Castle of Deception — Mercedes Lackey; Josepha Sherman

A YOUNG BARD FACES WEBS OF LIES AND DECEPTION IN A WORLD WHERE NOTHING IS AS IT SEEMS -- AND EVERYTHING IS A TRAP FOR THE UNWARY

When young Kevin became a bard's apprentice, he thought that his new life would be filled with excitement and adventure; so when his new Master's first task for him is a perfectly ordinary manuscript copying errand to the castle of Count Volmar his disappointment knew no bounds. Why the Count was not even involved in Court politics!

But when the Count's niece is kidnapped by elves and the Count asks for his help in recovering her, Kevin is convinced that the da4ture he craves is at last at hand. What he cannot know is that the distressed damsel is not really CountVolmar's niece, that the abductors are not really elves -- and that even the rescue is not what it appears to be!