"You go on ahead."
Waving off his cousins, Usira stands rooted in the middle of the corridor. As an Isvalri, one of the best moth catchers in Kandamsin, he knows about stealth. Moths are easily roused, picking up on the faintest disturbance in the air, the smallest change in temperature or humidity.
While his cousins have been chatting away about what they saw on their scouting trip, Usira noticed they were being followed.
The moment his cousins disappear around the bend, a short hooded figure steps into the blue light hanging from Usira's belt. When they shrug off their hood, Usira is met with a boy's smooth face, violet eyes and pristine white hair. A single silver ring flashes on his left hand—with an amber stone.
In an underground city without trees, amber is more precious than silver or gemstones. A clan envoy, then.
"What do you want with me?"
A polite bow. "You are Isvalri Usira, are you not? Well met. I come bearing a message from my mistress, Noe Vylira."
Usira sucks in a breath. At the Noe banquet, he overheard Vylira whisper about poisoning her cousin, Noe Yun, who was recently promoted to Vessi. Evidently, she feels threatened by his rise to power. Usira has thrown his lot in with Yun by offering up not only what he overheard but also his cooperation in getting rid of Vylira.
Can she know? One would do well to mistrust even the thickest stone—every conversation can be eavesdropped on, doubly so in government offices and clan mansions.
"What is it?" he asks.
The boy stares straight ahead—of course, he has to be a puppet—as he intones: "My mistress has noticed your close association with her cousin Yun. She wishes to warn you against him. He has always been difficult, has isolated himself from the rest of the clan and worked on his puppets in solitude. He refuses to align himself with anyone else, making his position within the clan worrisome. My mistress fears he has been conducting dangerous experiments in his workshop that might have twisted his mind. She advises to take his words with a grain of salt."
"Anything else?" Usira demands.
"Yes. My mistress is devoted to the Moth. She wishes to inquire whether you would show her around your family shrine tomorrow, if your schedule permits."
Usira releases the breath he's been holding. "The Noe are our patrons. Tell your mistress her wish is my command."
"Very well. She expects you at the gate after fifth drip."
The boy bows again and retreats with barely a sound. Despite his admiration for the craftsmanship, Usira can't help but shiver at the sight of a puppet so lifelike, so articulate.
On the next day, he sends his cousin to the gate and goes to the Vessi offices. He doesn't have to wait long before the servant waves him in.
If he wasn't certain before, he is when Noe Yun's cat-like orange gaze meets his. "He was wearing an amber ring," Usira says after the obligatory bow. "The puppet."
To his exasperation, Noe Yun leans back in his plush desk chair and grins. "Well. I did not expect you to figure it out that fast. Good for you." To the servant, he says: "Bring tea, and Zhiven."
Usira forces his fists to open. They might have agreed to work together to strengthen their positions within their respective communities but Noe Yun is still a clan member. "Zhiven? Honorable Vessi?" he adds belatedly.
Still grinning, Noe Yun doesn't speak a word until the servant returns. Then he gestures. "May I introduce Zhiven... You've already met, of course."
There, next to the servant, stands the puppet who delivered Vylira‘s message: white hair, violet eyes, amber ring on his finger, only today he's wearing a grey servant's outfit instead of black robes. He bows just like he did in the corridor. This time, he meets Usira‘s gaze too. "A pleasure, Isvalri Usira."
Usira rounds in on the Vessi. "You were testing me!"
Noe Yun spreads his hands in a 'get off my back' gesture. "And you performed admirably. Not a smidge of temptation, Zhiven said. Not a single betrayed emotion. Well done. You said yourself," he continues in a more sober tone, "you would earn my trust over time, no matter what. I merely sped up the process."
Usira wants to protest. He wants to rage, just for a breath or two. Instead, he sits in the chair before the Vessi's desk. "And now you trust me? Just like that… honorable Vessi?"
Instead of answering, Noe Yun waves the other two away. Once the door has closed behind Zhiven, he stands, saunters to the tea tray sitting abandoned on a side table and picks up one steaming cup. He brings it over and offers it to Usira—as if he weren't a high-ranking clan member. As if he weren't Vessi with the power to have Usira executed with a single snap of his fingers.
"Do you trust me?"
And despite his obnoxious grin, his eerie puppets and cruel ideas, Usira knows that Noe Yun is his best bet. Now that he has been hurled into the cutthroat world of the clans, he needs his protection, his favor.
Usira takes the cup.
This builds nicely on the foundation of the first chapter and introduces a magnificently creepy element, the puppet. I like it.
I would change "Can she know" to "Does she know" but that's mere preference.
"In an underground city without trees, amber is more precious than silver or gemstones. A clan envoy, then."
This is very well executed. Such a simple line, but it adds worldbuilding and context in an efficient, clever way.