Brendan's Song — Lazette Gifford

[The Dark Staff Series -- Book 2] As a prince in hiding comes of age, his world is beset by unexplained evil. Brendan, The Keeper of the Song, is a former slave who became King's Bard, and has kept many secrets down through the years. Not the least of those secrets is that he's not entirely human. Loyal to the royal family, he undertakes a mission to reach the prince and deliver unsettling news of an unexpected danger in the guise of a magician named Tabor who wants the throne for himself. Lady Shafara, a very powerful magician in her own right, has kept the prince protected from assassins for years, and also taught him more than a little of her own art. In a desperate attempt to save his country from Tabor's evil, Sandryn, Shafara and Brendan travel across the land, out running assassins and Tabor's traps. And along the way they witness the spectacular arrival to their world of two strangers, Aubreyan and Tristan. Learning that the two have journeyed from their own world in search of a magical artifact that could bring devastation to the land -- and which they must work quickly to acquire before Tabor does -- the two groups join forces. It is a race for power, in which Brendan plays far more of a role than a King's Bard might be used to, but one for which he is better suited than the others first realize. After all, he knows that The Keeper of the Song is more than just a title...