Ice Burns Read Online Free PDF

with being a woman: women had no power in life or industry. If Chandra had been lucky enough to find an apprenticeship at a young age with weaving, cooking or even farming, she could make her life working for someone else until she was able to wed or death found her, whichever happened first. That was all beside the fact that she was an orphan and had no family anywhere to take her in or help her until she came of age.
    The world as a whole was a rough place. Chandra only knew one home even if it had never really felt that way.
    She picked up the book again and settled on her bed to read it as many times as it took for her to figure out how to levitate something.
    Anything.
    Chandra was not ready to be tossed out or replaced, so she had to make herself the apprentice that Master Dreys wanted or die trying.
     
    Chandra was raised with the belief that she would be one of the most powerful mages the world had ever known. It all had to happen in secret. Magic equaled death, after all. None of the ruled countries ever disobeyed that directive from the Northern Kingdom of Faust. Chandra saw people being carted away now and then from her home at the edge of the desert. Master had explained where they were going and that they would not return even if they were innocent. The crime was possession of magic. The charges went uninvestigated; the rumor was enough to end up in a wagon in chains. There was also never a shortage of people hauled away; people would always turn on each other in anger, fear, or because they wanted something another person had. The beggar, heretic, or even debtor would be sent away to Faust if there was a rumor that they possessed any magic at all. Their families or friends were left to mourn the loss.
    The kingdom of Faust, which was the seat of power in the frozen North continent of Areen, was where the King, Queen and soon enough, the princess ruled. Faust was not a place anyone went on purpose. The tundra and sparse forests that formed the border were anything but picturesque in their naked, blackened fingers that reached for the gray skies overhead. The royal family and those seeking to remain in their favor or those serfs and peasants who had no other choice were the only inhabitants in or near the kingdom. In an area where many fought just to survive in such an unforgiving climate, newcomers were viewed with suspicion.
    The citizens had been there and under the rule of a King and Queen for centuries. Chandra doubted that many of them could leave even if they wanted to. The rest of the continent of Areen had only been under their domain for the last seventy or so years when the royal couple had first come into power. The King's gift to his new Queen was to add half a continent to their domain. Chandra had heard Master Dreys talk about how prosperous and free the regions had been before the conquest that had put them under the King's rule.
    Chandra had little with which she could compare it. She had lived the entirety of her life within the walls of Master's estate in the small region of Malofa. In the entirety of her life, Chandra had only gone to the nearby village overseen by the estate three times. Each time had been with the Master at her side and never would she have considered going otherwise. Master kept his dealings with the village to a minimum as well. Chandra knew that it was not fear of being persecuted as a mage, but most likely Master's need for solitude.
    It was well-known throughout Malofa that Master Dreys, or Lord Dreys, held favor with the King and Queen. Chandra had even heard whisperings that Master had sent several villages "magic users" to their death at the hands of the monarchs. She couldn't believe it was true, but it struck her as exactly the type of rumor a man who sought privacy might set in motion. What she didn't know for certain was if the rumors about Master's connections to the royal family were another rumor or something else.
    A knock at the door interrupted Chandra's