Rune slips into Gideon’s apartment while still wet and cold from her swim, determined to steal food and return to Aurelia and Meadow before Gideon can stop her. She finds apples and hardtack, but Gideon catches her before she can leave. Expecting arrest or betrayal, Rune draws her casting knife, yet Gideon answers her threat with a mix of danger and tenderness, holding her wrist and touching her throat instead of calling for help.

The confrontation turns intimate as Gideon asks whether Rune will miss him and where she plans to go. Rune refuses to trust him and suspects he is delaying her until soldiers arrive, but she also cannot deny her desire for him. When Gideon leans in to kiss her, Rune warns him with the knife, but Gideon calls her bluff; Rune drops the blade and kisses him back, and both briefly give in to the feeling that this may be their last moment together.

Even while kissing Gideon, Rune forces herself to remember why she must leave: Aurelia and Meadow are waiting at the harbor, and Rune has sworn to get them across the strait safely. She keeps telling herself Gideon is distracting her as part of a trap. Instead, Gideon unexpectedly breaks the moment, lowers Rune back to the floor, places his pistol in her hand, and tells her to use it without hesitation if someone tries to hurt her. He then picks up Rune’s casting knife and keeps it, turning the exchange into a silent trade of weapons.

Gideon does not arrest Rune. He steps aside, leaves the doorway open, and gives her a twenty-minute head start. Rune understands that he is letting her go, even if he may come after her afterward. Overcome and close to saying what she truly feels, Rune is cut off when Gideon tells her not to speak and to leave, so she runs before she can change her mind.