Chapter 56 Summary: Rune's Perspective

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

The chapter opens with Rune and Harrow still concealed by Rune's Ghost Walker spells as they slip out of the prison. The palace is in chaos, with guards searching frantically for the prince's killer. Rune tells Harrow that Soren is dead and that the guards are looking for whoever killed him.

In the stables, Rune asks about Gideon. Harrow reveals that the Blood Guard took him west to an abandoned coastal fort called the Rookery, where they plan to rearm. Rune realizes this means they don't intend to execute Gideon—with the capital overrun by Soren's army and Cressida on the throne, the Blood Guard needs every ally they can get.

Rune quickly tacks a mare, conceals it with Ghost Walker, and hands the lead to Harrow, telling her to get out of the city. When Harrow asks where Rune will go, Rune explains that if Cressida catches her, she's dead, and she needs to get off the island. But first, she has one last stop: Wintersea House.

Rune's reasoning is pragmatic: with Soren dead, it's uncertain whether Cressida will win. If Cressida wins, she'll kill Rune. If the Good Commander regains power, he'll kill Rune too. The only option is to run. And if she's going to run, she wants some of Nan's spell books—not just for the magic they contain, but because they're her last link to her grandmother, who sacrificed herself so Rune could live.

Harrow watches Rune tack the second horse and says she was wrong about her—which sounds almost like an apology.

When Rune arrives at Wintersea, it's dark and crawling with Blood Guard soldiers. Four stand outside the gates, and more patrol the grounds. Gideon had told her that Wintersea is now Noah Creed's residence. Rune passes the guards, relying on Ghost Walker, though she knows the spell will fade soon.

Passing the stables, she hears a familiar whinny: Lady, Nan's old show horse, whom Rune had been forced to leave behind. She dismounts, enters the stable, and finds Lady's white head poking over a stall door. Rune hugs her tightly, then swaps Lady with the stolen horse. She leads Lady to the entrance of Nan's overgrown labyrinth and leaves her there to wait.

Rune climbs the thick ivy up the back wall of Wintersea House to her casting room, two stories up. She unlocks the window and crawls inside, careful not to make noise. She'd been afraid to find the room empty, its illegal contents burned, but it's untouched—exactly as she left it, with crates of spell books she'd packed before her world turned upside down. The secret wall is shut tight, suggesting Noah hasn't found it.

She lights a candle and searches the room. She finds a small purse of coins and Lady's whistle on the desk, pocketing both. Then she turns to the spell books in the wooden crates. There are far too many to take, so she pulls out half a dozen and sorts them into two piles: bringing and leaving.

As she pulls one particularly heavy book from the stack, another slides out and falls to the floor with a thud. Rune freezes, listening for voices or footsteps, but Wintersea is silent. She sits on the floor with the heavy book, flipping through its brittle, yellowed pages. It's hundreds of years old. The first spell she finds is a summoning spell—one capable of calling an Ancient from the world beyond this one. Rune is skeptical; she thinks the Ancients are just stories parents tell children at bedtime.

Then a floorboard creaks outside the room. Rune's spine straightens. She tells herself it might just be the house—Wintersea is over a hundred years old and creaks in the wind. But the sound comes again, closer, just beyond the false wall. The latch clicks. Rune blows out the candle, plunging the room into darkness. The wall swings open as she gets to her feet. Someone steps into the room with her.

Key Events

Rune and Harrow escape the prison under Ghost Walker concealment while guards search for Soren's killer
Harrow reveals the Blood Guard took Gideon west to the Rookery, an abandoned coastal fort, to rearm
Rune gives Harrow a concealed horse and sends her out of the city
Rune decides to retrieve Nan's spell books from Wintersea House before leaving the island
At Wintersea, Rune finds Lady in the stables and swaps her for the stolen horse
Rune climbs ivy to her casting room, which remains untouched
She pockets coins and Lady's whistle, then selects spell books to take
She discovers a summoning spell for calling an Ancient in an old book
A floorboard creaks, the latch clicks, and the wall swings open as someone enters

Character Development

Rune's pragmatism is on full display in this chapter. She assesses her situation with cold clarity: either Cressida or the Good Commander will kill her, so running is her only option. Yet her decision to stop at Wintersea reveals the emotional core beneath that pragmatism. The spell books aren't just tools—they're her last link to Nan, the woman who sacrificed herself so Rune could live. Rune's embrace of Lady, her grandmother's horse, shows the same tenderness.

Harrow's admission that she was wrong about Rune marks a shift in their relationship. It's almost an apology, acknowledging that Rune isn't the person Harrow initially believed her to be.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Concealment and visibility: Ghost Walker is the central mechanic of the chapter—Rune moves through a world that wants to see her, hidden by magic that's slowly fading. The spell's impermanence creates constant tension.

Legacy and memory: The spell books are Nan's legacy. Rune's choice to carry them forward is a choice to keep her grandmother's memory alive even as she abandons everything else.

Sacrifice: Nan's sacrifice is referenced as the reason Rune wants the books. Rune's own sacrifices—leaving Lady, leaving home—echo that pattern.

Homecoming and departure: Wintersea is both home and trap. Rune returns to it one last time, only to leave it forever.

Hidden knowledge: The summoning spell for the Ancients is hidden in an old book, waiting to be discovered. Rune dismisses it as silly, but its placement in the chapter suggests it will matter later.

The labyrinth: Nan's overgrown labyrinth marks the entrance to the gardens—a symbol of the past that's been neglected, and a threshold Rune must cross.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter is a turning point. Rune commits to leaving the island, setting up the next phase of her journey. The discovery of the summoning spell is likely significant foreshadowing—Rune dismisses the Ancients as bedtime stories, but the spell's presence in her grandmother's book suggests it will become important. The chapter ends on a cliffhanger: someone enters the room, and we don't know who. It could be a Blood Guard soldier, Noah Creed, or someone else entirely.

Study Questions

1. Why does Rune risk stopping at Wintersea House when she knows it's occupied by Blood Guard soldiers?

Rune's decision is driven by two needs: practical and emotional. Practically, she needs spell books to survive alone off the island—she knows enough spells to get by, but no way to learn more. Emotionally, the books are her last link to Nan, who sacrificed herself so Rune could live. Leaving everything behind forever, Rune wants a reminder of the woman who loved her.

2. What does the summoning spell reveal about the world's mythology, and why might it be significant?

The spell is for calling an Ancient from the world beyond this one. Rune dismisses it as silly, believing the Ancients abandoned the world centuries ago and exist only in bedtime stories. But the spell's presence in Nan's book—and the chapter's emphasis on it—suggests the Ancients may be more real than Rune believes, and the spell may become crucial later in the story.

3. How does the chapter use Ghost Walker to create tension?

Ghost Walker is Rune's primary protection, but it's fading. Rune knows she has limited time before the spell wears off, which forces her to hurry through Wintersea. The spell also doesn't work on animals, which is why Lady can see her. The tension comes from the countdown: every moment Rune spends in the house is a moment closer to being discovered.