A brightness long ago / Guy Gavriel Kay.

Guidanio Cerra, known as Danio, is the son of a tailor whose intelligence had won him entry to a renowned school attended mainly by aristocrats. There he's learned languages, politics, courtly manners--and a great deal about horsemanship. He takes service at the dangerous court of a count known as The Beast... Adria Ripoli, born to power, daughter of a duke, has rejected the choices offered to her, opting for a life of danger--and freedom--in the service of her mercenary uncle. That decision leads her to a nighttime encounter in a castle, from which she is unlikely to escape alive. Speaking to us from a chamber overlooking the busy waterways of a maritime city, Danio looks back on his youth to tell us part of the tale--the most unforgettable days of his life. But others share the telling, the story we read. Guy Gavriel Kay brings alive a cast of unforgettable characters whose paths intertwine in an extraordinary time. They include a healer who has also disdained her expected lot; a charming, if frivolous son of immense wealth; a young, powerful religious leader, more dedadent than devout; and the two larger-than-life war leaders, lifelong adversaries entangled in their shared history, whose encounters put a world in the balance...