Previously on LW:
At the fairy tribe's village, while Hailey discovers her mom is now part tree, Autumn finds out Aric has been hiding something. After he admits to communicating with the commander of the Outlander army this whole time, going against their backs and potentially endangering their lives and those of the fairies, Autumn storms off.

Chapter 21

    Aric buried his head into his hands as Autumn left, his shoulders bent and heavy.

    "You can wallow in self-pity later," Chase said. "What's the damage?"

    "They know where in the forest we are. That we're with fairies. Roughly how many of them there are. And that the princess is here." Aric didn't lift his head. "That's who he wants. The princess. He's been trying so hard to get her -some say he even sent his best general, but he never came back. If I found the princess, I could get anything I wanted."

    "What does he want the princess for?" I asked. I felt like we weren't talking about me personally, but about the princess as a symbol.

    "Dunno."   

    "I have a few guesses," Chase said. "Do they plan on coming here themselves?"

    Aric nodded, head still buried in his arms.

    "Look up when I'm talking to you," he snapped. "I want numbers, and I want a time."

    He raised his head, but refused to look at him in the eye. "I'd say a day. Maybe more. Not too much. Three hundred? They want an easy victory."

    "Lark?" Chase called.

    Aiden's head whipped up. "Yes, Sir!"

    "Find me that Elder-fairy. We need to organize a defensive. Go!"

    Aiden sprinted off to the nearest group of fairies.

    "What else do you know?" Chase asked Aric.

    "That's all. Do you really think they would tell me anything important?"

    "No. You're just a pawn, a coward, and loyal to no one." Aric visibly winced at Chase's words. "But if you want to live to see that sister again, you'll help."

    Aric hesitated.

    "I just saw that my father was turned to stone and that my girlfriend's mother became a tree. Do you really want to see if I'm in the mood for jokes?"

    "They're bad with the forest," he rushed out. "I mean, they're not used to it, because the Outlands are so bare. That's their weakness. They'll never have seen a fairy before and won't know what kind of battle tactics to expect. Nothing I've written could have led them to believe they were anything else but a naive, peace-loving people. They know that there are children. They don't know that parts of the Elder Tribe roam the forest freely. They don't know about the sleeping darts. They don't know who you are. I just said the princess was accompanied by two Winged guards on a seemingly diplomatic mission."

    "Suddenly you speak pretty well," I observed. "Two guards and a princess, but what did you say about Autumn?"

    "I didn't." He sighed. "They don't know she's here."

    Chase held his hand out to me and helped me up.

    "What is going on?" The Elder One chose this moment land next to us, flanked by Aiden and three other fairies and followed from a distance by a flock of curious children.

    "I'm sure you are aware of the war going on outside your forest between the Winged?" Chase asked.

    "These matters do not concern us." The fairy crossed his arms.

    "They do now. A division of the Outlander army is heading right this way. We have twenty four hours at most until they reach your village."

    "How- What in the heavens?"

    "No time to explain, but we have a reliable source." Chase pointed down to Aric.

    The Elder One hesitated. "How do we know you're not lying?"

    Chase leaned down to meet the Elder One eye to eye. "I may hate you, but that doesn't mean I want to watch innocent children get murdered. If I have to wave your decapitated head on a stick to make your people realize this is a state of emergency, then it will be my pleasure. Otherwise, I suggest you do your job and ensure your people's safety."

    There was a pause. "Reyl, sound the emergency," the Elder One ordered. "Everyone needs to be inside the camp except for the groups who are southward enough." The fairy flew away faster than I'd seen any of them fly so far.

    "Is the camp easily defensible?" Chase asked.

    "We have security measures."

    "I hope so. Can we have our weapons?"

    "As long as you wait until this is over to decapitate me."

    "On my honor."

    "Niaad?"

    "I will fetch them at once," the fairy answered.

    "Round up all the fairies who can fight," Chase said. "We'll organize a defensive. Put the children and elderly in safe places. I need to do something, can you have some fairies keep an eye on this one?" He pointed to Aric.

    "Why?"

    "He's not feeling himself right now. He shouldn't be let out of sight. Also, if you see a biggish lizard, catch it -or shoot it. I don't really care."

    He turned away, but the Elder One called him back.

