The Dominant Species

I thought about what I could do so I could marry Alastair. I talked to him about it many times. I had nightmares about what would happen if we got married, since it was illegal.

I was desperate.

For a year, I’d been working on changing the law. Luther had been right, people didn’t accept it immediately. Some were completely against it. Mom had been right too, it wasn’t easy to change something that has been a rule for a long time.

Still, there were many people who agreed that this law should be changed. I suspected that at least some of them were in love with someone who came from a different kingdom. Still, I did my best to change that law.

Alastair said he had faith in me and I thought I could succeed. I was surprised to realize that I also had faith in myself. I thought I could change the law. I didn’t think someone else would do a better job. A long time ago, I used to think that no matter what the task was, someone else would do a better job than I would.

It was a huge relief that I no longer thought that. Giselle was not so frustrated with my lack of confidence that she wanted to kill me anymore.

I sent a message to Alastair’s family and invited them to come over to my castle. We had lunch together, then I told everyone why they were there.

“Over the last few months I have changed a certain law,” I began.

“Which one?” Alastair’s mother asked me.

“The one that says no one from this kingdom can marry someone from another kingdom,” Alastair answered.

“How do you know that?” his mother asked him.

“Because it was an idea that occurred to both of us,” I shared.

“Why would you want to change that law?” Dad asked me.

Mom tilted her head, staring at me, thoughtfully.

“Do you want to marry Prince Alastair?” she asked.

“Yes. And now I can.”

Both my parents and Alastair’s parents were shocked. They hadn’t known we were meeting in secret. Only our best friends had known.

I had talked to Alastair about revealing this to our parents first. I would never make a decision that affected us both without Alastair agreeing it’s okay.

Everyone stared at us.

“You love him?” Alastair’s mother asked.

“Yes,” Alastair said. “We’ve gotten to know each other well over the last five years.” “I wasn’t aware that you met that often,” Mom said.

“We’ve been meeting in secret,” I explained.

“What?” Alastair’s father exclaimed. “That’s inappropriate.”

“With all due respect, it wasn’t,” I said.

“We were just dating, but we kept it a secret,” Alastair explained.

Alastair’s mother turned to me.

“You changed the law just so you could marry Alastair?” she asked.

“No, it wasn’t just for me. I think this law is unreasonable and I wanted to change it.

Not just for our sake, but for the sake of everyone else who might want to marry someone from a different kingdom in the future.”

“What makes you think someone else would want to marry a person from another country?” Alastair’s mother asked.

“I think this is something that must have happened before, given how many of us there have been and how many years we have been on this planet,” I argued.

“Plus, Clara wants to make as many merpeople as possible her allies, so the chance that this would happen again has increased,” Alastair added.

“You what?” his father asked me.

“Yes, I have been working on both of these issues with my advisors for months.” “Merpeople are no longer allies,” Alastair’s father pointed out. “We deal with each other only when we have to.”

“I want to change that,” I told him. “I would also like to form an alliance with your country,” I added.

“I think that’s a good idea,” Alastair backed me up.

Neither of his parents said anything, but it was a huge thing to ask. I thought once they had some time to think and talk about it, they might agree. I’m going to talk to them about this again soon.

“I don’t think it would be possible for the two of you to get married,” Alastair’s mother said.

“Why not?” Alastair asked.

“Because we have to change the law in our kingdom too and we won’t.”

I was desperate, but I didn’t show that when I spoke,

“Maybe you will change your mind when we become allies.”

“We won’t become allies,” Alastair’s father argued.

Alastair and I were so close to eliminating the obstacles that stood in our way, so I wasn’t going to give up.

“Dad, I think being allies is a good idea,” Alastair told his father.

“Yes, but you’re not thinking clearly because you want to marry the queen,” his father accused.

“I’m surprised at the two of you,” Dad said.

“Wait,” Mom jumped in. “I think both ideas might be good for everyone.”

My heart soared when I found out I had another ally.

“Why would you say that?” Alastair’s mother asked Mom.

“An alliance could be beneficial for both countries,” Mom pointed out.

“There’s a reason merpeople aren’t allies anymore,” Alastair’s father reminded her. “I know,” Mom said. “But we’re not talking about all merpeople. Just two kingdoms.” For now.

But I didn’t think it would be a good idea to share that yet.

“Where are you going with this?” Dad asked Mom.

“Well, like Clara and Alastair, I also want what’s best for my people.”

I love Mom.

And because she loved me she didn’t want to deny me the chance of marrying the person I loved. She wanted to help me and Alastair. It had taken her a few minutes for the information to sink in, which was why she hadn’t said anything until now, but she was on our side.

She has made it clear that Alastair and I didn’t just want to help ourselves to appeal to Dad and Alastair’s parents.

“I don’t think either of those ideas is a good one,” Alastair’s father said, stubbornly.

“You should think about that decision before you make it,” Alastair pointed out. “I want what’s best for my people too. Which is why I’m following the law.” “The law can change.”

“Not for one person.”

“As we’ve already pointed out, it’s not just for one person.”

“I think you should both find someone from your own kingdoms,” Dad said. “Yes, it would be hard at first, but it would solve this problem.”

“No, it wouldn’t,” Mom told him. “We would still have to change the law.”

“Why do you think that?” Alastair’s mother asked.

“Because other merpeople could want to marry someone from outside the kingdom.” “Clara has already decided to have humans as her allies too,” Alastair declared.

His parents stared at me.

“Why?” his mother demanded.

“I thought it would be smart,” I explained. “Besides, we could learn from each other.” “What does that have to do with what we were talking about?” Alastair’s father asked. “Well, if humans are going to be the allies of this kingdom, then merpeople should be too,” Alastair answered.

I wanted to kiss him.

This was not the first time he understood me because I thought the same thing.

“I understand that this is a lot of information,” I told everyone. “We should all think about it before we come to a final decision.”

I could tell Alastair was thrilled with my announcements and wanted to hold me. I wanted to hold him. But because this was still a meeting between two royal families we kept our feelings inside until we were alone.