Deorwine blushed.
"Thank you my lady, but I am not permitted to touch a woman. I will be alright, as long as I do have my walking stick! You are very kind, may God bless you."
He tilted his head and smiled a little trying to think of how to explain.
"A pilgrim is someone who is on a journey to visit holy places. I am on a journey to visit the sacred relics of the saints, and pray for my friends. It means that I am usually alone."
Amalthea looked clearly offended. She is of unicorn blood! What was wrong with her gesture and let alone her apparent gender? Never had she felt the rejection of offering a human to touch her, but as she looked to her own hand she saw not a hoof but instead pale flesh and immediately recoiled the hand, saddened by the fact she was of human form. She was the relic of the past.
“Ah, I see. I have never met a pilgrim before till now.”