Before there were knights in armor and sorcerers fell into hiding, the villagers sent maidens to placate the beasts of the world, and these maidens were guarded with vigilance. With too many sisters and no talent in the trades, Melody is faced with a cold life as a spinster, a burden upon her family-until the day the lord's man comes to her father's hovel to take a virgin sacrifice. Melody fights for the chance to be one of Lord Richmond's sacrifices, even as she doesn't know what dangers she will encounter or why the dragons want virgins. With only a mule for company, Melody travels from the wilds of dragonhaunts, across lonely merchant roads, to halls of stone and delicacies fit for a king, only to find that the liberation she seeks might take her against all she's ever known.