The city of Sandridge wasn’t so much to look at, at least for ordinary people. A small city nestled into a mountainous coastline, with a spit of sand reaching out into the ocean that made a nice natural harbor, it served as a convenient shipping hub for people who couldn’t afford the rates at the larger harbors. A lot of rare herbs and minerals came from those mountains, though, which drew a lot of mages to the city. Eventually, the legendary mage Victor Macalester founded the Sandridge Academy as a place for mages to pool their knowledge and resources, and it quickly grew into the most prominent magical training institution on the continent.

As Liriel looked around at the Academy campus, she ignored the massive library hall and the various scattered student accommodations. Her attention was focused on the administration building at the end of the campus, with its hundred-foot-high tower that loomed over all of Sandridge. Rumor had it that Corina Macalester, the Academy’s current arch-dean and the great-granddaughter of the founder, kept her lodgings up there. It was said that ever since she took over the Academy, she started investing its profits in businesses all over the city, and they repaid her investments with gold every week. Even the harbormaster of the port supposedly paid her a cut from every ship that passed through. Thieves in every port told stories about the vast hordes of gold and rare treasures squirreled away in her chambers. The Macalester treasure stash was the jackpot, and Liriel wanted it so much she could taste it.

She had conned her way onto the Academy student roster a week ago, and she had spent the week learning everything she could about the tower, as well as the comings and goings of its mistress. She had even attended a few classes to keep her cover, and she had heard a few stories from students about the magical defenses that Corina Macalester had laid into her tower. A few of them sounded like what eager young students would say to try to impress a pretty blonde girl, but Liriel remembered them anyway.

Finally, her window arrived. The arch-dean was set to make an appearance at a civic function in the main square of Sandridge this weekend, which mean that she would be away from her tower. It was time for Liriel to see for herself what riches the lady Macalester was hiding from the world.

Liriel strolled into the administration building in her student robes to case the building. Only a few clerks were on duty, the unlucky ones who weren’t given the weekend off, so Liriel looked sheepishly around and wound up in a side corridor. Once she was safely concealed, she pulled off her robe to reveal her working clothes, a black leather outfit that clung to her figure and gave her plenty of mobility and grip. She crept back to the archway and threw a ball bearing, and she padded through the front office to the rear corridor when the clerk went to investigate.

Once she was clear of the public areas, she climbed up to the ceiling of the corridor and moved through the shadows to the tower door. Someone had told her that two guards always stood watch over the entrance to Macalester’s tower, and as she moved along the ceiling of the corridor, her legs and back pressed against opposite walls, she could see them beneath her. She reached for the thin pouch strapped to her bare thigh and retrieved a pair of darts tipped with sleeping oil. Their armor covered most of their skin, but enough of their necks were bare that the shot wasn’t particularly difficult. Liriel had them both dosed before the first one even began to feel the effects of the oil, and in a few seconds, both of them were passed out on the floor of the hallway.

Liriel dropped noiselessly down from the ceiling and examined the door. The lock wasn’t fancy enough to hold an enchantment, and the doorway seemed solid and without secret mechanisms, so Liriel took out a set of picks and opened the lock. She eased the door open, making sure that it attached to nothing but its hinges, and when the way proved clear, she began to climb the spiral stairs.

Several of the steps had concealed pressure plates, and fine threads spanned at several points, all of which were attached to devious traps, but Liriel had been dealing with measures like these since she was a child. She avoided the swinging blades and gouts of flame with ease and dodged the rows of blowdarts, making progress handily up the tower. The only unexpected development was the sheer height of the tower. Liriel wasn’t keeping a keen count of the number of stairs, but there seemed to be more of them than there should have been.

By the time Liriel reached the top of the stairs, she was panting with exertion. She felt like she had climbed a mountain. Even with all the traps that she had dodged, the tower shouldn’t have taken nearly so long to climb. She needed to pick up her pace if she wanted to get in and out before the arch-dean returned from town.

The spiral stairs ended at a large round room. It seemed to be a little larger than the width of the tower, but maybe Liriel was just a little dizzy from the climb. The floor was covered with large tiles, each engraved with a strange symbol or image. At the far outside edge of the room, against the finely wood-paneled wall, another staircase curved up to the next level.

Liriel knelt down to one of the tiles and examined it as closely as she could without touching it. The light reflected off of the tile strangely, and there was a faint floral smell. There was some kind of magical trap built into the tile. This was more like it. Liriel was starting to worry that Corina Macalester herself had built a tower without a single magical security measure in it.

