u/Beginning_Donkey2085

Hey Redditors!

I’m hoping the Reddit community can help me! About 20 years ago, if not more, I bought a 2nd book and love it. I lost it though when I loaned it to my Nan who also loved it but misplaced it.

I’ve used ChatGPT to give me the description below when it failed at finding it also.

Any help would be appreciated!

TIA

Trying to identify a fantasy book/series I read around 20 years ago. The book was already second-hand when I bought it, so it may have been published in the 1980s or 1990s.

What I remember:

• Traditional fantasy setting with kings, warriors, elves, castles, etc.
• There were two brothers, possibly twins, who were separated at birth.
• Their mother was a queen married to an evil king.
• The king was infertile and knew when his wife was pregnant that the child wasn’t his but needed an heir. 
• One son was raised by the king as a prince/heir.
• The other was secretly sent away by his mother to be raised by his biological father.
• I believe the hidden son grew up in some kind of warrior camp, clan, or tribe.
• The biological father later disappeared.
• The brothers met as adults and did not get along at first, but eventually became very close and loving brothers.
• The evil king may have later killed the queen.
• The brothers travelled across multiple realms/worlds during the story.
• The hidden son had a very intelligent and loyal black stallion that may have been on the book cover.
• I vaguely remember an early scene involving a horseback escape from guards.

The part I remember most clearly:

• The hidden son fell in love with an elf woman.
• The elf may have left her people to travel with him.
• The elves lived separately from humans in their own camps/communities.
• Humans could not normally learn the elven language.
• Once the man accepted a magical bond/love bond with the elf woman, he could instantly understand and speak her language.

Another scene I remember:

• Near the end, the heroes infiltrate the evil king's castle/fortress.
• They have to climb over a huge pile of skeletons/bones.
• While climbing, the hidden son notices a ring on one of the skeletons and realises it belonged to his missing father, revealing what happened to him.

It was a fairly thick book and definitely part of a series because I started reading the second book but never finished it.

Does this ring a bell for anyone?