been so mi serable without you. I mean, well, dammit, can't you see what's wrong? Marg, I'm in love with you!"

Kneeling beside her and speaking very gently and slowly, Marg asked, "What's wrong with that?"

"What's wrong with it? Look at mo! I'm a GIRL, just a stupid GIRL!"

In an oddly deliberate tone, that familiar, reassuring voice began, "But you're not really a girl. There's not

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one feminine thing about you. You're strong and brave and true, and even in that ridiculous gown you were wearing when I first saw you, you some how managed to look rather dashing. No, you're not really a girl; you're only living in the shell of one. And I won't have you running yourself down because of it. It's what you are inside what you think and feel that really counts. And it's that that I love you for." The words came fast now, tumbling over each other as if there were not time to say all that had been waiting to be said. "I do love you, little prince, the same way that you love me. I've wanted so to show you how much I care, but I was afraid I was too bold and that Some how the two found their way

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into each other's arms. They clung closely together, trembling from long waiting and anxiety.

Perhaps we had better leave our young lovers at this point lest we show the bad taste of prying too far into their intimacy. Let it suffice to say that Princess Marguerite soon came to live in Princess Gay's little oastle and each found in the other the quiet excitement of Fulfillment. Over the years, Gay won quite a roputation as swordsman and equestrian, while Marg oncouraged her fondly and indulgently from the sidelines. As for Prince Alex, he found a "terribly exciting" young man in the Village about every six months. And they all lived happily ever after.

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And oh yes, we might add that "Prince Gay" developed quite a following among certain select groups in the Villages, who used her name as their password. And even today, although very few people remember or ever knew its origin, the term "gay" is still used by those who have been changed by the wicked Fairy.

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