How would they have known if what Rostislav had unwittingly uncovered was 'the relic of the gods'? Martin felt particularly loath to speculate. He had, after all, been raised under the mistaken assumption that he was divinely blessed, and the lifelong superstition had done him far more harm than good. His only attempt at direct communion with a deity had proven fruitless, and he was not about to tell the bay stallion before him that the true mark of a divine artifact was a gnawing, pervasive sense of cosmic futility.
That's not exactly the kind of speech that rouses the soul.
Martin was thankful, however, that the knot of tension between them unraveled upon discovery of the strange trinket. He could now be a participant in, rather than the object of, scrutiny, and Rostislav himself seemed to loosen up after the moment of brief startlement. Martin, who had never enjoyed much in the way of material possessions of his own, regarded the sphere with more of a quizzical glimmer in his sea-blue eyes than a covetous one.
He shrugged in response to Rostislav's question, thoughtfully sizing up the other stallion as he glanced skyward. A soft smile tugged at the corner of the unicorn's mouth as a more complete image of his as yet unnamed companion came into clearer focus. He knew how to carry himself, this one. Martin knew a couple back home in the vale's guardian corps that had been similarly inclined.
"Whether it is or not, I'm not particularly fond of taking things I haven't earned." And that's the gospel truth.
@Rostislav
