Maia — Richard Adams

A historical fantasy set in an alternate medieval world that tells the story of a beautiful woman who is sold into slavery by her mother. Her protector in her new life is a black concubine named Occula -- one of Adams's more memorable characters -- who introduces her to the world of dangerous court intrigues. Maia inadvertently betrays her lover, a soldier she knew only briefly but whom she could not forget, but eventually she becomes a heroine to her people when a revolution breaks out.