In this first book in a trilogy a girl child is born to Vlad Dracula, in Transylvania, in 1435--at first rejected by her father and always ignored by her mother, she will grow up to be Lada Dragwlya, a vicious and brutal princess, destined to rule and destroy her enemies.

Vlad III, the prince of Wallachia, must make a difficult choice when, in 1462, Sultan Mehmed II demands that 1,000 of Wallachia's boys become child soldiers in his army.

'I am Dracula. And I bid you welcome to my house.' He is deathly pale. His fingernails are cut to sharp points. His teeth protrude menacingly from his mouth in clouds of rancid breath. Yet even Count Dracula's unnerving appearance and the frightened reaction of the local peasants fail to warn Jonathan Harker, a young man from England, about his host. Little does Jonathan know that this is a land where babies are snatched for their blood and wolves...

Jonathan Harker is a young lawyer who is assigned to a gloomy village just outside of Transylvania. He is forced to stay at the castle of the undead vampire Dracula and imprisoned by his minons. Dracula travels to London after being inspired by a photograph of Harker's betrothed, Mina Murray. Once Dracula lands in England, his reign of seduction and terror begins. He drains the life from Mina's closest friend, Lucy Westenra. Lucy's friends, including...