Apollo, distracted by reports of Derrik's repeated delays and by the threat of an approaching war, clears his schedule and prepares to leave for Bellebryn as soon as Derrik's party arrives. When Nathaniel announces Derrik's return, Apollo immediately summons him and demands an explanation for being two months late. Instead of apologizing, Derrik shocks Apollo by saying that if Apollo does not want Ilsa, he will take her himself.

The confrontation turns personal. Derrik says Apollo abandoned Maddie frightened and alone and insists she is free to choose her own life. Apollo reacts with possessive anger, claiming she is still his wife, while Derrik separates Maddie from the dead Ilsa and openly admits his feelings for her. When Derrik compares Apollo's neglect to Pol's abuse, Apollo ends the exchange and storms out to meet Maddie at The Swan.

While waiting for her, Apollo reflects on his own conflicted plans. He has already been arranging money and a remote home where Maddie could live safely after the larger danger passes, because he knows she is not his dead wife yet cannot stop thinking about her. He also thinks about his children, Christophe and Élan, and the difficulty of bringing Maddie into their lives. When Maddie arrives, however, she does not ask for a place in Lunwyn; she thanks Apollo for helping her, asks to keep her clothes, requests a loan, and says she wants to leave that night to make her own way in Fleuridia or the Vale.

Their meeting becomes a fierce argument about control, class, and freedom. Apollo refuses to let her see Derrik, insists she must go to Karsvall, says an Ulfr woman does not work, and explains the false story he intends to tell society about her identity. Maddie pushes back at every point, saying she is not a duty, does not want the Ulfr name, and will not submit to another man controlling her life. Apollo then explains that dangerous magical forces are gathering around a deposed ruler and that she is not safe without protection; Maddie softens but finally reveals the real reason she cannot go to Karsvall: she lost two babies in her own world, and being near Apollo's children would devastate her.

Moved by that confession, Apollo changes course and gives Maddie a choice: Karsvall with the children or Bellebryn with him. After leaving the inn, he tells Achilles that plans have changed, bars Derrik from Maddie's company, and decides that, for protection and because other men are falling for her, he will marry her and present her publicly as a widowed distant cousin of his dead wife. That night Apollo admits to himself that he no longer intends to send her away. At sunrise he returns with transport for either destination, and Maddie curtly chooses Bellebryn.