[Verse 1] She walked in smoke and cinders Boots stained dark with reigns undone Tore down flags from shattered towers Spoke one word, and the war was done Ash in her hair Steel in her stare Crowds poured out like a breaking flood They lifted her high Called her their light She tasted iron in her blood [Chorus] Raise your hands for the crown of ash and gold For the girl who broke the world, or so she’s told Heroes burn when the story’s carved in stone Who will carry her home Who will carry her home (hey) [Verse 2] Night fell sharp as shackles Wine ran sweet, turned thick and black Smiling friends with hollow toasts Sold her name for a heavy sack Hands on her throat Rope on her wrists A chipped-lens sky as the harbor swayed Auctioner’s chant Spit in the dust Cheap rough collar where her honors weighed [Chorus] Raise your hands for the crown of ash and gold For the girl who broke the world, or so she’s told Heroes fade when the crowd goes walking home Who will carry her home Who will carry her home [Verse 3] He stood cloaked in the shadowed ring Face once feared, now carved with years Bitter king with an empty seat Dust on armor, rust on spears He heard her name Caught like a flame In a market thick with sweat and cries Paid the price Cut the chain Met her fury in her eyes (oh) [Bridge] “How many ghosts do you see in me?” he asked through the market roar “How many scars do you see in me?” she said, “I remember more” “You stole my youth” “You saved this land” “I broke your chains” “You took my hand” Two broken oaths in a crowded square Both of them bleeding, breathing there [Chorus] Raise your hands for the crown of ash and gold For the tyrant learning how a heart unfolds For the rebel who forgave and shared his throne They will carry their own They will carry their own (oh) [Verse 4] Now the halls ring softer Maps lie rolled and gather dust Justice sits where terror sat Blades grow blunt, but the laws stay just She walks beside He walks behind On hard-won days they trade their place Two bent vows One shared crown Lines of mercy on each face [Chorus] Raise your hands for the crown of ash and gold For a kingdom stitched from all the lives they stole Every scar in the story, bright and shown They have written their own They have written their own [Outro] Ash on the breeze Gold in the light A fallen world Learning to write A gentler throne A softer sword A broken girl A remade lord
