Prologue

Matthew Dela Cruz is a male-born. In the New World, he is considered a dead end and a curse to his bloodline. Incapable of pregnancy like all male-borns, he is destined to die alone and be banished to the desert when he is older. There, all male-borns are to wait for their deaths and serve their penance for ending their family tree.

Matthew did not ask to be a male-born. As he comes of age, he learns the importance of equality and is hopeful to be given a space in the New Era. He sets his mind to challenge the age-old matriarchal customs, an impossible feat for someone whose existence is tolerated and not recognized.