Laga, Ragalor - Side By Side

I have kept your place through winters without end
I have forgiven words that wounded more than steel
I have stayed when grief made strangers of us both
I have held your hand when every door was closed
But patience does not mean
Accepting every wound
Devotion is not staying while my spirit breaks
Can love forgive?
Yes
But it must never lie about the wound
I will wait when winter closes every road
I will stay
I will stay when sorrow leaves the fire low
I will love you fiercely
When the world turns cruel
I will take your hand
But never lose myself
I will not call betrayal loyalty
I will not call a cage devotion
The one who wants this heart must understand
She stands beside you
Not beneath you
I do not want obedience in your eyes
I want the truth, even when it cuts through pride if
I speak cruelly, do not call it strength if
I betray you, do not bear the blame
Walk away before my shadow takes your light
A man who loves you will not make you small
I do not need you kneeling at my feet
I need your shoulder level with my own
Not one above
Not one below
Love is not proven by the hurt you can endure
Loyalty without dignity is only fear
Forgiveness cannot make a lie become the truth
And sacrifice should never cost the self
Let her be fierce
Do not call her cold
Let him be strong enough to let her stand
Two hearts can weather what one heart cannot
But only when they face the wind as equals
Your grief will not be yours alone
Nor will yours
Your fire will not outshine mine
Nor mine yours
Then let us meet the coming years upright
Two shadows standing side by side
No throne between us
No master
No slave
No cruelty dressed in the language of love
No betrayal hidden beneath the word “loyal”
No broken spirit praised for staying
She brings a love no winter could wear away
He brings the strength
To meet her face to face
Equal in fire, in sorrow, and in strength
They do not kneel
They stand side by side
I will not walk behind you
I will not walk ahead
Then walk beside me
Until the road is done
How far would your love follow
Through winter
Through war
And if love asks you to kneel
Then it is love
No more