His Own Good Sword (The Cymeriad)

19-year-old Tyren Risto is a second son, bound by long tradition to serve in the Imperial military. Normally that would mean filling some stuffy ceremonial post in the capital city, but one rash misdeed has earned Tyren the enmity of the powerful Marro family and the promise he’ll regret it. Now, instead of the capital, Tyren’s first commission relegates him to a backwater garrison on the fringe of the rugged and hostile Outland, where a fiery young native leader is busy rousing his people to rebellion against the Empire. Soon, the flames of war are spreading all through the mountain country. Unprepared, rapidly outnumbered, Tyren is forced to weigh his devotion to duty against his growing doubts about the justice of his own cause. Victory isn’t out of the question, but it will come at a steep price—and Tyren is no longer sure he’s willing to pay.