Oath of Gold (The Deed of Paksenarrion, Book 3)

Paks the warrior must learn to live with Paks the human. She undertakes a holy quest for a lost elven prince that brings the gods' wrath down on her and tests her very limits. Oath of Gold is the climactic final volume of the epic that Judith Tarr calls "the first work of high heroic fantasy I've seen that has taken the work of Tolkien, assimilated it totally and deeply and absolutely, and produced something altogether new and yet incontestably based on the master... [Moon's] military knowledge is impressive, her picture of life in a mercenary company most convincing. I'm deeply impressed." /Elizabeth Moon Two realms face an unstable change of rule: in Tsaia, a long Regency is nearly over, and in Lyonya, a dying king has no legitimate heir. The sword which could declare the rightful heir of Lyonya is lost, and Paksenarrion--now a paladin--swears an The final book in "The Deed of Paksenarrion" trilogy finds Paks waiting to fulfill her destiny to be a palladin by serving as an ordinary soldier in the Duke's company, where her growing powers alert her that evil forces are closing in on the Duke "Paks" was someone special, running away from what could have been a pig farmer's wife to be a soldier. And so began the adventure destined to transform a simple sheepfarmer's daughter into a hero fit to be chosen by the gods!