A boy is the illegitimate son of roaylty. He has a close bond with animals (this is some magical talent, but it is bad.) He also likes to hang out with the street urchins. This got him in trouble. Then he goes to some sort of training thing and the book goes on for a long while before it ends. There is a special skill that he is not supposed to learn, but he is learning. The story is set in some kingdom that is a unification of other lands. They have politics and different mechinations. Did I mention the book was long?
