And with every passing year the old Fairy Crustacea’s gift became more and more noticeable, as the seventh princess became more and more ordinary. No one ever called her by her grand name now. From the townsfolk in the city down to the smallest page at the palace, she was always known simply as “the Ordinary Princess,” while even her own family never called her Amethyst. They called her Amy. And what could be more ordinary than that? After the day of her christening, she had begun to change from a beautiful baby princess into just an ordinary baby. Her soft golden curls stopped curling and became darker, and her blue eyes turned a gray ish-brown neither-here-nor-there color. And as she grew older, her little nose turned up and her hair hung down straighter and straighter, and not all the curlpapers in the world could make it look as a proper princess’s should. Her six lovely sisters, with their rose-petal complexions, their straight, white little noses, rippling golden hair and perfect deportment, were a delight to see.
