[Verse 1 - the naming, one by one] There is a knight with careful eyes Who held when everyone else fell There is a priest who would not kneel Who kept his truth though none could tell There is a girl with no more words Who walks with what was done to her There is an old man and his field Now ash - and still he does not stir
[Pre-Chorus] They did not come to me for glory They came because they had no road I did not choose them for their valor I chose them for the weight they showed
[Chorus] This is the Crimson Order Not a weapon, not a fist This is the Crimson Order Every name on every list The ones the world threw out The ones the world accused The ones the world forgot The ones the world abused This is the Crimson Order And I am what they found When everything that was supposed to save them Left them on the ground
[Verse 2 - more of them] There is a baker, round and honest Who fed the ones they said he wronged There is a woman they named witch Because she knew where she belonged There is a man without his hands Who only reached for what was his There is a mother with no children Taken from the shore by men like this There is a father - only a father Whose daughter they gave to the throne He stands here with what remains of him And he is not alone
[Pre-Chorus 2] I have no answer for their sorrow I cannot return what has been lost But I can name what took it from them And I can make it count the cost
[Chorus] This is the Crimson Order Not a weapon, not a fist This is the Crimson Order Every name on every list The ones the world threw out The ones the world accused The ones the world forgot The ones the world abused This is the Crimson Order And I am what they found When everything that was supposed to save them Left them on the ground
[Bridge - Elara, to herself, quietly] They ask me - why these ones? Why not the trained, why not the skilled?
Because the trained fight for something. These ones have already been killed.
And the ones who’ve already been killed Have nothing left to lose. That is not weakness. That is the most dangerous thing In any war.
These are not my followers. These are my reasons.
[Final Chorus - key lift, fuller than before] This is the Crimson Order Not a weapon, not a fist This is the Crimson Order Every name on every list The ones the world threw out The ones the world accused The ones the world forgot The ones the world abused This is the Crimson Order And I am what they chose When they had nothing and nowhere And every door was finally closed
[Outro - just Elara’s voice, one by one] The Knight. The Priest. The Girl. The Old Man. The Children. The Baker. The Witch. The Man Without Hands. The Mother. The Father.
The Crimson Order.