It is a greater loss than Martel is capable of admitting in so many words, but he doesn't dispute what she says. He might tell himself it's because it isn't in his best interests to do so (and it isn't) - she's right, though, and he acknowledges it with a stoic nod.

"I cannot consider myself anything but abandoned by my own gods," he says, after a moment, as he tucks his medallion back beneath fabric. He should part with it, he thinks, he shouldn't cling to it as he does, but the thought of doing so always clenches his hands and he never takes it off. "If it is the will of your Maker, I am both grateful and honoured. I mean this to be my home - I will do whatever I must to be worthy of that."

And he means it. For everything else there is in him - he means that.