SOLVED. Children's Fantasy. Orphan raised in castle finds hunchback named Igor living beneath the dungeons, and goes on a quest with a girl

[Arwen]

I read this book around 2016 - 2018, but it was likely published earlier.

It was about an orphan who lives in a castle. I think he was blond, and his name might have been something like Christopher. He was at least eleven, though possibly older.

It's told from the first person perspective of the orphan.
He says he was found in a basket on the castle steps as a baby, and to the servants' surprise, the lord of the castle decided to keep him. The lord had the servants raise him, so he grew up in the castle and has no idea what his past was. The lord hired a nurse for the boy, and I remember a specific line about her in the book: "I liked nurse. But one day she fell into the moat and was eaten by some creature."

I forget what the main plot is, but near the beginning of the book, the boy is exploring the castle. I think he heard noises, so he followed them until he came to a cavern beneath the dungeon, where he finds a hunchback named Igor. Igor claims to have been there for a long time. He says he served the castle's old lord and that the present lord isn't aware of him. The boy keeps Iogor a sceret from the lord. I don't remember much about Igor except that he hates if anyone mentions that he's hunchbacked.

The boy frequently goes back to visit Igor after this and they become friends, though he dosen't learn much about where Igor came from or why he's there.
Igor has a freezing cold stream running through his cavern which he warns the boy not to touch, though this isn't explained.

At some point, some sort of danger is threatening the land, so the boy sets off to stop it. On his way he meets a girl who's a sheperdess or something. She has some sort of animal side kick. She joins the boy in his quest.
I don't remember what they were trying to defeat, but there might have been goblins? I think the girl had a personal vendetta against the villain, which makes her reckless, which gets her captured.

There was a character who appeared occasionally, who had first been introduced as this mythological figure from the world's folk lore. The boy didn't think she was real until she randomly appeared at one point. The boy always thought she was an old hag, but she first apperas as a beautiful woman, until she shifts to fit the boy's perception.

At the end of the story the boy wins, and returns to the castle with the girl. The lord of the castle invites the girl to live at the castle with them, but she declines, saying she likes where she already lives, though she and the boy stay friends. The lord also moves Igor into the main part of the castle instead of his cavern once he learns about him.

That's all I recall about the story, though I remember a bit from what was supposed to be the author's biography in the back. He says he had a brother named Igor, and says "We were twins, even though Igor was born on Halloween and I was not. Still, we were twins."

I think the cover was of a blond boy and a hunchback in a cavern.

If anyone has an idea of what this book could be, thank you.

[Becca]

Goblins in the Castle by Bruce Coville

[Arwen]

Becca wrote: "Goblins in the Castle by Bruce Coville"

Thank you, that's it!