"What do you mean I'm fired?" Amunet shouted. She slammed her hands down on Teremun's desk but he did raise his eyes from the scrolls he was currently looking through. Amunet glared and reached forward to yank the scroll from his hands. The Pharoah signed and finally looked up at the girl. Jade eyes met violet ones and neither blinked or moved.

"Amunet, your first mission almost wound up with you dead. You're not suited to be a spy or even an assassin. I was mistaken in that regard but dancing is what you were born to do. So that's what you're going to do." Teremun got up from his seat and strolled to the towering bookshelves to grab a few more scrolls and tablets. Amunet followed him and tried to redirect his attention to her.

"Teremun, I can do this. I can help you. Please let me help you." The self guilt of being useless was beginning to coil up in Amunet's stomach. He'd given her everything and she'd failed him. She didn't want to be just a dancer. She wanted to be deadly and mysterious and to know secrets that could tear men apart. She desired that control of life and death, especially over men who'd used her all her life. "Just give me another chance. Tell me who to seduce. Tell me who to kill. Please, Teremun."

Teremun finally turned to face Amunet. His face softened at the desperation on hers and he felt his hand extending to cup her cheek. She leaned into his touch and shut her eyes tightly.

"No."

Amunet's eyes shot open and she stared at the receding frame of Pharaoh. He left the room quietly, leaving Amunet stock still in the middle of his study. She wanted to run after him, persuade him of her worth. Tell him she wasn't just a pretty face or a flexible body.

She could be more.

More than an object.

More than a dancer.

More than a concubine.

More than a slave.

"He's just worried about you," a voice said from behind Amunet. She turned to see Ubaid hidden in the shadows of the room. His eyes were a sharp as ever and his body still sculpted and deadly. Poised to protect his Pharaoh. "When you went missing, Teremun was frantic. I've never seen him like that. Even as a young boy, he was good at being impassive and relentless. No one knew his secrets, his weaknesses. Then you show up and he changes. He thought your beauty would be beneficial to his empire. That you'd be able to take down all who stood in his way with a simple smile. You were suppose to be his freedom and strength, Amunet."

Ubaid paused and moved towards her. He was much taller than Amunet and a closer inspection revealed scars stretching across his tight chest and shoulders. Amunet raised her eyes and found his, strained with concern. He reached behind him and pulled out a long and slender sword with encrusted jewels on its hilt.

Amunet felt her body freeze.

"You are a hinderence, Amunet. You've become Teremun's weakness. His cage." Ubaid stepped closer to her. "And you need to be removed."