"That's horrible," Daja said, feeling a wave of sympathy for Ronnae. "I can't imagine what it must be like for you..."

She took a deep breath, trying to calm down. It was hard, though, when she could still feel the wrongness of the blade, over there in the corner. "You'll need a blade of the same size, shape, and weight to properly counteract it," she said, trying to get back to business. "I'm sorry, but I may need you to take the measurements of it for me. My magic is rooted in metal, and I...I do not know if it will be safe for me to touch it."

Daja could help but remember Sandry's horrifying tales of unmagic - a substance that would eat and destroy any magic that came into contact with it. It might be that this sword wasn't the same, but she could not risk that its taint would spread to her magic.