Synopsis: "Today I looked into the Rings and saw a new and better world..." Those heretical words marked the beginning of a new era, not just for Darius Rhomandi and those who followed where he led, but for the entire civilized world. For when this young priest breached the sanctity of Mauritum's Ring Tower, defying the tyrannical ruling priesthood which used Ring magic to channel the leythium power upon which Mauritum was founded, he discovered another source of leythium at least as rich as Mauritum's own. Three hundred years later, Rhomatum, the democratic city Darius founded, has become the most powerful ley-city in the world, but is itself plagued by political unrest and threatened by Mauritum, its ancient enemy. And three brothers, heirs to the ruling Rhomandi family yet torn apart by mistrust, jealousy and polorized political views, must overcome their personal differences. For only if they unite, can they hope to wrest control of Rhomatum away from their despotic great-aunt, who, through the superior strength of her Talent, single-handedly controls the magical power of the leythium Rings that mean life for the city and all its dwellers. (from the back cover of the DAW Books first edition)