Coriolis has just been hired as the Institute's new Chief of Security. His first challenge: forestall its infiltration by an escaped prisoner.

SYNOPSIS:

Coriolis FitzPatrick has known for several years that he wasn't, fundamentally, meant to be. He, and his little sisters Athena and Cassopeia, have taken the place of a single son, younger than those twins.

He's been struggling with that less, though, since running across the philosophy "You must live for two". It was conveyed by Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson, who accidentally shot a friend at the age of twelve, to one of his constituents, whose son was the focus of a similar tragedy. Cory has spent the past twenty months working himself into that.

It's one of the reasons he was offered the position of Lamassu prefect, though he declined. The administration gave him less choice about being Head Boy, two years later. When Professor Erret's sudden (and violent) death caused Cory to suggest the position of 'security chief' to the headmaster, after graduation, the old man saw but one candidate for the post.

Many troubles await at the Royal Institute for Thaumaturgy and Enchantment. Chief FitzPatrick may just be able to tackle them—starting with an escaped prisoner, and the Zen Fiends that are supposed to 'guard' the school from him.

The focus here is on adult responsibilities, though Cory starts out as just eighteen, newly hired at the same school from which he just graduated. There is also a strong emphasis on family; his little sisters are students there still, his parents and grandparents were all put into Ouroborous after their first year, and the FitzPatricks have long been seen as semi-sinister old money. Lastly, Cory, as Chief Fitzpatrick, bears the voluntary brunt of the responsibility in dealing with these threats, meeting intermittently with representatives from magical Britain's government.