Redoubt by Mercedes Lackey

Synopsis From Back Cover:

Life at the Heralds' Collegium in Haven has definitely improved for Mags.  He's even become something of a hero since risking his life to rescue his girlfriend Amily - daughter of Nikolas, the King's Own Herald - from Karsite kidnappers.  His training as an undercover agent for the crown is progressing.  He is no longer the "foreigner" so many students distrusted.  Life is good.

But Mags still doesn't know who his parents were, and though he knew there are skilled, determine assassins hunting for him, hired by Karse, Valdemar's longstanding enemy, he doesn't know why.  So it is necessary for Mags to be always on his guard.

Mags has grown extremely strong, agile, and remarkably adept at running across rooftops, slipping down drain pipes, and sneaking unseen along dark alleyways.  But now it is time for Mags to graduate to a new role:  Nikolas' partner and information broker.  And Mags discover that he's quite good at his new job.  So good, in fact, that Nikolas decided to let him run the undercover operation in town alone one hot summer night.

Mags has barely unlocked the shop when everything goes black in a blinding flash of pain.

He wakes with a agonizing headache, bound, blindfolded, in a conveyance of some kind.  But worse of all, he's head-blind.  No Mindspeech - he can't even sense his Companion Dallen. And if he can't sense of hear Dallen, then no one can sense him.  And if no one can sense him, then this may well be his demise.

And here we have a rather short review of Redoubt, the fourth book in The Collegium Chronicles series by Mercedes Lackey.  To be rather truthful, I'm thinking this series could have been told in three books, like every other series in the Valdemar books.  It's not that I didn't like it, but I'm starting to not care where Mags came from.  We do get more insight into his background, where his family is from, and a little bit of why they want him dead.  We even get a visit from a Firecat, my favorite sentient animal, after the Companions.

Don't think I'm complaining about the book, or that I didn't like it, because I did.  But I like almost everything by Mercedes Lackey.  It's comfort reading for me, I just wish she would have written this many books about Vanyel.