Phoenix Feathers, Part II

Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Joss is Boss, and all of this is his doing.

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“Where were you yesterday?”

The icy blue eyes glared at the lanky pickpocket who shifted nervously where he stood, not daring to look up from the lavish carpet before his feet.

“You were supposed to be working the Bazaar with Lee and Franks. Did you think I wouldn’t find out? I thought I’d made it clear to you what would happen if you disobeyed my orders again. Or have you forgotten about Bror’s penchant for flogging?”

Blue Eyes nodded to a large man who lurked in the far reaches of the tent. The enforcer cracked his knuckles and advanced on the lonely figure with a feral grin. The merchant raised a hand when the lad spoke up, checking the enforcer’s movement.

“I had an interview.”

The boy’s voice had changed over the years, assuming the cockney accent of Dyton Colony, but that wasn’t the most drastic change that time and harsh experience had wrought on him. Over the years, the young man had learned the tricks of the criminal trade very quickly, and had excelled at whatever task his master had given him, from simple pick-pocketing on the city streets to stealing valuable wares from townhouses without leaving a trace of his presence. He was already becoming a legend on the streets, and his master had taken a personal interest in his career. The boy knew that he could make a life for himself here, doing what he had been trained to do.

But the orphan knew that it was not the life he wanted.

The young pickpocket went on to describe to his master the events of the day before. He had risen early and left the dilapidated building where he and the other “apprentices” were kept. It was an easy matter to slip past the guards, who were at ease so far inside their own tong’s territory. His calloused feet took him to the Bazaar District, which was all but deserted, and from there he headed deeper into the city, towards the relatively tiny Federal District.

When the boy got to the