ONE POINT FIVE (1.5 in the Amnesia Archives)

Chapter 17

Prin's POV

I was going to kill this woman by the end of the night, which wasn't a very common thought for me to have. I didn't have much experience with people, but I knew that this woman was one of the sneakiest people I'd ever had the displeasure to meet. I blended into the crowd easy enough, I'd seen at least two people wearing the same dress as me and followed Queenie to a back room of sorts. I didn't know much about this place, but it looked like a separate lounge, just about a tenth of the size of the hall we were in.

"Do you have it?" another woman's voice said from the far end of the room. "I've got the other one."

I stayed standing outside, leaning against a wall, looking very shy. It was clear that I was lurking, but I didn't think that it was too obvious what I was doing there. I looked around like I was looking for somebody, my hand occasionally stroking Onyx's fur.

"I have it. I don't see why they go for this every year," Queenie said with disgust. "It's the same cake all the time. Sure, it's not a bad cake, but come on, it's been like eight years."

"I think it's the best cake in the world," the other woman commented, sounding like she could almost be drooling. "Honestly, I think it's amazing."

"Then you can scarf this down," Queenie said with a scoff. I couldn't see what was happening, but I had a pretty good idea. "I can't believe that those two girls come here and have the absolute nerve to think that they own the place."
"I don't think they're that bad." Rustling and banging sounded from the room, not enough to tell me what was happening, but enough to know that they were probably caused by Queenies' response to what the woman had said. "Okay, I'm sorry. I didn't think that would offend you. But it's just like anyone else joining the village. You get like this every time."

"I do not," Queenie protested. "I do not do anything; I'm not doing anything. I'm just showing them who is in charge here, by souring their reputations."

"That's doing something," The other woman pointed out. "I don't know why you're doing that; everyone knows you're the one in charge here."

"They don't." There were more noises coming from the room, Queenie's voice getting louder. "But they will. I'm the one in charge of everything here, I keep the social ladder alive, I keep everyone informed."

"You charge too much for a trim," the other woman muttered. "Okay, I'll get rid of this in the best way possible. You put that one on the table, and we'll see what happens."

I rushed away from the door in an orderly fashion, giving polite smiles, nods, and waves to everyone I passed. I did make a slight detour to the bathroom, just in case anyone would find it too suspicious. I figured that it would be best to be over-vigilant in this case. I passed the large table, which was set up against the wall, noting the white box which stood proudly in the middle.

I arrived back to Cade and Niko. "Where's Sarphi?" My voice was slightly panicked. "We have a bit of an issue."

"Yes. so do I." Cade turned to me with a very annoyed and worried look in his face. "Something's wrong with him." He nodded his head to Niko, whose eyes were dazed and wandering.

Niko gave a bright smile and stumbled to me, leaning on my shoulder. "You are so pretty." He moved some hair out of my face. "Pretty as a princess, you know that. Nearly as pretty as him." He then turned back to Cade, crouching down, which I knew was highly impolite. "But he won't ask me if he's dating anyone." He pouted.

"Has he been drugged?" The words flew from my mouth as I let out a spluttery laugh. "He can't be drunk."

"That's right, he can't be. It takes a lot for his kind to get drunk." Cade was clearly worried, since he wasn't in the mood to crack any kind of jokes.