Sword in hand, Kyrena left the anvil behind and returned to camp.
“Is that the princess?” One of her men asked, pointing at Arianna with a smirk. “And I thought she was useless before!”
To Arianna’s chagrin, Kyrena held her overhead pointed skyward, letting the entire band see her disgraceful form. Everyone laughed. Handing the weapon over to the nearest henchman, she told him, “I think the princess needs sharpening. One can only hope that would raise her value a little.”
“Yes, milady,” the man answered.
Soon, Arianna found herself being scraped down with a sharpening stone. The man kept spitting on her, which disgusted her to no end, but what could she do? After a while of this, the man shook his head. “This ain’t going to work. This needs the wheel.”
The sharpening wheel worked a bit better, and soon, her blade had a workable edge. "Heh, guess she could chop wood, at least," the man chuckled, turning Arianna over in his hands.
I'm doing nothing of the sort, you mongrel! Arianna thought fiercely, utterly offended at the idea of doing such menial labor even as a sword.
Suddenly, her form jumped in the man's hand, slipping out of his grasp and tumbling to the ground. The man let out a grunt and sucked on his palm which now sported a ragged cut.
From where she sat fletching arrows, Kyrena looked over with amusement. "Careful, Dirgeon. Remember she's a magic blade, and a foul tempered one at that. Had she been a finer weapon, you might have lost a few fingers."
"Right," the man growled, giving Arianna a good kick with his boot. "Looking at her, though, 'seasy to forget she ain't just a cleaver."
Meanwhile, Arianna lay there in surprise. Did she just do that? It was a relief to know she could move on her own even a little. Quickly, she tried to concentrate on moving again.