THERE WERE NOT MANY 21-year old virgins around.
Hell! Who was he kidding?
Not many virgins around, period.
In the Badlands, you could just add an exclamation point to that. Yet, Natalya was it: the last of them. It made absolute sense that over the years these unbroken tribe of male and females had been herded into a sect, something of a cult even, and had grown to become the most powerful folk in the harmattan lands, having the ears of Skullriders.
In the Bonelands, the vestals managed the politics of the cruel desert, ruling from their seat in Séltand; making damn sure a Skullrider didn't wake up one morning and decide to walk his heir into a pit of serpents. The Supreme Mother, Indira sure made certain there was some sneaky, silent virgin boy or girl in each camp of the Deathlies.
