Summary

As the novel opens, a girl named Agnieszka, who is the narrator, explains that there is a wizard, known as the Dragon but named Sarkan, who rules their land. Every ten years, he chooses a girl who will live with him in the tower for the next decade. Though some people say Sarkan uses the girls in a human sacrifice ritual, he actually releases them after their term, as agreed. They all insist that he does not force them to have sex, but no one really believes it. They have a dowry and generally return briefly to their village to visit, but they all leave.

Agnieszka and her family live in Dvernik, a village near the Wood of Sarkan's realm. Agnieszka's father says the girls who spend a decade with Sarkan “remember to be afraid” of the Wood (4). Sarkan considers girls who are...