Willaway’s ears were burning. Not that anyone was talking about him, not at present anyway, but they didn’t need to, not the way they kept LOOKING at him, as if waiting to see what he might do next. He couldn’t even blame them, not when a matter of a few hours ago, he… hadn’t been himself.

He knew they didn’t blame him; if anything, they blamed themselves for blundering into Apollonius’ trap, letting the ancient magician separate them, leaving Willaway alone and vulnerable, easy prey. Still, he didn’t blame them, not for any of it, not even for being a bit wary around him.

It wasn’t even that they thought he might still be under Apollonius’ influence; Varian had ended the possession, or whatever it had been, driving that madman out of Willaway’s body. He was in sole residence, the squatter summarily evicted They were merely worried about what effect the experience might have had on him, but while he appreciated their concern for his wellbeing, he didn’t appreciate being the center of attention, which was ironic, considering how much he usually relished it.

Then again, usually he enjoyed holding people’s attention with his insightful, witty conversation and his keen understanding of a great many subjects, in particular science and history. This was not that, and he was growing increasingly uncomfortable, hence the burning ears. He was quite certain they must be bright red by now, and the rest of his face would surely follow in short order if they kept looking at him like that. They were trying their best not to be obvious about it, but even the cat was staring!

“Would you all please stop looking at me like you expect me to sprout another head?” The words came out more waspishly than he’d intended, and he sighed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap, I’m still a little on edge.”

“We all are, Jonathan. You’re our friend, we can’t help but worry about you.” Varian offered an apologetic smile. “It’s not our intention to make you uncomfortable, but we almost lost you, and you’re being unusually quiet, so I hope you’ll forgive us if we keep needing to check that you’re still here.”

“Yes, of course, it’s just…” Willaway sighed. “Everywhere we go, I seem to land myself in trouble and need rescuing.”

Fred snorted. “You say that like you’re the only one. We’ve all been up to our ears in trouble of one sort or another practically since we got stranded on this island. Don’t go thinkin’ you’re anything special just because you had some magician try to take over your body. If it hadn’t been you, it would’a been someone else.”

“I almost had the same thing happen to me,” Liana added. “Apollonius was going to give my body to that woman back there, but he was too busy trying to convince Varian and Scott to leave, so Fred was able to rescue me.”

“I didn’t know that.” Willaway felt suddenly guilty for not realising that while he was under Apollonius’ control, the others had been dealing with their own problems.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m fine.” Liana smiled.

“Well, so am I, thanks to Varian. All I want to do is put today’s events behind me.” Willaway looked from one of his friends to the next. “I do appreciate your concern, but there’s really no need.”

“Perhaps not, but don’t expect us to stop caring.” Varian glanced up at the sky. “It’s late, we should all get some sleep.”

“Yeah,” Fred agreed. “Still got a long way to go. Glad you’re okay, partner.”

“Thank you. I’m just glad we all got out of there in one piece. Good night.” Willaway made for his bedroll feeling a strange glow of pleasure. He no longer felt like an outsider, just tagging along; he was an integral part of the group. That was something he thought he could get used to.


The End