Previously on LW:

Hailey's mom has become one with the Great Tree to bring balance to the magic of the forest. Hailey gets to 'talk' to her briefly, but is grateful for the oportunity. Overall it is a fun-filled chapter just like this one will be.
Autumn comes up Hailey, Aiden, and Chase, wanting to tell Hailey something. Aric is running after her:
   ' "Autumn, wait! I'm sorry, I..." Aric stopped when he saw us. '

Chapter 20

    "What's wrong?" I asked Autumn.

    Aric froze.

    Autumn looked at him, hesitating.

    "Alaric, what did you do, now?" Aiden asked. I wondered if he was butchering his name on purpose.

    "I..."

    "Too slow. You, Chase, and I are gonna take a little walk, just the three of us. That's fun, right?"

    Chase kissed my forehead and stood up. "Right. I don't know if you were aware, but I'm already in a stupendous mood, so I'm sure we'll all enjoy this."

    Aiden and Chase dragged Aric away.

    "They mean well, but I don't think the guys understand the problem here," Autumn told me.

    "What happened?"

    "I just... You know, after everything that happened, I needed time to think. I can't even begin to imagine what you and Chase must be feeling. I told Aric I wanted to talk to the Elder One so I had an excuse to walk off alone. Actually, I just wandered around the circle of trees. That's when I saw him."

    "Aric?"

    "Yeah. Tell me it's just me, but was anyone else aware he had a pet lizard?"

    "A what?"

    "Might have been an iguana. Anyway, I think it carries messages. I didn't see it, but... Darn it, I should have thought more."

    "What are you saying?" I dreaded the answer.

    "I think Aric was communicating with people the whole time."

    "Chase!" I screamed.

    He stopped so fast I thought he was going to make Aric fall flat on his face. Any other time, it would have been funny, but I was too worried about the kind of information he could have sent.

    "Hailey," Autumn said. "You realize I have no proof, right?"

    "We're okay," I called out to Chase, "but can you three just come back here for a sec?"

    "Hailey..."

    "Autumn, the fact that you think this is true is enough proof for me, but let's ask him and see. Hopefully he won't have said anything too important."

    As I watched Aiden bicker with Aric, I realized I had grown to consider him a friend, and that the possibility of his betrayal hurt more than I expected. If the pain in Autumn's eyes was any indication, she felt the same way. That, more than anything, convinced me she wouldn't have said anything unless it was serious.

    When the three boys had reached us, I stood up.

    "Aric, I heard you had a pet lizard. Can I see it?"

    His eyes widened, and he shifted his weight to his other foot.

    "Well, do you?" Chase asked.

    Aric nodded.

    "Can I see it?" I repeated.

    "It's not with me," he mumbled.

    "Where is it?"

    "He... He's in the forest."

    "Sit down," I instructed. He complied, looking like a trapped rabbit. "Aiden, Chase, give him some space. More space, Aiden. Thank you. Aric, it is a lizard, right?"

    "Yes, we call them warals. They are harmless and make good pets."

    "Probably a monitor lizard," Autumn muttered to herself. At my questioning look, she said, "they can look a bit like iguanas."

    "Besides the fact that lizards are lame pets 'cause they don't do much, why are we talking about this?" Aiden asked.

    "You wouldn't think bats do much either, but then..." Chase trailed off, and I wondered if he had understood Autumn's suspicions. "No, you're right, lizards are dumb."

    "They are not." Aric raised his head.

    "What are you gonna do, teach it to fetch?" Aiden laughed.

    "Warals are very intelligent animals." Aric's voice was soft, but he was glaring at the ground.

    "Sure." Aiden grinned. "I bet they can do so many cool tricks."

    "They can, if one has the patience to train them."

    "Really?" Chase asked. "And could they, oh, I don't know, learn to carry messages for example?"

    Aric froze.

    "Aric, I am the youngest second in command the Junior Troops of the Aeolian army has ever had. I don't know much, but I know military. And I know guilty."

    I took over before Chase could scare him into silence. "Aric, did your lizard contact people while you were with us? You've seen us, we don't want to hurt anyone. We'd just like to minimize any damage before it's too late, whether it affects us, the fairies, or you."

    "I'm so confused," Aiden whined.

    "Shut up!" Aric burst, surprising us all. "I didn't have a choice, okay? Not everyone has a hundred friends, caring parents, and a lovely life!" He dropped some foreign words in an intonation that made their meaning clear.

    "Aric," Autumn said, her voice calm but firm.

    He calmed down immediately and turned his attention to her.

    "Aric, what exactly did you do?"

    "I-"

    "Just answer," she cut.

    "I just told them where I was."

    Aiden opened his mouth, but Autumn silenced him with a look.

    We waited for Aric to continue.

    "I was to send reports to the Outlands on my whereabouts. That's why I was forced to come here, as a spy and translator."

    "How did you know Hailey would be here?" Chase grabbed his wrist roughly.

    "What? I didn't. I didn't know you guys would be here. It wasn't part of my mission. How could I have known that?"

    "Did you tell them she was here?"

    "Why would-"

    "Don't play dumb. I know you've figured out she's the princess already."

    He lowered his eyes. "Only since this morning. I didn't know before."

    "Did you tell them?"

    He nodded.

    "How could you?" Autumn whispered.

    "I didn't have a choice. That's why they picked me. The Destined, our leader, picked me himself because I was the youngest and best English speaker. He needed me to befriend Aeolians to access informations scouting parties could never find."

    "Endangering our lives was better than risking losing your job?" She shook her head.

    "I don't give two stones about the job! I didn't want it, and I don't like any of them. But they have my sister. She's my only family, the only one who cares for me. I had to do it, for her."

    "For her? And what about us? I know what it's like to have a sister -and brothers. I know how precious that is, but did you really sacrifice all of us for her?"

    "I..."

    "Do we mean nothing to you at all? Do these hundreds of fairies around us with children of all ages, whom I'm sure you have compromised as well by leaking their whereabouts, not deserve to live, too?"

    "Don't pretend like you would have sacrificed Anna or Daniel or Jeremy for me and my group." He shot back.

    "Don't you dare act like that's the same thing, because it's not. We have been nothing but good to you. We took you in, treated you not as a prisoner, but as an equal, as a friend. These people fed you, sheltered you, led you straight to their home, wanting to believe there was good in you just like we did. You lied to them. You told me you had no siblings. You lied about everything."

    "I-"

    "Don't you dare say you 'had to' or 'didn't have a choice.' You did. You chose to be a coward." She raised her hand for a second, as if to slap him, but thought better of it and threw him a withering glare, standing up and striding away.

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Autumn is a cupcake unless you hurt an animal or stab her in the back. You have been warned.
What did you think? Was anything surprising? Confusing? What are your feelings towards Aric?

Also, does this count as a cliffhanger?

See you in a few!