[Verse 1]
There was someone at the garden gate
I didn’t feel a threat
I felt something older
Something I had not expected yet
He said: my brother sends his warmest words
He cannot come, not yet
He is learning how to be a star
And stars need time to set
He said: my name is Castor
And I come to bend the knee
I come because the age has turned
And a new One now must be
[Pre-Chorus]
And I looked at him
Standing in the light of the garden
And I thought:
How long has it been
Since someone came without an agenda
Without a war
Without a debt that had to clear?
He offered me his allegiance
His arm
His sword
His name
And I said:
Put the sword away
That is not why you came
[Chorus]
I do not walk in front
And I do not walk behind
I do not need a soldier
I need someone
I can talk to about things
That the council cannot hold
Castor
You crossed the dark to reach me
Because your brother cannot yet
Pollux sends his warmest words
Through you
And I receive them
But what I need is company
Not loyalty
Not a knight on bended knee
Not a war commander
Not someone sworn to fall for me
Sit down
Tell me about your brother
Tell me what he did to earn the sky
Sit here in the garden
And just talk to me
The way that no one
Has since I arrived
[Verse 2]
So he sat
And the Raven watched from the ancient tree
And Castor told me everything:
How Pollux chose the stars
Over anything that would have lasted
How heroism isn’t loud
It’s just a choice made fast and clear
How when the offer came to keep his light forever
He said: not without him
Give it to us both
Or I’m not here
And I listened
The way you listen to a story
That explains
Something you didn’t have a name for
[Pre-Chorus 2]
And I thought:
That is what the twins do
They do not leave the other behind
That is what this whole saga
Has always been
Two lights that cannot rest
Until they find the other
Across every line
And Castor told me:
Pollux will come when he can stand in starlight steady
He will come
And when he does
He will bring what you need
He wanted me to say:
He is already yours
[Chorus]
[Bridge — SOLARA, quiet, to herself]
I have sat at the council table
I have held the order in both hands
I have felt the Hollow breathing
In the dark across the lands
And I have not said once
To anyone
How much I carry
When no one is watching
But Castor stayed until the evening
And the Raven kept him company
And for one afternoon in the garden
I was just
Someone with a friend
Who understood what twins could be
The Hollow is still building
The council is still planning
And I will need more than company soon
But this
This was the first of them
The first one who came walking
Not to kneel
But to sit with me and talk
About his brother
Who shines
[Final Chorus]
I do not walk in front
And I do not walk behind
But the Hollow has no conscience
And I cannot face it
On my own this time
Castor
You came for your brother
And stayed because I asked
Tell Pollux when he learns to move in starlight
Tell him what I said:
The garden has a table
And the Raven keeps the seat
And when he is ready
I will be here
And I will need more knights
Before this ends
[Outro — SOLARA looks at the sky where Pollux shines]
He stood to leave at nightfall.
I walked him to the gate.
He looked up at the star his brother was becoming.
I looked too.
And I said:
Tell him I will wait.
And Castor smiled.
And that was enough
For today.