She had considered the shapeshifter children to be one of the many myths that the Brothers told her about icefire.
Her father snorted. “Sometimes, I wonder why we sent you to the Brotherhood of the Light for tuition.”
Tamerane spread her hands. “Father, they talk about magic.”
He nodded at the creature that had almost changed back into a boy. “What do you think this is?”
“Well . . .” Not magic, because magic didn’t exist, but . . . some very strange things could be done with icefire nevertheless.
The Brothers always said that magic and icefire were the same thing, and that magic could be used to—
—to cut out people’s hearts and turn them into servitors, blue ghosts that felt no pain and blindly obeyed their makers. King Caldor used them to sow fear amongst people who criticised him.
