Liora
The sword stopped short.
Liora knew before she looked at the mark.
She reset her feet, took the same line and cut again. This time the point passed too far across the target.
Kara watched from outside the practice square.
"If you glare at it long enough, the missing steel may come back."
"Helpful."
"I charge extra for useful advice."
Liora lowered the blade.
The edge was sound. Kara had made that clear when she returned it. Grinding away the damage had left less width along part of the blade, and less weight where Liora expected to feel it.
Nothing was wrong with the repair.
She found that more annoying than a defect would have been.
A defect could be pointed at.
Liora turned the sword under the light. The repaired section caught it cleanly, without the uneven line she remembered bringing back from below ground. Kara had done the work she had been paid to do.
Her own hand supplied the wrong finish.
