"Fancher, Jane - Rings 2 - Ring Of Intrigue" - читать интересную книгу автора (Fancher Jane S)

Somehow, he doubted Anheliaa would have minded the
loss. But they had escaped and made their way to Armayel,
the largest of the Rhomandi holdings and the one nearest
Rhomatum itself. From there, they'd sent careful probes,
men loyal to Deymorin for years, into the City.
At first, those men had come back with tales of riots
and chaos and fear. Later, they'd brought back street flyers
proclaiming the end of life as Rhomatumins knew it, and
finally with newspapers that gave lists of the dead and dam-
age reports.
As order returned, they'd risked a letter to Anheliaa.
Anheliaa had answered. Immediately. Anheliaa had ex-
pressed relief at their survival of the (so-called) Boreton
Firestorm, and delight at their well-being. And Anheliaa
had issued an urgent and heartfelt request for their immedi-
ate return.
They'd taken that request at face value: Anheliaa had no
heart. At least, not one that mattered.
So, this morningweeks laterwhen they were ready
and without formal announcement to Anheliaa, they'd set
out for Rhomatum. They'd taken a circuitous route in, stay-
ing as much as possible beyond reach of Anheliaa's aware-
ness, which meant off the leylines. And they'd chosen to
enter at Trisini Gate where she'd logically expect them to
use Oreno.
All to limit Anheliaa's preparation time.
Considering the chaos greeting them now, it would seem
they were overly cautious. Difficult to believe that Anheliaa
was wasting overmuch energy on her prodigal nephews'
whereabouts, when storms such as the one raging overhead
were bearing down on Rhomatum.
Anheliaa's letters had said the power had faltered the
day of the Boreton Firestorm; she hadn't said the web had
gone completely down.
Anheliaa had expressed concern at the diminished power
available, had said that the communication links with the
other nodes were erratic at best, that she couldn't tell, from
the Tower, exactly what damage had taken place.
But the clear demarcation at the old wall that marked
the pre-Khoratum expansion limit did suggest to Mikhyel
a different possibility, one which Anheliaa, trapped in the
Tower as her physical disabilities kept her, might not
have noticed.
It was possible they'd simply lost Khoratum.
The Khoratum leyline was the largest line in the vicinity
of Boreton, and Anheliaa had always said Khoratum was
the strongest satellite node, the hardest to cap, and the
most difficult to hold after it had been capped. If that line
had gone, or even if it was severely damaged, it could ac-
count for the web's erratic behavior.