[Intro]
[Muted guitars pass a two-note phrase from left to right like voices crossing the room.]

[Verse 1]
Above us smoke clung thick and brown,
Below, the drinking horns went round.
A servant crossed with salted meat,
A message moved behind his feet.
One man coughed twice beside the door,
One shifted shields along the floor.
A laugh rose loud near Harek’s chair,
Then three men vanished from the glare.

[Pre-Chorus]
I asked where Arnulf meant to go.
He said the ale had made him slow.
His answer came too clean, too fast;
He met no eye as he went past.

[Chorus]
Whispers Beneath the Rafters, thin as hidden wire,
Passing over shoulders, travelling round the fire.
One word for the doorway, one word for the blade,
One smile for the brother whose trust would be betrayed.
Whispers Beneath the Rafters, quiet under song,
A hall can roar with laughter while treason walks along.

[Verse 2]
Ketil toasted Eirik’s name,
Then leaned behind the torch’s flame.
His horn turned slowly, rim to thumb;
Two watchmen drank and both went numb.
The eastern latch was checked and freed,
The hounds were fed a heavy feed.
No deed alone declared a plan;
Together, each small kindness ran.

[Pre-Chorus]
I told myself that winter breeds
Suspicion out of common deeds.
I told myself an oath once sworn
Could not be split by pride or scorn.

[Chorus]
Whispers Beneath the Rafters, thin as hidden wire,
Passing over shoulders, travelling round the fire.
One word for the doorway, one word for the blade,
One smile for the brother whose trust would be betrayed.
Whispers Beneath the Rafters, quiet under song,
A hall can roar with laughter while treason walks along.

[Instrumental Break]
[Tremolo guitar and tagelharpa alternate fragments while the main riff continues underneath.]

[Bridge]
Then Eirik gripped my forearm tight.
“You watch this hall as if at war.”
I named the signs I could not prove;
He filled my horn: “A charge needs more.”

[Break]
The whisper ceased when drums were struck.
The benches shook with feast and luck.
I chose the bond that we had made.
Behind my back, they chose the blade.

[Final Chorus]
Whispers Beneath the Rafters, thin as hidden wire,
Passing over brothers and feeding on the fire.
One word sealed the doorway, one word freed the blade,
One smile marked the brother whose trust would be betrayed.
Whispers Beneath the Rafters grew louder than the song;
I heard them, weighed them, doubted them—and waited far too long.

[Outro]
[All instruments drop except bass and the faint knock of wood against iron.]

The roof kept every word that passed.
By dawn, the beams would know them all.