Freya wakes at dawn in the hidden cave beside Bjorn, feeling happy and at peace. She steps outside to tend to her needs, then returns to the pool to undo her braids, carefully setting aside her ribbons so nothing drifts downstream and reveals she survived the falls. As she sits in the water, she begins to worry about those she's leaving behind—her brother Geir and his wife Ingrid, who will mourn her but may also suffer under Snorri's rule without her presence, and the Skalander people, who may fall to Harald's conquest.

Bjorn joins her in the pool and tries to ease her guilt, arguing that the people who used her like a thrall don't deserve her loyalty. Freya pushes back, noting they are his people too, but senses that Bjorn doesn't truly consider himself Skalander. He seems relieved that Skaland is no longer a threat to Nordeland, which troubles her deeply. She pulls away from him, and both dress in tense silence.

Freya presses Bjorn about whether he'll miss his brother Leif. Bjorn admits he will, but believes Leif will be a better heir to Snorri because Leif is truly Skalander while Bjorn's years in Nordeland changed him fundamentally. When Freya directly asks if he considers himself Skalander, Bjorn deflects, insisting it doesn't matter since they're both leaving. Freya grows agitated, demanding to know the full truth about the man she's abandoning everything for, especially since he's admitted to withholding important things about his past.

Bjorn pleads with her to leave with him, insisting he loves her and will explain everything later, but Freya refuses to go without answers and threatens to return to Snorri, claiming she can say she survived the falls. Bjorn panics, warning that if she goes back, Snorri will do something terrible, but he won't finish the sentence. He begs her to run. Freya, angry and overwhelmed, storms out of the cave—only to come face-to-face with King Harald of Nordeland.