Sterling turned to her. “Will you sign off on the analysis with your registered signature to be sent to the Ladiall Force?” he asked.
“Of course I will,” she said.
He turned to me. “And will you do the same if I allow you to sketch it?”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “Oh… I, uh…”
His eyebrows lifted. “No?”
“I don’t have a registered signature yet. I never finished my apprenticeship,” I said.
Sterling frowned at me, clearly fighting to find a way to turn me down again.
“Just give it to me,” Willorunia said, reaching for the journal.
Sterling hesitated before handing her the journal and the pencil. “Are there any other witches in the area?” he asked while Willo got to work.
“Ezzila,” Willo said. “She works in Dreckle. People go to her when they can’t afford me. Or when I reject them, and this, I would have rejected.”
“Did you receive a request for this?” Sterling asked.
“Don’t you think I would have told you if I had, Officer?” Willo asked, not looking up from her efficient and accurate sketch.
“I had to ask, Willorunia. I’d appreciate an answer,” he said.
“Nobody asked me to do this,” she said tersely.
Sterling rubbed his chin and stared at the floating sigil with narrowed eyes. “That could mean it’s someone who knows the inn well enough to know you wouldn’t put your husband’s livelihood at risk.”
“Or it could have been Ezzila herself,” Willo said. “She has always been jealous of me. I bet she can’t stand another witch moving to the area.”
I lifted my head. “Another witch? Who?” I asked.
“You, Cassian,” Willo said.
My face warmed at the amused looks on their faces. “Oh. Right.”
Willorunia stopped drawing to frown at her work. “Anyway, this diagnosis says your inn is cursed to receive no money for services or food, which explains why your donation system works. The bigger problem is the type of magic. Someone placed Faian rune stones around your property. Most are probably outside the diagnostic perimeter because it’s only picking up two stones, and usually there are five.”
“Faian magic?” Sterling asked. “So the rune stone you found in the riverwaspart of the curse?”
“You found a rune stone? What did you do with it?” Willo asked.
“I threw it back in the river,” I said.
“You threw it back?! Why?” she demanded.
“I didn’t know what the rune said, and I was afraid it would be dangerous to remove it,” I said, surprised at her reaction. I would have expected her to do the same.
Willo sighed with closed eyes, and then she nodded. “You were right to do that, but Faian rune stones are nearly impossible to find. You might not find it again.”
My heart sank. Throwing the stone back in the river had hindered our progress, and I hadn’t even realized it.
“It’s not the end of the world,” Sterling said. “Often, the person who was hired for illegal magic can make a deal to undo the magic and turn over information on their client in exchange for their own innocence. Perhaps we can get Ezzila to confess.”
“Ezzila will not talk to you,” Willo said, signing off on her drawing and handing the journal back to Sterling. “And she is not the type to give up client information.”
“Thanks,” Sterling said. He lifted and lowered the image, moving his gaze from the drawing to the glowing sigil before finally giving a nod of approval. “Looks good. Nice job, Willorunia.” He snapped the journal shut and smiled. “Thank you both very much. I’ll send this off to Ladiall and wait for their report.”
