Under One Banner

Chapter 16

The three of them walked in uncomfortable silence, not knowing each other, and not knowing how to break the silence. 

“What were you two talking about?” Finley asked lightly, just making conversation. 

“The history behind the Woodlanders and the Nobles,” Sheridan replied. 

“Ah, that is a light topic,” Finley said with a wry smile. 

Aryanna smiled and nodded. 

“Wasn’t it your father who led the last great battle that united the Nobles and Woodlanders, Aryanna?” He asked, looking at her curiously. 

“I don’t know, many say it was, but if so, why would my parents have not told me?” she asked rhetorically. 

“I thought you did know, that’s why you two kept yourselves apart from the rest of us,” Finley said. Sheridan glared at him. 

Aryanna looked at him hostility clear in her gaze. “We didn’t keep ourselves apart, we weren’t exactly embraced by anyone in the village,” She said sharply.

Finley saw Sheridan glaring at him but kept going, arguing with Aryanna. “Well you didn’t exactly act like you didn’t think you were better than everyone else, you never joined in anything the village children did, or as you got older you never trained with the rest of us,” he said belligerently, not really knowing why he was arguing with her.

“Finley, shut up,” Sheridan said, his voice cold. 

“Do you think maybe we didn’t want to have anything to do with anyone else because we were grieving? We had just lost both of our parents in the span of two months. By the time we had gotten over it, everyone else thought that we had some grand thoughts of ourselves. No one let us prove that we didn’t. You would not have accepted us if we had tried to join the rest of you,” she said angrily, her temper flaring.  

Sheridan clamped a hand over Finleys mouth as he opened it to respond. “Think carefully before replying Finley, I don’t want to listen to this any more, we left the Woodlands to get away from that rigid way of thinking, you are falling right back into it,” he said, not raising his voice at all, just speaking firmly. Finley wrenched away from Sheridan, glaring at him. 

“If you are so offended by myself and Kalya, why don’t you leave? No one is keeping you here,” Aryanna said finally. She broke into a jog and pulled away from them. 

“You are an idiot, Finley,” Sheridan said.

“What? I was just saying what everyone thinks of them!” Finley protested. 

“No, you were arguing with her. Like I said before, you are just like the rest of the Woodlander’s, the ones that we are trying to leave behind! If you keep this up you will not be welcome here,” Sheridan said. 

He kept his voice low but the weight and meaning behind his words were strong. Finley sighed and took a deep breath. 

“You need to be careful, Finley. Some times your tongue runs ahead of your brain, or maybe it’s that you need to shut up before you speak what is on your mind, think it over first,” Sheridan continued. 

“Is that why you hardly speak during an issue? I don’t think I have ever heard you raise your voice,” Finley said.

Sheridan nodded but held Finley’s gaze, showing him that he wasn’t getting off that easily. 

"It was wrong of you to speak to Aryanna like that, Finley," Sheridan said again firmly. "You were in the wrong, assuming things and not listening or giving ground at all."