Dreamer

5 Stars. An excellent epic fantasy - told in the first person. Fitz is the royal bastard of Prince Chivalry, brought up from the age of six by Burrich the stable-master. He has 'The Wit' - an ability to bond with animals but Burrich forbids him to use it. At the age of nine, he gains recognition from King Shrewd his grandfather who has him apprenticed to Chade to learn the arts of an assassin.

'Just know from the beginning, that I'm going to be teaching you how to kill people. For your king. Not in the showy way that Hod is teaching you, not on the battlefield where others see and cheer you on. No, I'll be teaching you the nasty furtive, polite ways to kill people.'