Thysia’s village has fallen on hard times, in fact all villages have fallen on hard times. Resources are scarce, and a few people wonder where their next meal will come from. So many villages have rounded up maidens and travelled to the desert where the rich and powerful nomadic tribe of people called the Nesi lived.

It wasn’t force of arms or superior trading tactics that’d made the Nesi powerful though, it was the position the village’s daughters held with the great beast.

The great beast was a powerful dragon. He chose a mate from the many virgins of the country to bear his offspring. The creature has chosen from the tribe of Nesi. The village the woman who the dragon chooses to mate is from is given great wealth and prestige. Thysia’s village hopes to be that village.

Everyone wants her to get chosen, everyone except her. She’s read the scrolls, and knows what could happen if chosen. If she survives the rough mating, she becomes blessed, and is a gift to both her and her people. However, most women chosen don’t make it. It is this reason that she’s fearful when the beast chooses her as a mate.

Will she survive and become blessed, or will she die like many others before her?