Jin gave another soft chuckle, walking over to her and looking down at her, seeming almost predatory with his unwavering, studying gaze. "Yes. You are." He said softly, stepping back a bit. "After all, what sort of High Lord would i be if I didn't recognize someone of my own court?" He gave a razor sharp smile. "You are half Night Fae, miss Miyaki. Like it or not. You belong in my world, not this one." He gestured to the garden. "You belong in the night, not in the sun." He shook his head. "I recognize who you are, miss Miyaki. A changeling. Half Fae. A person of two worlds."
“Is the sun already getting to you, your Majesty?” Miyaki blurted, before she could even pause to think about her words. She hadn’t stepped back when he’d approached, meeting his gaze unwaveringly despite her obvious surprise and slight confusion. Even now, she didn’t drop eye contact, her almost-black eyes staying locked on his. “I’m no Faerie, let alone one of Night. I’m nothing more than a changeling, and even growing up surrounded by the Fae cannot suddenly make me one of them.”
His eyes flashed dangerously. "You would do well not to insinuate things about a high lord, changeling." He said. "As for all that…yes, you are. Like calls to like. A High Lord knows who has the blood of their Court, and you…" He lightly grabbed her chin in his hands, making her look at him. "You have the eyes of many of the Night Fae." His own eyes were the color of liquid starlight, a pale silver that shimmered and sparked with life. But many in the Night Court had those black or almost black eyes. Morrigan did.
Though she didn’t flinch when Jin grabbed her chin, the visible conviction and surety in her eyes disappeared as they shuttered suddenly. Nothing in and nothing out, just blackish blue pools of mystery. “My eyes are just that, eyes.” She said, her voice carrying that same closed off tone that hid her emotions. It was a defense mechanism, one she used when she forgot her tongue one too many times around the wrong noble. “They may resemble those of some of your people, but I believe you’ll find any similarities end there.” She couldn’t be Fae. She couldn’t control any elements or any sort of magic, and she most definitely wasn’t a gorgeous practically immortal being.
He released her chin, shaking his head. "I am not mistaken. And as you know quite well, Fae can't lie. I know what you are, Miyaki. Deny it if you wish, but you are of Night Fae blood." He looked down at her. "And it isn't just the eyes. I can prove it to you. All i need is a drop of blood." Which sounded a bit strange, he knew. But it was true. That was the best way to identify what court a Fae was from. How their blood reacted to certain things.
He was right, Fae couldn’t couldn’t lie. But if they convinced themselves something was true, then that rule didn’t quite work the same, whether it actually was false or not. She thought that over for a moment, before holding out her hand. “The best way for you to realize you’re mistaken is to let you test your theory, I guess.” She said, the closed off look never leaving her eyes. “Go ahead and take some, unless you need a knife, because I’m sure I can find one.”
He sighed. "I am not mistaken, Miyaki. Try to tell yourself I am all you like, but it will not change the truth." He pulled a small knife out of his pocket. "I have one." He gently pierced the tip of her finger, and collected a few drops of blood onto the knife. Pulling a tiny glass vial from his pocket, he put the drops of blood in the vial, and sealed it shut.
(She is half Night Fae, right? Just wanna double-check)
((Half, Yeah. I confused myself for a bit with a few things but I’ve finally decided, she was born to ya Halfbloods, at least one of who was Night Fae))
Miyaki watched him collect her blood and seal it away, almost too calm about the whole thing. The sight of her own blood wasn’t new to her, even if a strange man putting it in a vial was. “So what, exactly, is this supposed to do to prove that I’m what you say I am?” She asked, eyes on the vial as she raised an eyebrow. Her hand lifted to fiddle with the pendant of her necklace, which had been a gift from the late High Lady before her passing. The only times she ever really removed it were when sleeping and when bathing.
(alright)
Jin gave her a smirking smile. "We hold it up to the moon. Don't you know what a blood test is?" He asked, lifting the vial into the air. Luckily, the sun had already gone down, and the moon was out, full and bright and beautiful. Its rays shone into the glass vial, and the blood shimmered with silver, reactivate to the light. He smirked. "See? I told you. Your blood reacted to the moonlight when put in a crystal vial. If it didn't, you wouldn't be Night Fae."
“I’ve never had to take a blood test, so no, I don’t.” Miyaki said, watching him lift the vial. Her eyes widened as her blood began to shimmer, and she took a small step back, looking from the vial to the High Lord. “How is that even possible? How would someone half Fae end up a changeling as well? And I can’t even control any sort of magic. Some Night Faerie I would be.” She rambled, shaking her head the entire time.
He shrugged, smashing the vial and letting her blood spatter on the stones. "It's considered bad if I kept that. Since its not my blood." He explained, then shrugged. "I don't know. All I know is that you are half Night Fae. I know that. You know that. The High Lady of the Dawn Court knows it, too." He smirked lightly. "So."
