"Dance of the Rings 2 - Ring of Intrigue" - читать интересную книгу автора (Fancher Jane S)

Ring of Intrigue
Dance of the Rings Book 2
by
Jane S. Fancher

Dusk was closing rapidly as the small entourage ap-
proached the outer wall of Rhomatum. A strangely deep
duskthe leyroad lights, once bright beacons leading to
the city, glimmered feebly in the distance. Even Tower Hill,
an architectural mountain rising above foothills of concen-
tric rooftops, seemed subdued, fewer lights and dimmer
shining from those oldest, most elegant buildings of the city
of Rhomatum.
Only the highest point in the City gleamed with undimin-
ished silver leylight: the Rhomatum Ringchamber, upper-
most room within Rhomatum Tower itself. Home of the
Rhomatum Rings.
The source for all those other, failing, lights.
Lightning clouds roared in from the north. An hour be-
fore, just as the entourage had crossed the Oreno leyline,
the storm that had rumbled in the distance all afternoon
had suddenly broken pattern, gaining organization and di-
rection, forming a line of blinding ferocity, a constant bar-
rage of ground strikes that chased the open carriage and
its handful of outriders down the valley.
It was a race now to see whether they could reach Trisini
Gate before the solid mass of atmospheric fury overtook
them.
Deymorin had kept the team to their steady, running trot
as long as he dared. Bracing his feet against the forward
rail of the driver's box, he gave the anxious horses the
signal they eagerly awaited, tired as they were.
Fool, he called himself, and worse, as he guided galloping
horses grimly over and around the ruts and potholes of the
cattle trail; fool, for choosing this side track over the
smooth-graveled Trisini Leyroad.
In choosing the anonymity of off-ley roads, he'd made
their trip from Armayel overlong and dangerously slow. He
should have known that despite the clear morning skies,
the storms that had made the last month an unpredictable,
living hell for the valley would arrive before nightfall.
At least the storm would keep Anheliaa, or whoever was
in control of Rhomatum Tower these days far too busy
protecting the city to notice their arrival. So he trusted the
seasoned team's instincts, and hoped he didn't shed a car-
riage wheel or a brother in this final mad dash.
Kiyrstin, he'd never lose, so long as he had a coattail for
her to grasp.
To the front and sides, the outsiders kept pace, calling