The eleventh chapter is a short one but I think an important one when it comes to building the relationships between the warriors of the desert. The chapter is a specific aspects of warriors in society, hyoronibāga or the sexual awakening. Yeah, Rutejìmo is a virgin up until this chapter, but there is less social pressure to being sexually active until someone is married.

The whole idea of this started with the sterility that I wrote about in Sand and Blood. This sterility is a defense mechanism of the desert. Instead of having the warriors spend their energies searching for a mate, they can focus on protecting their clan. Also, it encourages them to focus on the clan as a whole instead of just their direct family.

But, I wanted something more than that. There had to be societal constructs around it that went beyond just being warriors. How would society deal with an important group of people who can never have children and probably fight off most diseases (they do set themselves on fire with magic)? One idea came from adult supplement for Fifth Cycle that I read as a teenager. In there, for the elves, the adults would be gateways into sexual awakening for the younger ones (obviously when they were ready). That was a seed that led into this, the hyoronibāga.

There would be other aspects of the warrior's sterility. I figured they would be safe people for relationships, the “spice” in relationships that were falling into a rut. These warriors would probably be invited as threesomes or role-playing, someone to have fun with and then part their separate ways.

If you can't guess, I didn't plan on being graphic with sex with this byline. Actually, I thought I was simply going to fade to black entirely but the romance novel became significantly more graphic. I'm uncomfortable writing sex scenes, mainly because they are so personal. Yeah, I have a few here and there, but that's best to leave in private. So, hopefully it will be safe to say that D. Moonfire won't write graphic sex scenes.