Her hand tightened around her pendant for a moment, before what he said hit her. “Alina knows? How long has she known?” She shook her head, dragging a hand through her hair, which she had let down before coming out to test the sphere. “How is this possible?” She repeated, muttering the words to herself this time as she worked through the minor identity crisis. Another larger one would follow as soon as she was in private, for sure. She looked up at Jin, the cold emptiness gone and replaced by a flurry of emotions. “What-how is it that I’m just finding this out now? That nothing’s ever happened to clue me in?”
"I told her." Jin replied. "As for how you didn't know…i have no idea. Perhaps the human blood in you canceled out the normal tells?" He shrugged slightly. "Or perhaps things have happened to clue you in, but you ignored them or simply brushed them off as coincidence." His wavy black hair tumbled into his face slightly, the silver crown still atop his head. His eyes, the color of moonlight, flashed up to the sky, to the stars just beginning to shine and twinkle.
There’s been nothing, I don’t-“ A memory poked at the back of her mind, nothing solid but bone, and somebody yelling. She closed her eyes, trying to remember whatever it was she was supposed to be remembering. And then- “Once, I think. Forever ago. I didn’t pass it off, I just…blocked it out. It’s still hazy and-Kenathius, this is real, isn’t it?” A Night Faerie. She was one of the Fae, at least halfway. The exact people that never missed an opportunity to remind her that she was just human.
Jin nodded. "Ah. There are Fae who can help you unblock it, if you wish." He replied with a slight shrug. He chuckled and nodded. "Yes. This is real. You are one of the Night Fae. At least half so, anyway. The majority of my court may have a hard time accepting you, but that can be taken care of." He didn't look at her, silver eyes still fastened on the moon. He looked like something from a black and white photo; not a drop of color on his moonlit body.
"Wait-what? Your Court?" Miyaki blinked, furrowing her brows at him. "You say that like you're expecting me to leave with you, your Majesty." He couldn't seriously expect her to leave, could he? Just because she had found out she was one of the Night Fae didn't mean she was in any hurry to try and become one of them. If the Courts were bad, the general population was even worse, as they weren't bound by the same rules of false politeness and social etiquette.
Jin shrugged. "I had assumed you would want to come with me. Was my assumption incorrect?" He sighed. "Of course, we wont be leaving for a while yet." He shrugged, face still tipped up towards the moon. "And do not just dismiss me out of hand, miss Miyaki. You should learn a bit about the Night Court before you say no." He sat down on a bench.
"You can tell me all you want about the Night Court, but that won't change my mind." Miyaki was, if anything, incredibly stubborn when she wanted to be. And despite the fact that she very much didn't belong in the Dawn Court(the Fae made that obvious), it was the closest and only thing she had ever known to a home. She stayed where she was, following Jin's gaze to the moon for a moment, her gaze lingering a bit longer than originally planned before she returned to looking at Jin.
He hummed. "Mm. I'm sure." He replied, stretching. The Court of Dreams and Nightmares. He thought wryly. That was what his court was known as, at once both the most welcoming and the most terrifying of the courts. Split into factions. It had been for years. Likely always would be. That, however, wasn't common knowledge. Just the nickname was. "Because I'm sure you belong here, right? They make you feel welcomed and loved?" He shook his head. "They would tear you apart if it wasn't for Alina, and you know it."
"They could always try." They're doing a pretty good job of it now. Imagine how you'd fare without her protection? The voice in the back of her mind was one she wanted to ignore, no matter how right it really was. "You speak as though your Court would be much different. Would the Night Court welcome me, and show me this love you're referring to, High Lord? Or would I find myself in exactly the same situation, only in an unfamiliar land?" Without even the slight protection Alina has managed to give me when she can?
"My court cares nothing for blood, save that you must be of the Night. They only care for strength, whether real or seeming. Can you be strong?" He replied, tapping his hand on the bench for a moment. "They will not care that you are half human, nor that you are a changeling. But if you are weak, they will tear you apart as a wolf tears apart its dinner. Fast, cruel, and messy."
"That depends on what you mean by strong." She said, shrugging a shoulder and crossing her arms, something to do with them besides letting them hang. "But it doesn't matter either way. I have no intentions of leaving." The Court might not accept her, but there was a small handful of people who had. People she wasn't sure she would be able to find anywhere else. The markings on her face caught the rays of moonlight, shining much the same as the moon above them did.
"I mean can you stand for yourself and all you hold dear? Can you be the last vanguard against the safety of the known world? The last resort for when things go wrong? Can you stand in the face of the greatest evil you've ever known, and tell it to go fuck itself?" He chuckled softly at his last words, remembering the time he had done just that.
She furrowed her brows, tilting her head in confusion. "The first one is something I've been doing for as long as I can remember. The rest of those don't exactly sound like something someone encounters on a day to day basis. Is the evil you're referring to your own Court?" And how exactly would that convince me to return with you?
He shrugged, then shook his head. "My court isn't a great evil. Simply a great pain in the ass." He chuckled softly. "As for a day to day basis…well." he shrugged. "Besides. Just give us a chance. All I am asking for. Get to know Morrigan and I. Actually, on second thought, maybe don't get to know Morrigan, she's a bit strange." He chuckled.
