Spring 1095 SR
The sword"s edge scraped along the grindstone, smoothing out the nicks and scratches. Ludwig paused long enough to run his thumb down the blade, then nodded to Sigwulf, who was turning the wheel using his hands.
“This would be much easier if we had a foot pedal to rotate it.”
“It would,” agreed Sigwulf. “We used to have one, but then Baldric broke it.”
“Can’t it be replaced?”
“Do you see a carpenter in camp?”
“Why not hire one?”
“Do you have the coins for that?”
“I suppose I see your point,” said Ludwig. He lowered the sword once more, listening as the sandstone wheel ground out the imperfections. Three more revolutions, and then he pulled it up, this time looking over the steel for any remaining nicks.
“That will do nicely,” he announced.
Sigwulf stretched his bac
