Excerpt: The Phoenix and the Thief

Excerpt from Chapter 3::

Loris raised one eyebrow sceptically and Amadeus got the impression that he had just said something rather foolish. “You brought me here this morning.” Loris answered in a staccato tone. Amadeus shrugged and stretched his arms above his head. His shoulders popped in their stiff sockets and his fingers tingled as the flow of blood was stimulated once again. “I’ve had other things to think about.” He explained as he lowered his arms again. “I forgot.”
Loris made a small noise in the back of his throat that managed to convey both acceptance of the reply and a jibe at how he expected some similar excuse. “Busy day for you then was it?” he asked, stepping lightly into the gondola and dropping onto the plush cushioned seat.
“Several strangely dressed nobles all going to the Piazza San Matthias.” Amadeus remarked dryly, clambering down from his place at the back of the boat. Loris snorted with distaste and swivelled around on the seat before bringing both boots up onto the cushions and crossing his legs at the ankles leisurely. “And what could they possibly be so interested in up there?” he demanded with a violent jerk of the hand. “What is there in that place other than three-foot thick dust?” Amadeus slapped the side of Loris’s booted feet pointedly as he walked over. “A fancy party with his Grace, allegedly.”
Loris swung his feet down from the cushions and sat up from his reclining position. His face however, did not change in the slightest. Amadeus stood near him and studied him. He knew Loris had never placed much faith in the government of the city. It was easy to criticise when you had drawn the figurative short straw in life. And though Amadeus had given up trying to reason with Loris over his pessimistic views on politics, he still was not so convinced that the dramatic gap between the profusely-living rich and the scavenging poor was entirely the Doge’s fault.
“Loris, what’s a phoenix?” Loris was busy picking a loose thread from his shirt sleeve and so did not look up. “What kind of question is that?” he responded, holding up a lengthy grey thread and focusing on that rather than his friend. Amadeus shrugged noncommitantly and went to free the oar from its lock. “It was something someone said to me earlier.” He said, though he was unsure that Loris, so fascinated by a piece of thread, was actually listening, much less interested.
“She said something about the Doge owning a phoenix.” If Loris had been indifferent up to that point, he certainly was not once Amadeus had said that. “The Doge has a phoenix?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t exactly been to the palace and seen it.” Amadeus retorted, busy working the gondola free from its mooring. When he turned back, Loris had gone back to reclining on the seat cushions, the fingers of one hand drumming impatiently on his cheek. Amadeus scowled. “Loris! Move your boots!”
Loris ignored the demand and drummed his fingers to a faster rhythm. “You know, that is very interesting.” Amadeus willed himself to have patience and gave the oar a strong push through the water, sending the gondola merrily skimming down the broad canal. “What could be so interesting about your boots ruining that seat?” Amadeus quipped with a venomous undertone.
Loris suddenly seemed to remember where he was and span around so that he was kneeling on the cushioned seat and leaning his arms on the back, looking at his friend as was the custom for polite conversation. “Not that. The thing about the Doge and the phoenix…” Loris licked his lips hurriedly and grinned. “I think I might need to look into that.”