Ironically, one of the few lectures Liriel had attended had taught her something about the symbols on the floor. Already, she could see a pattern emerging. She caught her breath and hopped to a tile, and nothing happened. She saw another tile the same distance away that bore the next symbol in sequence, and she hopped again. Again there was nothing.

The sequence started to get fuzzy the closer Liriel got to the outside wall, but her memory seemed to be serving her wall. There was only one more tile she needed to reach before the stairs, and she was pretty sure she remembered the rest of the lesson. She tensed, leapt, and landed, and her momentum carried her toward the base of the stairs.

As soon as her foot left the tile, an uncomfortable tingling sensation covered her entire leg. She felt a brief tightness around her ankle, and then her entire leg went numb as she collapsed at the foot of the stairs. She looked down at her leg, but it wasn’t there. Below the leg of her shorts was nothing but a flat stump.

Liriel looked at the tile, and she saw her severed leg hanging from a thin rope that dangled from the ceiling, one of her tool pouches still strapped to the thigh. Another flat patch of skin covered the end of the leg, and it wasn’t moving. As far as she could feel, her leg was just gone.

Liriel didn’t want to proceed without any of her tools, much less a part of her actual body, but she wasn’t about to try to retrieve her leg while it was surrounded by trapped tiles in the floor, and it wasn’t as if she could have done anything with her leg even if she got it back. She looked up the stairs, and she suddenly lost all trust in the safety of the floor. She got unsteadily to her remaining foot and began to scale the wood paneling of the wall, slowly proceeding from one ridge of molding to the next as she made her way further up. There had to be something valuable up there.

This staircase ended at another flat floor, in a room even bigger than the one below. This room was most definitely bigger around the top of the tower looked from the outside, but Liriel didn’t care about any of that anymore. The outer walls of the room were lined with paintings in gilt frames, gleaming glass-fronted cabinets made of rare woods, and more gems and gold than Liriel had ever seen in one place. And that was just the cabinets themselves. Only Liriel’s wildest dreams could guess what was inside them.

Before Liriel let herself get too excited, she quickly examined the carpet at her fingertips. It seemed mundane, so she pulled herself out of the stairwall and onto the floor. Steadying herself against the nearest benevolent-looking end table, she surveyed the room. It looked like a sitting room or parlor, with plush chairs in a circle at the center, a fireplace in the opposite wall, and a jeweled brass chandelier hanging from a chain overhead.

Next to one of the easy chairs was a hollow glass pyramid on a stand with a locked chest inside. A shimmery loop of metal hung inside the cap of the pyramid. When Liriel looked over to a chalice sitting on another end table, it seemed filled with the same shimmer. She waved her hand over the chalice, and a brief shadow flickered over the chest inside the pyramid. She picked up the chalice and swirled it around, but the shimmering surface didn’t move. As a final experiment, she dropped a ball bearing into the chalice, and it fell safely into the pyramid and bounced off the chest.

Well, why not, thought Liriel. She was already going to have a difficult time getting out of here with one leg. She had better get at least something out of it. She set the chalice back down on the table and reached her arm into it, and at the other side of the room, she saw her arm reach into the pyramid. She wiggled her fingers, and she saw them move as commanded. So far, so good.

Through the portal in the chalice, she could see what looked like a small playing card sitting on top of the chest. She grabbed it and quickly pulled her arm out of the portal. The card had a picture of a pile of gold coins on it. Well, she thought, at least I can pretend this wasn’t a loss.

Just then, the card flashed and dissolved, and a pile of gold coins appeared in Liriel’s hand. Her arm sagged under the sudden weight, and Liriel’s heart began to soar. Even this mere handful of coins would be enough to support her for months. A few more like this, and Liriel could easily call the day a success. If she filled her pouches and pockets, she could retire.

Liriel took a fine pick from her remaining tool kit and reached back through the portal to open the lock on the chest. As soon as she touched the pick to the tumblers, though, she felt another tingle down the length of her arm. Before she could react, a ring of light flashed around her shoulder. She watched as her arm went numb, fell away, and disappeared into the chalice on the table. She looked across the room to see her severed arm lying limply on top of the chest inside the glass pyramid.

With her one remaining arm, she pushed herself away from the end table in a panic. She pawed at the flat stump where her good arm used to be, and in her fervor, she lost her balance and collapsed in the middle of the room, surrounded by riches and plush furniture. She rolled over onto her back and saw a bright glow begin to emerge from the chandelier far overhead.

Liriel’s pulse began to race as she tried to roll herself behind a chair, but the glow came too quickly. Her entire body began to tingle, and just before she could lift herself onto her remaining hand and knee, everything below her neck went numb. All she could feel of herself was her head, rolling around on the plush rug, as she heard a clanking chain above her. She felt something land on the floor and clatter around, and she saw the arms of the chandelier curve around her face as something metallic gripped her head and clamped down tight. She felt herself lifted into the air, dangling from the chandelier, as her headless and half-limbed body lay on the floor below.

