Five days after leaving the New Republic, Rune uses enchanted wind to bring Alex’s boat into Umbrian waters and anchors near Soren’s estate at Larkmont. She plans to sneak ashore for supplies and to find Seraphine while Aurelia stays hidden on the boat with Meadow, both wanting to avoid Cressida. Rune dives into the freezing fjord and swims toward shore, expecting to return before anyone sees her.

Midway to land, Rune hears sails snap open and looks back to find Aurelia raising the sails and pulling up the anchor. Aurelia reveals that she found a small jewelry box on the boat soon after they left the island and deliberately kept it from Rune because she feared Rune would go back for Gideon. Driven by panic and by her need to protect Meadow, Aurelia apologizes and sails away, abandoning Rune in the water with no escape craft.

After forcing herself to reach shore before the cold overwhelms her, Rune opens the recovered box. Inside she finds a waterlogged note from Gideon and a silver Cascadian penny necklace bearing Queen Althea’s image, a relic from the erased witch-ruled past. Gideon’s note says he hopes Rune finds the freedom she is looking for, and Rune realizes Gideon must have hidden the gift on Alex’s boat because he knew she would escape in it.

That realization makes Rune reinterpret her last night in the republic: Gideon did not fail to catch her, but deliberately diverted the Blood Guard so she could get away. Rune understands that Gideon may now be condemned as a witch sympathizer and possibly executed because of what he did for her. Refusing to leave him to that fate, Rune puts on the necklace, turns toward Larkmont, and decides to break into the estate, steal one of Cressida’s spell books, and use magic to sail back across the sea alone.