In the dining saloon, Gideon is jolted out of his private moment with Rune when he recognizes Abigail Redfern, a former revolutionary comrade and past lover, now working aboard the Arcadia. Their warm reunion makes clear that they once shared both political loyalty and physical intimacy. When Rune introduces herself as "Kestrel Sharpe" and announces that she and Gideon are newly married, Abbie masks her surprise and invites them to join her for cards on Deck C the next evening.

After Abbie leaves, Rune questions Gideon about her, and Gideon realizes Rune is drunk from too much wine. While Rune jokes and presses him about Abbie’s interest, Gideon remembers overhearing talk of a spy on the ship and begins to suspect that Abbie may be the person watching passengers for the authorities. Because police officers from the saloon have also disappeared, Gideon decides it is safer to end dinner before Rune says or does anything that might expose them, and he leads her back to their cabin.

Inside the cabin, Rune grows dizzier, and Gideon tries to sober her up and settle her into bed. He starts helping her undress as a husband might care for an intoxicated wife, then abruptly stops when he realizes how intimate the moment has become. Disturbed by his own instincts and attraction, Gideon leaves to fetch water and arrange for food to be sent to the room.

When Gideon returns, Rune has fallen asleep in his shirt, and her glamour has faded, revealing her natural appearance and the moth-shaped witch scars on her leg. Seeing her asleep and unguarded stirs tenderness and desire in him, but also guilt, because Rune still wears Alex’s ring and Gideon cannot forget that she was the woman his dead brother loved. Gideon forces himself to remember that Rune is also the Crimson Moth, a witch he believes could betray him again.

Alone with his thoughts, Gideon reconsiders his larger plan. Instead of simply arresting Rune when the Arcadia reaches port, he decides her value may be greater if he lets her proceed with summoning the missing Roseblood heir. He resolves to have Rune unknowingly lead him to that heir so he can eliminate not only Cressida but also another possible future threat, then use Rune as leverage with Soren afterward. His one major obstacle is practical: he still has no idea how to get Rune past the witch-hunting hounds.