Sylvia is a serving wench tending to the needs of a wizard who is past his prime. She gets sucked into a palace intrigue that has a much deeper threat lurking below the surface. Despite herself, Sylvia gasped. She withdrew into herself. Like almost every child, she had heard the scary stories. How the ordeal was not short. Possibly hours of increasing pain while the victim roasted. How a scorched and swollen tongue would allow only strange, muffled pleas for mercy. "Ah, your reaction is precious," Wetron said. "I knew I had to witness it." Almost as if she were a titanic djinn, Sylvia pulled herself back together with a heave of mental effort. This swine would not get any of the satisfaction he craved. She spat in his face. A blend of both rigorous fantasy with the latest happenings in the world of science.