladin who learned to kneel.

[Verse 2]
She gave Brunna command of the western span,
Sent Lark with the children and Veyr with the van.
The nameless mage froze the river’s rim,
Though each burst of power took color from him.
Mara held center as the pikes pressed near,
Not free of terror—just choosing her fear.
Nine boats departed; the tenth split in two,
And nineteen were lost where the black water grew.

[Pre-Chorus]
No silver six saved them, no red corner spun,
No hidden stranger paid for what they had done.
Mara dropped her sword when the last boat cleared,
Faced those who mourned—and stayed where they jeered.

[Chorus]
I am the paladin who learned to kneel,
Not to a crown, not to sacred steel.
I kneel where my choices have broken the ground,
Where prayers have no loophole and dead stay down.
I cannot make innocence pay for my shield;
I am the paladin who learned to kneel.

[Instrumental]
[Shield-edge rhythm continues alone, then low strings rebuild the missing fifth note.]

[Bridge]
An old woman struck her with both open hands:
[Choir]
“My husband went under obeying your commands.”
[Narrator]
Mara made no excuse, only reckoned the cost;
She spoke every name from the list of the lost.
The woman said, “Names do not raise them or heal.”
[Mara]
“No,” Mara replied. “They are why I must kneel.”

[Break]
The dice pressed warm through the flour-sack seam.
They offered a bridge in a blood-colored dream.
Mara tied the bundle beneath her cracked shield:
[Mara]
“No more borrowed miracles. No more hidden field.”

[Final Chorus]
I am the paladin who learned to kneel,
My oath is not polished, my terror is real.
I kneel for the nineteen the river received,
For the ones I led truly, the ones I deceived.
No stranger will age for the wounds I conceal;
I am the paladin who learned to kneel.
When I rise, it is not because heaven has cleared—
I rise with the weight of the people I feared.

[Outro]
Nine sword taps faded on the western bank.
The river ran black where the tenth boat sank.
Mara stood slowly, her knees caked brown,
And wore no crest as she left the town.
