Rune dreams she is standing in the rain with Gideon, drawn toward him until Gideon raises a gun and shoots her. In the dream, Rune feels both his apology and the inevitability of his betrayal, which makes the vision feel less like a nightmare and more like a warning.

Rune wakes gasping inside the summoning circle, soaked from a storm that passed while she slept. The sun is already high, and the red moth signature of Rune’s spell is gone. Aurelia approaches and confirms that the spell has faded; when Rune worries she cast it incorrectly, Aurelia suggests another possibility: ancient magic may be shielding the missing Roseblood heir from being found or summoned.

Rune and Aurelia wait for several more hours in case the spell still produces a result, but no one comes. When Meadow wakes crying from hunger, Aurelia tries to calm her, and Rune accepts that they can no longer remain on the island. Rune is disappointed by the failed spell, but Rune also takes a small comfort in the idea that if Rune cannot summon the hidden Roseblood, Cressida may not be able to either.

Rune turns from searching to escape. Knowing Gideon will expect Rune to flee aboard the Arcadia and that the Blood Guard will likely be watching the main harbor, Rune decides they need a less obvious route. Rune plans to take a smaller sailboat instead, using Dawn’s Aria, which belongs to a friend and is sitting unused in the harbor, but first Rune must gather provisions to feed Meadow and survive the crossing back to the capital.