Prince\'s Pet

Part 3

I curled up, pulling my knees against my chest, and leaned against the barred door of my "cage." Have I lost you, my Prince?

 I remember, nearly six years ago, when I first came to the palace. You were just fifteen, still chibi-sized, standing there by your father's side. I stood in a row with the other type fives, seventeen, barely out of chibihood myself. You walked along our line, grinning so proudly when you thought the King didn't see. Then, you stepped back a bit, looking very gravely from one of us to the other. You lifted your hand, deliberating, then pointed to one… another… and me.

"I like those three," you announced, nodding to yourself in a pleased sort of way.

My next memory was your hands pushing me and the others into chairs and telling us to "Hold still just like that." You plopped down in front of us with your paper and colored pens and proceeded to draw ten different uniforms before you settled on what you wanted each of us to wear. Then you supervised all the tailoring, and I clearly remember your insistence on "ruffled, not lacy," trim, and your small hands wrapping the band on my tail.

I remember how you had the three of us follow you around everywhere. When you started your teenage growth spurt, I remember how you used us as your height chart, watching the gap between our heights shrink.

I remember the day you woke up at your full height, taller than Zukini.

A year later, I remember you walking up to us one morning and calling only for Potati and I.

Almost a year after that, when you turned nineteen, you came only for me.

It's been two years, my Prince. Am I, too, to be forgotten?