Chapter 2

"Alright, let's play," I said, tossing the die onto the floor. "Whoever wins gets to spend the night with me."

The die rolled across the polished gold tiles, in the end, landing on a six.

Everyone held their breath.

A wicked grin tugged at my lips.

"Let's start with you then," I said, pointing at the one who cried the hardest, the poor bunny boy.

The cute bunny-like guy was Chrysanthes. He was a poet whose verses had pleased the Pharaoh.

Right now, he was staring at me with those big, wet eyes, looking all kinds of pitiful. "Pharaoh..."

"Cut the crap and roll the die," I said, kicking the die over to him.

Chrysanthes's hand trembled as he picked up the die and tossed it lightly.

The die came to rest with a single red pip.

The room went dead silent.

I almost burst out laughing.

Talk about starting on the wrong foot.

Chrysanthes's face went ghostly pale, his lips trembling like he might faint any second.

"Chrysanthes," I drawled. "Truth or Dare?"

He glanced at me, and then at the others who were clearly enjoying his misery. Finally, he gritted his teeth and forced out. "I... I choose Truth."

"Good." I nodded, leaning in close so only he could hear. "Remember the time when you cried in front of me, claiming you were head over heels for me and tricked those tribute golden bracelets out of me. How much did you sell them for?"

Chrysanthes's pupils contracted, and it looked like his blood turned to ice.

He stared at me in disbelief, his mouth opening and closing, but not a single word came out.

In the Pharaoh's memories, Chrysanthes was the king of playing the victim. He'd put on that pitiful act, scam all sorts of goodies, and then sneak off to pawn them for cash to bail out his hopeless, gambling-addict brother.

The Pharaoh was totally fooled, thinking Chrysanthes was some hopeless simp.

But I was Emma, a project manager who had seen every trick in the book. Seeing through his little games was child's play.

"Did cat get your tongue?" I raised an eyebrow. "Fine, then you lose. Pack up and get out of the chamber tonight."

"No!" Chrysanthes blurted out, desperation in his voice. "I... I'll say it."

He took a shaky breath, squeezed his eyes shut, and whispered, "Three... three thousand drachmae."

Even though he barely spoke above a whisper, in the dead silence of the chamber, everyone heard him loud and clear.

In that instant, the way the other guys looked at him shifted completely. Contempt, disdain, and a gleeful delight at his misery flashed across their faces.

Chrysanthes's face went from red to pale, and he looked like he wished he could disappear right then and there.

Now that was what I called miserable and embarrassed.

I nodded in satisfaction and waved my hand. "Next."

The next one was Lykos, the son of a general. Like his name, he was big and burly, and right now, he looked nervous as hell.

He rolled a three. Nothing special. On to the next.

Soon enough, after a round, the lowest roll went to Eugenios, the Vizier's son, the guy who'd been shooting me flirty glances all night.

He rolled a two.

Eugenios was bold. He went straight for Dare.

I rubbed my chin, checking out his face. He really thought he was some kind of heartthrob. Suddenly, I got a mischievous idea.

"Here's your Dare," I said, pointing at the crooked old tree outside the chamber. "Go hug that tree and yell three times, 'I love the old tree. I'd bang my head against the wall for the old tree'."

Eugenios's smile froze right then and there. "Pharaoh, isn't this a bit much?"

"I don't think so," I shot back. "Or are you saying my orders don't even matter as much as a tree?"

Eugenios's face twisted in embarrassment.

If he dared to say no, that'd be straight-up defying the Pharaoh.

With everyone cracking up around him, Eugenios's face went beet red.

He stumbled out of the chamber, hugging the old tree, way thicker than his waist, squeezed his eyes shut, and yelled with everything he had, "I love the old tree. I'd bang my head against the wall for it!"

And after shouting, he actually knocked his head against the tree three times.

The crowd burst out laughing.

Eugenios's face was dark red, almost purple. He kept his head down and rushed back to his seat, not daring to look at me even once.

I was feeling pretty pleased with myself.

Served him right for always flirting and showing off in front of me, trying to start an office romance. It was the biggest taboo at work.

The game rolled on.

The vibe had shifted from tense and awkward at first to something weirdly fun.

These prideful lords, one by one, were brought low.

Some got punished by barking like dogs, some had to sing a childish song on one leg, and I even got a few to spill where they hid their secret stash of cash.

In Pharaoh's Chamber, a cutthroat competition for my favor became a wild team-building icebreaker.

Hephaestion, sitting quietly in the corner, never took part.

Not once did he roll the die.

He remained a total outsider, watching the whole farce unfold with a cold, mocking look in his eyes that grew more pronounced by the minute.

I wasn't in any hurry.

Finally, the last guy finished his roll.

And like before, the lowest score went right back to Chrysanthes.

He rolled a one, again.

I glanced at his face, which looked like he was about to cry, and couldn't help but laugh. "Chrysanthes, it's you again. Truth or Dare?"

Chrysanthes got smart this time. He knew the Truth was way more savage, so he went for a Dare without a second thought. "I choose Dare."

"Good choice." I snapped my fingers with a grin, letting my gaze slide over to Hephaestion.

Hephaestion noticed my stare, his frown tightening, eyes sharp with caution.

That's exactly what I wanted, for him to be on edge.

I said to Chrysanthes, enunciating every word, "Your Dare is to go over there and give Strategos Hephaestion a kiss."