The novel begins with the description of Answelica, a tempered goat living with the Order of the Chronicles of Sorrowing, and the trouble she gives to the Gentle Brothers, Gentle Brother Edik in particular. All the brothers are afraid of Answelica, thinking she is the spawn of a demon and don’t want to execute her, afraid of her spirit hunting them would be even worse.
Brother Edik wakes up one beautiful cold morning and goes into the shed. There he discovers Answelica, and believes to be hallucinating because the goat grew another head. Upon closer observation, he discovers that it is actually a child curled up into the goat’s body and holding onto Answelica’s ear.
Brother Edik is struck by this vision and sees it as a premonition of something more. Answelica refuses to let him near the child, but Brother Edik convinces her that the girl needs urgent help. At the same time, at the Castle Abelard, the king is inferring about the girl’s whereabouts after she escaped being killed with her mother.
Beatryice grows up with the Order of the Chronicle of Sorrowing. She is full of peculiar tales of mystical creature and kings and queens. One day, Beatryce sets out through the woods on the path to the castle of the king that wants her murdered. She isn’t afraid of the dangers ahead of her because she believes that those who love her will run out to protect her, including a man who was once a king, and a stubborn goat.
