Taerith

Taerith Romany, banished from his home by a cruel guardian, is a gentle warrior with a poet's soul. When he rescues a beautiful young woman from bandits on his way to the castle of a spoiled tyrant named Annar, he finds himself deep in conflict: the young woman, Lilia, is the future queen-and though he cannot love her, neither he can bring himself to abandon her to life as Annar's bride without a friend. Vowing to help Lilia in any way he can, Taerith takes up his role as a soldier and servant in the king's household.
Their destinies quickly become intertwined with that of Mirian, a slave girl with a mysterious past and a fierce pride that cannot be quenched. As Mirian and Lilia form an unlikely friendship, Taerith discovers more about the threats overshadowing them all: Annar's rule is only a knife's edge from slipping, and Taerith must fight alongside the king's brother to combat starvation, invasion, and a death cult that wants Lilia's life. In a land of fog and fens, unicorns and wild men, Taerith stands at the crossroads of good and evil-where men are vanquished by their own obsessions or saved by faith in the higher things of loyalty and love.