Fire and Shadow (The Summer That Would Not Die)

Lyrics

Verse 1
You came barefoot through the orchard
Lipstick smudged like you’d been kissed by war
Called me “your highness” as a joke
But you knelt like you had knelt before
Sunburn on your shoulders
Ash upon your tongue
You laughed at every warning
Like the end would never come

Chorus
Fire and shadow
The summer that would not die
You were the only altar
I ever let defy
My crown
My law
My kingdom’s cry
I held you like a conquered sky
Fire and shadow
You burned and I stood by

Verse 2
We tangled in the cattails
Where the river held its breath to watch
You traced my throat
Said “monster”
Like a blessing
Like a vow
Like a notch
Lanterns on the black lake
All those little floating graves
You said
“Promise me a future”
I promised you a cave

Chorus
Fire and shadow
The summer that would not die
We carved our names in cinders
On the doors I swore were mine
Your pulse
My rule
A single crime
I kissed you as the torches climbed
Fire and shadow
You screamed and I stayed kind

Bridge
They called it justice
I called it art
A pyre for a girl
Who dared to take my heart
Mona
My martyr
Sing through the smoke
I built this empire
From every word you choked

Chorus
Fire and shadow
The summer that would not die
You haunt my every mirror
Rotting roses
Rusted wine
Your ghost sits on my crooked spine
My throne is just your silence tied
Fire and shadow
My love
My grave
My pride

Outro
Now every year the heat returns
And every door locks by itself
Tamsin
Queen of ruins
Keeps you curled upon her shelf
Your ash in all my breathing
Your name beneath each lie
This kingdom is our cage now
A summer that will not die