MAGIC'S PAWN
Magic's Pawn is the first book in Mercedes Lackey's trilogy. The summary from the back of the book is...not very good. I am in the process of writing a much more detailed summary, but have only finished a very small portion of it so far. ^^; please have patience! If you don't want spoilers, then DO NOT read "Zandra's Summary"!

BACK OF THE BOOK
MAGE-CRAFT--Though Vanyel has been born with near legendary abilities to work both Herald and Mage magic, he wants no part of such things. Nor does he seek a warrior's path, wishing instead to become a Bard. Yet such talent as his if left untrained may prove a menace not only to Vanyel but to others as well. So he is sent to be fostered with his aunt, Savil, one of the famed Herald-Mages of Valdemar.
But, strong-willed and self-centered, Vanyel is a challenge which even Savil can not master alone. For soon he will become the focus of frightening forces, lending his raw magic to a spell that unleashes terrifying wyr-hunters on the land. And by the time Savil seeks the assistance of a Shin'a'in Adept, (zandra's note: this is wrong; they mean Tayledras Adept, as the Shin'a'in practice absolutely no magic) Vanyel's wild talent may have already grown beyond anyone's ability to contain, placing Vanyel, Savil, and Valdemar itself in desperate peril...

ZANDRA'S SUMMARY
Vanyel Ashkevron, the Last Herald-Mage of Valdemar, also known as the Shadow-Stalker. He was sent to live at Haven (the capital of Valdemar) with his Aunt Savil when he was young, his father's final attempt to "make a man" out of him. Young Vanyel just wanted to be a Bard, not a fighter. He isolated himself from everyone, seeming extremely conceited to his siblings and the cousins at Forst Reach. When he arrived at Haven, his Aunt Savil, a Herald-Mage, baffles him. She is fair, but doesn't allow him any special treatment. She has three Trainees; Mardic, Donni, and Tylendel. Mardic and Donni are lifebonded to each other, and Vanyel learns through the social butterfiles he surrounds himself with that Tylendel is different. He's "shaych" meaning he prefers boys to girls. Vanyel finally realized why his father and the priest back home stressed "proper masculine behavior." Living at Haven is not much better than home for Vanyel; his dream of becoming a Bard is broken, and his only "friends" are mindless young people of the court, and he has a recurring nightmares of himself dying alone.