Ice Bound — Gail Z. Martin

Velant Prison is King Merrill's dumping ground, and the convicts condemned to the harsh arctic conditions are the kingdom's slave labor. Brutal overseers drive their convict workers to the breaking point in the dark, cold mines deep beneath Edgeland. Blaine 'Mick' McFadden lost his title, lands, and freedom when he killed the man who dishonored his sister. When miners disappear and strange creatures are glimpsed in the depths, Blaine and his convict friends must find a way to fight for their lives against men and monsters.

When Blaine McFadden killed the man who dishonored his sister, King Merrill exiled him to Velant Prison on far-away Edgeland, an arctic penal colony known for its brutality. If the icy cold and the hard labor doesn't kill them, the prison's sadistic commandant just might. But Blaine and his convict friends didn't come this far to die easily, and they have no intention of going down without a fight.
The King's Convicts and the upcoming King's Exiles fill the six-year gap at the beginning of Ice Forged, the first novel in Gail Z. Martin's Ascendant Kingdoms epic fantasy series.