Summary

When Tessie (Tess) was six, she pretended to be a priest and married her sister Jeanne to their cousin Kenneth. Her makeshift ceremony is prompted by her curiosity on how babies are born. Her mother told her babies are born in marriage, but Tess has heard of people like her aunt having children before marriage. And her half-sister Serpahina was born with her father’s previous wife, a dragon, which her mother calls a terrible sin. However, this made Tess question a man’s involvement in having a baby. However, she is ignored when she tries to ask Seraphina herself. This lack of information is what lead to the fake wedding and Tess eventually lying beside Kenneth in bed. Her mother punishes her for this, telling her that she must resist the charms of men who are more concerned for their own...