He is beheaded for the crime of rape, although this is subsequently revealed to be simply consensual sexual intercourse outside of marriage that the authorities have deemed 'rape'.

Before he leaves the police station he is told that it is likely Delage herself will be beheaded as she will not name the perpetrator of her rape and thus will be convicted of 'rape' (this being consensual sex outside of marriage).

The army possess devices that trigger extreme pain in the headless through their ordinator and Cavala and his contemporaries soon learn discipline.

Many months later, returning to Pluse from Black Athena, Cavala finds a menial job and searches for Delage to atone for her beheading.

Lisa Tuttle in her review for The Times said that "the Land of the Headless is a darkly satirical tale that extrapolates an absurd idea into something weirdly plausible.

This is not escapist adventure but a dystopian vision in the tradition of Swift, Orwell and Atwood against the cruelest extremes of human stupidity.