Sixteen years
Sixteen banners united over the field
Where the good shepherd grieves

Desperate men
Desperate women divided
Spreading their wings
'Neath the falling leaves

Fortune calls
I stepped forth from the shadows, to the marketplace
Merchants and thieves, hungry for power
My last deal gone down

She's smelling sweet
Like the meadows where she was born
On midsummer's eve
Near the tower

The cold-blooded moon
The captain waits above the celebration
Sending his thoughts to a beloved maid

Whose ebony face
Is beyond communication
The captain is down but still believing
That his love will be repaid

They shaved her head
She was torn between Jupiter and Apollo
A messenger arrived
With a black nightingale

I seen her on the stairs
And I could not help but follow
Follow her down past the fountain
Where they lifted her veil

I stumbled to my feet
I rode past destruction in the ditches
With the stitches still mending
'Neath a heart-shaped tattoo

Renegade priests
And treacherous young witches
Were handing out the flowers
That I'd given to you

The palace of mirrors
Where dog soldiers are reflected
The endless road
And the wailing of chimes

The empty rooms
Where her memory is protected
Where the angels' voices whisper
To the souls of previous times

She wakes him up
Forty-eight hours later, the sun is breaking
Near broken chains
Mountain laurel and rolling rocks

She's begging to know
What measures now he will be taking
He's pulling her down and she's clutching
On to his long golden locks

‽Gentlemen”, he said
‽I don't need your organization
I've shined your shoes
I've moved your mountains and marked your cards
But Eden is burning"

Either brace yourself for elimination
Or else your hearts must have the courage
For the changing of the guards

Peace will come
With tranquility and splendor
On the wheels of fire
But will bring us no reward

When her false idols fall
And cruel death surrenders
With its pale ghost retreating
Between the King and the Queen of Swords