    "Young warrior, I want to make it clear that I was elected by these people to lead them, but they still hold complete freedom over their actions. Do not be so bold as to give orders to fairies. Your kind often forgets you do not have the power to bend the land to your will."

    "And your kind seems to be forgetting that your tree was saved by a Winged and that the Winged army coming from the North is of a less merciful disposition than I am. Unless you want to face them alone, I suggest you listen to me."

    "I will not let pride get in the way of the wellbeing of my people. You know the enemy better. However, how can you win if you don't know your army?"

    "You talk too much. Unless you want to try to reason with the enemy, something in which I'm sure you will be much more successful than the king of Aeolus himself, than do as I say."

    The Elder One didn't reply. Chase grabbed my hand and walked away. Aiden was right on our tail.

    "Aiden, can you get Autumn's maps along with our weapons, please?" Chase asked.

    "Be right back!" He flew off.

    "Can't you just call your sword?" I asked.

    "I'd like to avoid that. You know, keep an element of surprise, just in case."

    I nodded.

    "You know I don't really mean all of that, right?" He reached for my face, but hesitated to touch me.

    I wrapped my hands around his. "I know. You're just playing bad cop."

    "Huh?"

    "You know, 'good cop, bad cop'? Never mind. I mean, it's a strategy, right?"

    "Yeah. I don't want you to think I would actually murder Aric or that fairy... Even if the first one might get us all killed, and the other had a part to play in my father's death." He grimaced.

    I hugged him, resting my head on his shoulder. "You're a good person, Chase. I know that. You don't have to always make yourself the bad guy."

    He hesitated. "I know, but... I'm not a knight in shining armor, either."

    "Armor seems pretty impractical for flying. Anyway, I'd rather be with a human being -you know, someone who has flaws, just like me- than some perfect ideal who'll always be completely out of my league."

    "You are out of my league."

    I blushed. "Um, no. You're way cooler than me. And hotter."

    "You think I'm hot?" He grinned.

    Aiden landed with his arms full of papers, his bow and Chase's sword both strapped at his waist.

    "Who is hot?"

    "Hailey, of course. But she also said she thought I was hot. I'm sorry you have to keep living in my shadow," Chase teased.

    "Hailey said you were hot? Aw!" He dropped everything and drew me into a bear hug. "Hailey, I'm so sorry, I had no idea you were going blind! Don't worry, I'll support you every step of the way. On the bright side, you won't have to suffer looking at Chase's face anymore."

    "Hilarious," Chase grunted. "Give me my sword."

    "Nah, I think I'm keeping it. Don't I look dashing?" He did a twirl for me, making me laugh.

    "Aiden, you can do a catwalk after we've been attacked," Chase scolded. "My sword."

    "Say please."

    "I can just summon it."

    "But you wouldn't have the sheath, and that would be annoying." He grinned and unstrapped it from his waist, handing it to Chase. "What did you need all the paper for?"

    "I need to ask Autumn if she can show me exactly where we are."

    "Oh." His teasing grin slipped off his face as we turned to look at her. She was sitting against a tree with the two peryton, far enough to be well out of earshot. Juno nuzzled her cheek, but Autumn pushed her head away. The peryton settled for resting her head dejectedly on Autumn's legs, next to Grey.

    "She really liked him," Aiden observed.

    "I guess she did." I sighed. I was hurt by Aric's betrayal, but I hadn't gotten to know him half as well as Autumn had. Never had I seen her ready to strike someone as she had been with Aric. Her disappointment had bordered on heartbreak.

    "You were right about him," Chase said. "Sorry we didn't listen."

    "It's okay. I wish I'd been wrong." He looked at Autumn for a few seconds more, then walked away.

    Chase's brow creased as he watched them both in turn. He sighed. "Right. Let's concentrate on the impending attack, shall we?"

-------
Little moment between Chase and Hailey there, felt like it'd been a while :p
I feel like many of you felt bad for Aric, and some even thought he was justified (-which is good, he's not a jerk just for the sake of it). Do you still feel that way now that the consequences of his actions are clearer?
Also, I tried to make the dialogue tags clearer in this chapter; I hope there wasn't anymore confusion.

The lovely cover is by @Blackfeather24 :)

See you soon!