In the dark casting room at Wintersea, Rune wrestles with the soldier who attacked her and manages to pin him with a stolen knife at his throat. Although she knows killing him would help her escape, she cannot force herself to do it. When he speaks, Rune recognizes Gideon’s voice and reveals herself. Gideon, wary that a witch could be imitating her, demands proof until Rune reminds him of their last private exchange about stealing apples and whether she would miss him.

Once Gideon believes her, their reunion turns briefly tender, but Rune’s reopened wounds make her flinch and Gideon pulls away, misreading her reaction. When he relights a candle, he sees her torn clothes and realizes someone assaulted her. Furious but trying to stay controlled for Rune’s sake, Gideon asks for the man’s name. Rune cannot fully explain, but tells Gideon she already killed him, following Gideon’s advice not to hesitate. Rune admits she thought Gideon was dead, and Gideon learns she returned to Wintersea after leaving.

Their moment ends when noise draws Noah, Laila, and several soldiers into the room. Seeing Rune, they all raise their guns. Gideon immediately moves to shield her, but Noah orders Laila to take Rune outside and shoot her while he promises to deal with Gideon, insulting him as the witch’s whore. Enraged, Rune steps out from behind Gideon, faces Noah, and hurls her knife at him instead of surrendering.

The blade strikes Noah in the shoulder, and his gunshot goes wide. Rune lunges at him, driven by rage and grief, but Laila and the other soldiers overpower her while others restrain Gideon. When Laila’s knee presses into Rune’s flayed back, the pain forces Rune still, allowing the soldiers to bind her wrists and drag her away. Gideon fights against his captors and begs Laila not to let Rune be executed.

As Laila escorts Rune outside, Gideon tries to make Laila see the parallel between Nicolas Creed’s death and Kestrel Winters’s murder, reminding her that Rune also watched a loved one die. Laila does not relent. She takes Rune alone into Nan’s rose garden, orders her to kneel, and cocks her gun. Breathing in the scent of the roses and thinking at least she saw Gideon one last time, Rune closes her eyes and waits for the shot.