Click "free sample" to read the whole book no need to purchase. The book chronicles the life of Otto, the son of German warlord Baron Conrad. Otto's mother, Baroness Matilda, has died in premature labor, brought on by the sight of the Baron's battle wounds, prompting Conrad to take his newborn son to be raised in a nearby monastery. When Otto reaches the age of eleven his father reclaims him from the gentle monks, taking him back to live in Castle Drachenhausen, ("Dragons' House", in German) the ancestral mountaintop fortress from which this Baron launches his predatory attacks on the countryside. Here Otto learns of and is horrified by his father's life as a robber baron. Otto is particularly appalled by the revelation of how his father killed a defeated enemy, Baron Frederick as he knelt trying to surrender. A rival robber baron, Baron Frederick had been riding with his men-at-arms guarding a column of merchants in return for the tribute they were paying him. Shortly thereafter, Baron Conrad is summoned to the Imperial Court by the Emperor himself, and takes the vast majority of his men-at-arms with him as an impressive escort- but leaves Castle Drachenhausen practically undefended as a result. Seizing his moment, the late Baron Frederick's heir, his nephew Baron Henry, then launches an attack on the now lightly-guarded castle, overcoming the garrison, and burning it to the ground. Capturing Otto, Baron Henry takes him to his own fortress, Castle Trutzdrachen ("Dragon-scorner," in German) and imprisons him in its dungeon. There, Baron Henry tells Otto that he has sworn a solemn oath that any member of Baron Conrad's House who fell into his hands would never be able to strike a blow like the one which killed his uncle, Baron Frederick. Because the boy is so young, instead of killing him the new Baron keeps this oath by cutting off Otto's right hand, and as an afterthought has a healer sent to tend to him. While Otto is feverish from the pain of his wound, he is comforted by Baron Henry's eight-year-old daughter Pauline, who visits him in his cell.