Chapter 7: Rune — Summary and Analysis

⚠️ 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

Chapter 7 opens with Rune entering a room and finding Gideon half-clothed, a bloody spellmark blazing across his chest and his trousers unbuttoned. The sight of him freezes her in place. His gaze meets hers and holds her there, and the memory of him that has haunted her for two months pales against the reality of his presence.

Ava materializes from the darkness, demanding to know what Rune is doing there. Rune improvises a cover story: Cressida has issued new orders requiring Ava to bear witness to a signing in the prince's study, leaving Rune to guard the witch hunter in her absence. Rune knows the story is thin—she had to escape the prince's bedroom by going over the balcony and dropping to the one below, which cost her time she didn't have.

Ava immediately challenges the story. Cressida already gave her orders, she points out, and she questions why Rune couldn't bear witness herself. Rune claims a conflict of interest: she is to be Soren's wife, so she can't serve as Cressida's witness. Ava's voice turns cold. She doesn't believe Rune.

Knowing she's lost, Rune lunges for the pistol lying on the sink—the same one Gideon pressed to her temple not twenty minutes earlier. Ava orders Gideon to restrain her. Gideon intercepts Rune, seizing both wrists and wrenching her arms behind her back. Pain flares through her shoulders. She wants to scream that she came to help him, but the words die in her throat.

Ava tells Gideon to kill the Crimson Moth. Gideon doesn't hesitate. He whips Rune around, locks his hands around her throat, and slams her against the mirror. Glass cracks behind her head. He squeezes, blocking her air, and his dark eyes bore into hers as she claws at his hands. Her mind blazes with panic—she's trying to save him, but why would he care? She's given him a second chance to finish what he came for.

Ava watches from a safe distance, arms crossed, unmoved. Rune will get no sympathy there.

Then Rune remembers the pistol. Gideon has shoved her against the mirror directly beside the sink where the gun still rests. As her lungs burn and the room blurs, her knuckles knock against the sink's cold ceramic. She pats the edge, her hand shaking, but the gun is on the other side. The bright red spellmark on Gideon's chest fills her vision. Her lungs are about to burst.

Her fingertips brush metal. Hope flares as her hand grips the pistol. One shot—make it count. Rune lifts the gun and fires.

Key Events

Rune finds Gideon half-clothed with a bloody spellmark on his chest and his trousers unbuttoned.
Ava catches Rune in the room and interrogates her about her presence.
Rune's improvised cover story—that Cressida needs Ava as a witness—collapses under Ava's skepticism.
Rune lunges for the pistol on the sink, and Ava orders Gideon to restrain her.
Ava commands Gideon to kill the Crimson Moth, and Gideon complies, strangling Rune against a mirror.
Rune reaches the pistol, grips it, and fires a single shot.

Character Development

Rune spends this chapter in a state of escalating desperation. Her plan to free Gideon collapses almost immediately, and she's forced to improvise with a weak cover story she knows won't hold. Her internal panic reveals how much she's invested in saving Gideon—she thinks, I came to help you—even as he's strangling her. Her final act, reaching for the pistol and firing, shows her survival instinct overriding everything else. She's not a passive victim; even with her air cut off, she's calculating her next move.

Gideon is a study in contradiction here. He's the man Rune came to save, yet he obeys Ava's command without hesitation, seizing Rune and strangling her on order. The bloody spellmark on his chest suggests he's under some kind of compulsion or binding, which may explain his obedience. His eyes meet Rune's as he squeezes, and the chapter leaves open whether he recognizes her or is simply following orders.

Ava demonstrates her ruthlessness and her sharp instincts. She sees through Rune's story almost immediately, and she doesn't hesitate to order Gideon to kill Rune. She watches the struggle from a safe distance, arms crossed, unmoved by Rune's suffering.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Deception and its consequences. Rune's lie to Ava is thin, and it fails almost immediately. The chapter shows what happens when a desperate improvisation meets a suspicious opponent: the deception collapses, and the deceiver pays the price.

Betrayal. Rune came to save Gideon, but he turns on her at Ava's command. The chapter plays on the irony of her trying to rescue the man who is now strangling her.

Survival instinct. Even as her lungs burn and the room blurs, Rune's mind keeps working. She remembers the pistol, reaches for it, and fires. Her survival instinct is the engine of the chapter's climax.

The spellmark. The bloody symbol on Gideon's chest is a visible marker of his condition—possibly a binding or compulsion that explains his obedience to Ava. It's a symbol of his imprisonment, even as he appears to be the one with power in the room.

Mistrust. Ava's refusal to believe Rune drives the entire confrontation. The chapter is built on a foundation of mutual suspicion.

Why This Chapter Matters

Chapter 7 is the point where Rune's plan to free Gideon collapses completely. Her deception fails, she's caught, and she's nearly killed by the very man she came to save. The chapter ends on a cliffhanger—the gunshot—leaving the reader uncertain whether Rune has killed Gideon, wounded him, or somehow escaped. It's a turning point that raises the stakes dramatically and sets up the aftermath of the shot.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Rune's cover story fail so quickly?

Rune's story has multiple holes. Ava points out that Cressida already gave her orders, and she questions why Rune couldn't bear witness herself. Rune's explanation—a conflict of interest because she's to be Soren's wife—doesn't convince Ava, who has already seen through the improvisation. Rune also admits internally that she didn't have time to craft a better plan, having spent her time escaping the prince's bedroom via the balcony.

2. What does Gideon's obedience to Ava suggest about his situation?

Gideon follows Ava's orders without hesitation, seizing Rune and strangling her on command. The bloody spellmark on his chest suggests he may be under a compulsion or binding that forces his obedience. His willingness to kill Rune—the woman who came to save him—points to either a magical constraint or a genuine commitment to his mission as a witch hunter.

3. What does Rune's final action reveal about her character?

Rune's decision to reach for the pistol and fire, even as she's being strangled, reveals her survival instinct and her refusal to give up. She doesn't freeze or surrender; she keeps calculating, remembers the gun, and makes one shot count. It shows her as resourceful and determined, even in the face of death.