The past few days have gone unbearably slow. Slower than any other days before. When you’re sitting around waiting for something it always feels as though you’re going about your day wading through drying concrete. 

I fear I may have scared June away. I was too pushy. Invasive, even. Of course she’d be put off when some random Englishman kept approaching her about something so incredibly personal. I’ve spent so much time traveling by myself I must have lost my social skills somewhere along the way. 

Can I be blamed, though? I’ve been searching everywhere for my daughter since Ahriella  passed over a century ago. If only we hadn’t jumped the gun and sent her away all those years ago. I wouldn’t have had this seemingly unresolvable issue. Now all I can do is wait out the break and hope June hasn’t been too put off by me. 

I pace back and forth in my kitchen, thoughtless in the process. I’m not sure what I can do right now, and I have no interest in doing anything else but figuring out where my child is. She has to be over four hundred years old by now. What if she’s looking for me too and we keep on missing each other? It makes me anxious. 

All of a sudden my phone rings from the living room. I never get calls unless it’s from the school, and they usually don’t phone during breaks. I sprint to the living room and grab my cell from the coffee table. 

It’s not a saved number. I answer. “This is Porter Campbell. Who is this if I may ask?”

There is a brief silence. “It’s June Butler.” The voice responds. “From the school gallery. You bought my Cardinal painting.”

I freeze. I didn’t expect this at all. “Ye-yes! Hello!” I stumble over my words. “How did you get my number??”

“The school roster online. It has your cell number there.” She answers in a strange, exhausted voice. 

“What’s the reason for your call? I wasn’t expecting to hear from you over break.” I slide down onto the couch and hold the phone hard against my ear.

“Why are you so interested in me?” She asks.

“What-?”

“This is important. What’s with the Cardinal? Why were you so interested in my adoption?” She pushes, her voice becoming impatient. 

“Trust me when I say I have just as many answers as you have questions, but first off, what is going on? You sound distressed.” I hold my hands tightly in a fist, anticipating her answer.

Another long pause before she speaks again. “Somebody tried to kill me last night.” She states outright. 

A coldness falls over me as the blood drains from my face. “What?” 

“It’s a lot to explain, but he said something about a Cardinal last night before he…tried to kill me. He called me the Cardinal. I need to know what the hell that is and why that man tried to kill me for it, and all I could remember was how obsessed you were about my background and that painting I sold you at the gallery. That stupid red bird.” Her voice quivers. 

I jump up from the couch. “Where are you right now?”

“You don’t have-” She starts.

“Where are you right now?” I push.

“I’m home. Rauland County, Maine.”

I run to the door and slip into a jacket. I snatch my wallet and car keys from the kitchen table and head out the door. “Send me an address to where you’d like to meet. I’m coming.” I hang up and get into my car. 

*****

The drive to Rauland felt even slower than it actually was. The hour and a half long drive felt like years. I’m not entirely sure how I made it there, either. I think I blacked out for three quarters of the drive. 

I swerve into the parking lot of an old fashioned looking family diner and tear myself from the car and remove my key from the ignition simultaneously. Before I realize it I’m pushing through the door and searching in a frantic manner a senile old man might relate to. I spot her in a booth cupping a steaming mug with both her hands. A strange young man I haven’t seen before sits beside her.

“June!” I call out.

Her head pops up from the mug. “Mr. Campbell-” 

I slide into the booth. “Are you alright? What happened? Who tried to kill you?” I glance over at the man. “And who is this if I may ask?”

“Damn dude cool it with the questions or you might erupt.” The man adds.

June sighs. “This is Buck. He doesn’t seem to want to leave me alone after saving me last night.”

“Well Buck,” I nod, “thanks, I guess?” I look back at June. “Can you explain what’s going on?”

She takes a moment. “You think I’d call you if I knew what was going on? That’s why you’re here. You said you had answers. The Cardinal. It seems like that’s the reason he attacked me. Who—or what—is ‘The Cardinal’?”

That’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time. “The Cardinal. It’s been so long. Several centuries, to be exact. The memories I have of her aren’t that clear. Why somebody would claim you’re her, though, I’m not sure. If you don’t know who she is you must have been born after she disappeared.”

She and Buck glance at each other. “Disappeared? What do you mean?”

“The Cardinal was a war general. In the seventeenth century this group of people tried eradicating the Fae because they thought we were abominations. They hated us. Cardinal was just a code name for the general. Only people higher up knew her real name. That’s how it was for all the army leaders. Hawk, the Commander in Chief was the same way.” I explain. “Our enemies hated the Cardinal. She destroyed them. Hawk was the real leader, but the Cardinal was a master at planning attacks. They tried everything in their power to get rid of her. I’m not sure why they would attack you, though, but shouldn’t you already know tha-?”

“Wait-” She stops me. “Fae?! You’re telling me I’m a fairy??”

“What?” I question. “You didn’t know?” If she doesn’t know she’s Fae she couldn’t be my daughter, right? My daughter is over 400 years old at this point. My hope begins to dip. 

“Not until this morning when I had to tell her. Not sure how a supernatural creature can’t tell they’re supernatural.” Buck shakes his head. “Tsk. Shame on her, am I right?”

I stare into space for a moment. “Haven’t you grown into your powers yet? That was supposed to happen ages ago.” 

Her eyes widen. “POWERS?? You’re telling me I have powers?!”

“Magick of nature. We are creatures of nature so we can call on the powers of air, water, earth, fire and a fifth element we consider to be the spirits.” I study the stunned expression on her face. I try not to question how she doesn’t know this already. “You’ve asked me a question, may I ask you one now?”

She nods. “Uh, sure. Go ahead.”

I pull out a needle from my wallet. “May I prick your finger?”

She guards her hands. “What do you need to prick my finger for?”

“Please just trust me. I need to confirm something.” She hesitates. “Look. I’ll do it first.” I hold out my hand and prick my finger. I squeeze the blood from the tip of my finger into the palm of my other hand. I hold the needle up to her.

She plucks it from my hand. “What are you doing, exactly?”

“Paternity test.” I state. 

Her eyes widen in disbelief. She gingerly pricks the tip of her pointer finger and I guide her hand overtop my palm and let the blood drip and combine with mine. Buck sits flabbergasted across from me as he watches the process. 

I hold my hand over the other and chant a few words under my breath before opening my palms again. As I’d hoped, the blood turned to glass.

“What does that mean??” June pushes. 

“The saying goes, ‘blood is thicker than water’ right? This spell—if we weren’t related the blood would have turned to water. If we are related—“

“The blood turns to glass…” June finishes. 

“Precisely. I hope you understand my persistent prying now.” I let the blood-glass slide onto the table and observe as June stares into it at the reflection of herself. “I’m your father, June.”