Not that we ever get to the Mageworlds in this story. It’s an origin story, more or less, for one of our major characters, Beka Rosselin-Metadi. It was supposed to be a light romantic romp with some bumbling criminals adding humor. A farce. And along the way she’d find her first love.
That didn’t make it out of the first draft.
One of the earliest stories chronologically, set a few years before the events in The Price of the Stars, it was actually one of the last Mageworlds stories we wrote.
Come join me for the grand re-launch of the Debra Doyle Memorial Edition (with an all-new “Making Of” essay) on Sunday, March 14th, 8:00-9:00 pm Eastern. https://www.facebook.com/events/769982006981466
JAMES D. MACDONALD 
I remember reading the original version in TOSOP, lo these many years ago, and I was hooked then. Got the Mage Worlds books when I found about them, and wasn’t disappointed.