There was no point in keeping track of time. Liriel just dangled from the chandelier, nothing but a head, while she wondered what would happen to her. Maybe the magic would wear off and she would die, but why would the magic traps not just have killed her outright? Maybe she would just linger her forever, but this was supposed to be Corina Macalester’s living quarters. It was far too complex to be merely a trap for thieves.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of footsteps in the room below. If that was the arch-dean, she was certainly walking heavily. She wasn’t a large woman. Was she deliberately making noise so Liriel would hear her?

She heard the steps climbing the stairs and approach, and she saw Corina Macalester below her, her long black hair bound in silver wire and braided down her back. The arch-dean of Sandridge Academy was wearing a formal off-the-shoulder gown in burgundy and dull gold, and she had Liriel’s detached leg over one shoulder. She looked up at Liriel’s head and gave a smirk. Was she smug? Eager? Curious?

She crooked a finger in Liriel’s direction, and there was a clanking of chain as the chandelier descended, bringing Liriel’s head to eye level with her. Without a word, she bent down and dragged Liriel’s body into view, and Liriel watched as she knelt down and placed the leg back in its proper place. The join glowed gently and vanished.

“What do you want with me?” said Liriel.

“That will come later,” said Corina without making eye contact. “For now, watch and learn.”

She reached down to Liriel’s body and helped it to its feet. It stood there on its own, gently shifting its weight back and forth without in any way responding to what Liriel wanted it to do. While it stood and waited, Corina walked over to the glass pyramid and extended a hand, and a circular hole opened in the front panel like it was made of water. She reached into the pyramid and took Liriel’s arm, placing her hand in its hand. Almost by instinct, the disembodied fingers curled around Corina’s own, and she held the arm like a new friend as she walked back to the standing body and reattached it with another gentle glow.

“Keep watching,” said Corina.

She turned and left through a side door, leaving Liriel to dangle and stare at her body. She didn’t have to wait long before Corina returned with a hollow wicker model of a head, with a blue gem mounted in the center. She placed the head on top of the severed stump where Liriel’s head had been, and the body immediately shivered and turned to face Corina. It clasped its hands behind its back and gave a small bow, and Corina nodded and beckoned it toward another door. The body left, and while Corina made herself comfortable in a chair facing Liriel, the body returned with a bottle of wine and two glasses.

“Now,” said Corina, “is time for you and I to talk.”

“It’s not like I can do much else,” said Liriel, as her former body poured two glasses of wine. One was plain glass, but one was a metal goblet with a small ring of gems around the stem.

“True,” said Corina, drinking from the plain glass. “First of all, what are you doing in my home?”

“Attempting to rob you,” said Liriel.

“Honesty,” said Corina. “Good. And why did you want to do that?”

“Because I heard that you had a lot of money and treasure up here, and I wanted some of it.”

“Do you find me undeserving?”

“I don’t know of anything truly vile you’ve done,” said Liriel, “but I know that I could set myself up for life with just a fraction of what you’ve got here.”

“Ah, yes,” said Corina. She motioned to the body, and it moved close enough for Corina to reach into a belt pouch and retrieve the coins Liriel had found. “I noticed that you came away with something right away. Was this not enough for you?”

“That was just in my first minute,” said Liriel. “Five more minutes like that and I would have been made.”

“And you certainly didn’t come equipped for a serious haul,” said Corina. “You don’t seem like the greedy type. Merely the devious type.”

“This is an academy of mages,” said Liriel. “Not the sorts of people who do things the hard way. I thought I'd fit right in.”

“And not the vicious type, either,” said Corina. “You didn’t kill my guards downstairs.”

“No need,” said Liriel. “Sleeping oil is gentler and cleaner. Magistrates tend to look more kindly on it.”

“Ah, yes,” said Corina. “Which brings us to the matter of restitution. You tried to steal from me, Liriel.”

“How did you know my name?” said Liriel, the temporary feeling of calm boiling away.

“Really, my dear,” said Corina. “I like to know who enrolls in my academy, whether they give their true name to the proctor or not. I knew it was a matter of time before you attempted this climb. You were far from the first, but you were definitely the most successful. And your methods were truly admirable. You and I may be more closely aligned than you think.”

Corina finished her glass. “This is my proposal. If you decline, then your body will remain in my service, and the rest of you will be confined at my discretion. I can find all sorts of uses for someone in your condition, and rest assured that I will try them all.

