Sacrifice

In the kingdom of Arah, many upperclass families adhere to a custom called €œsacrifice€, where a younger sibling is offered as entertainment to suitors to entice them into making an offer for the hand of an elder daughter. While it is far more common for the sacrifice to be female, male sacrifices are not unheard of. And although few will publicly admit it, it is recognized that some men will court a woman with a brother serving as her sacrifice simply for the novelty of enjoying a male lover at no cost. Haniel Pakari has two older sisters, but his parents have chosen to assign him the duties of sacrifice so that both his sisters can be courted. His sisters are only a year apart in age, so his parents assure him he should only have to serve his role for a year or so, after which he can resume a normal life. But Haniel knows that no sacrifice has ever been able to reenter society after having essentially become a whore and the knowledge fills him with bitterness.