Blood between the banners

The horns cry out and the banners rise,

White and gold against burning skies.

They taught me how to stand my ground,

How not to hear the screaming sound.

I march where the anthem drowns the dead,

Step over prayers nobody said.

They call this peace. They call this right.

I call it surviving another night.

I was told the sword doesn’t question the hand,

That mercy is weakness, not part of the plan.

But the ground remembers every name—

And it whispers mine the same.

⸻

There’s blood between the banners I defend,

Truth buried deep where the hymns pretend.

If this is justice, why does it burn?

If this is duty, why do I hurt?

I fight for a kingdom I don’t recognize,

With faith in my grip and doubt in my eyes.

There’s blood between the banners tonight—

And I don’t know which side I’m on.

⸻

I’ve watched boys fall who still believed,

Watched their courage bleed out on me.

They died with the king’s words on their tongue,

Like that made them chosen, not undone.

They say the throne knows what must be done,

That sacrifice keeps the empire strong.

But no crown feels heavy when it’s clean—

It’s the blade that carries what’s unseen.

Every order sounds like a prayer,

Every prayer sounds like a lie.

If righteousness never doubts itself—

Why do I shake when I strike?

⸻

There’s blood between the banners I defend,

Truth buried deep where the hymns pretend.

If this is justice, why does it burn?

If this is duty, why do I hurt?

I fight for a kingdom I don’t recognize,

With faith in my grip and doubt in my eyes.

There’s blood between the banners tonight—

And I don’t know which side I’m on.

⸻

[Bridge] (slower, intimate)

If I lower my sword, who pays the price?

If I raise it, who do I sacrifice?

They told me heroes don’t hesitate—

But hesitation feels more human than fate.

(Music swells—drums return, choir rises)

⸻

[Final Chorus] (bigger, darker)

There’s blood between the banners I defend,

And no one wins—just lives that end.

If I survive what I’ve become,

Will the kingdom still call me one of them?

I stand in the echo of vows I made,

Trying to believe they weren’t a mistake.

There’s blood between the banners tonight—

And it’s starting to look like mine.

⸻

[Outro] (quiet, unresolved)

When the war is done and the songs remain,

Will they sing my honor…

Or just my name?