“If you agree, then your belongings will be returned to you, and you will remain in my service in a different capacity. You will continue your previous activities, but at my direction only. You will equip yourself as I instruct you, and you will go after targets I choose for you.”

‘Wait a minute,” said Liriel. “That’s why you have fingers in so many pies around the city. That’s why you’re so influential at the harbor. I’ve heard this pitch before. You’re a crime boss.”

“Quite the opposite,” said Corina, rising from her chair, “though I understand the confusion. It is true that many of the most unscrupulous power brokers and tyrants on the continent send people to my academy. Why do you think I charge them such high fees? I see their wealth separated from them and spread throughout society, to do more good in the world than it will likely do in the vaults it came from. The people who come here to study arrive with dreams of domination and leave with visions of unity. They share stories of their families’ conquests and schemes, and the worst of them find their way to me. I do what I can to even the scales against them, but I need more hands than mine. I must spend most of my time here, being the face and heart of this academy. I need someone to go out into the world on my behalf, someone with talent who shares my aims.”

“No offense,” said Liriel, “but it’s pretty nice talk for a woman surrounded by treasure. What’s all this doing here and not spread around the world?”

Corina reached out and lifted Liriel’s head loose from the chandelier, which winched itself back into the rafters. She cradled Liriel’s head in the crook of her elbow as she toured the room.

“My great-grandfather made a lot of money for himself before he established this academy,” said Corina, walking past display cases and armor stands, “and the pile only grew after that. My grandmother and my father added their own share, too. When I took over, I decided that the world had changed since old Victor’s day, and the purpose of the Academy needed to change with it.”

Corina gently stroked Liriel’s cheek with her thumb as she reminisced. “If I simply dumped all of this wealth into the world, it would make a lot of people very happy, true enough,” she said. “But before too long, the tyrants and power brokers would find their ways to it, and it would end up moving from one treasure room to another. It occurred to me that another way to put all this to work would be to spend it outfitting a specialist who could move through the world making my dream come true. Maybe more than one, but I’ve got to start somewhere.”

While Liriel watched from her hip, Corina scooped up the small pile of gold coins from the table and dropped it back into the body’s pouch, drawing the pouch closed and giving it a gentle pat. She then handed Liriel’s head to the body, which held it up facing Corina.

“That’s the deal,” said Corina. “You will walk the world, with my wealth at your back, seeking out the unworthy and the unrighteous and bringing them low. I will provide you with everything you need, every mote of knowledge at my disposal, and I will swear to keep our goals pure.”

She drank deeply from the jeweled goblet of wine before holding it to Liriel’s lips.

“Do you accept?”

If Liriel could have felt her chest, it would have been pounding. This was more than she’d ever dreamed of bargaining for, and on top of that, Corina’s hands were very smooth.

“I accept.”

“Then have a drink.”

Corina brought the goblet closer, and Liriel took a drink. Corina smiled and removed the wicker head from its perch, and then she took Liriel’s wrist and raised it. Once her head was back where it belonged, Corina brushed a fingertip along her neckline, and Liriel regained full control as the seam disappeared.

Now that the fear was gone, Liriel got her first good look at Corina Macalester up close. She was younger than Liriel had expected, and there was a slight flush to her cheeks that might have been excitement at their shared goal, or it might have been something else.

Liriel laid a hand on Corina’s bare shoulder and moved in closer, her eyelids fluttering, but Corina pressed a hand gently against Liriel’s chest.

“Later,” said Corina. “First, we should get your affairs in order. Do you have lodgings on campus, or elsewhere in the city?”

“Yes,” said Liriel, clearing her throat nervously, “I have a room above the jeweler’s shop by the square.”

“You should return there and gather everything you may need,” said Corina, producing a small ornament. “This key will let you reach your room from here. Hold still.”

Corina thrust the ornament into Liriel’s back, piercing her chest through to the front, and then she pulled it out from just below Liriel’s throat before Liriel even had time to register the sensation. “Now the key is attuned to you. Stand before that picture,” she pointed to a large framed painting of a door, “picture your room in your mind’s eye, and whisper a memorable phrase.”

Liriel took the key, stood before the painting, and whispered to herself with a smile.

“A wonderful partnership.”

The painting grew into a full-size door, with her name engraved into the top. She opened the door, and beyond was her room above the jeweler’s shop.

“This is a copy of your room,” said Corina, “attached to my tower. When you close this door, you will appear in the same spot in your real room. When you need to return here, stand in your room with the key and speak the phrase, and you will be transported back here. Arrange things as necessary, and return here at midnight. We have a lot of work to do.”

“Thank you, Corina Macalester,” said Liriel. “I look forward to it.”